Wynette Legacy Center celebrates late singer’s 82nd birthday
TREMONT, Miss. (WCBI) – She was known as the First Lady of Country Music and this weekend, Tammy Wynette’s hometown is celebrating what would have been her 82nd birthday.
As high noon approaches, Larry Cantrell has already met visitors from Utah, Georgia, and Arkansas.
Cantrell is president of the board of directors for the Tammy Wynette Legacy Center. The first weekend of May, the center celebrates the life and legacy of Tammy Wynette, who was born May 5, 1942, near Tremont.
“We have got to hold her up and let everyone know, where she was from and what she stood for, she was very special,” said Cantrell.
The Center features a museum with one of Wynette’s convertibles, stage outfits, a seat from her airplane, and the wrought iron gate from her Nashville Mansion. This weekend, Wynette’s daughter Georgette Jones will perform, along with a number of musicians and bands. And a new feature of the center will be dedicated, a theatre, that can be used for concerts, weddings, and other events.
“Out front by the museum, we have the museum stage, we seat almost 200 out there when you come back here to the theater, we are looking at 300 to 500,” said Cantrell.
A centerpiece of the theater is the back of the stage. This is a facade of the house Tammy Wynette grew up in and the wood also has a special connection to the singer.
“All the wood came off an old house she actually lived in, we spent days peeling these boards off, cleaning moss off them,” said Cantrell.
Cantrell compares the current Wynette Legacy Center, to the early days of a nearby attraction for another groundbreaking singer.
“The things going on with Elvis Presley, was pretty good, getting started, we are in the early stages of what we can be,” said Cantrell.
For more information about the Wynette Legacy Center, visit www.facebook.com/TammyWynetteLegacyCenter
