A decade of Dooley
By JERRY LANKFORD
Record Editor
For
Wilkes Playmakers, it’s been a decade of Dooley.
When
the lights go up at Forest Edge Amphitheatre on W. Kerr Scott Lake on Thursday
evening, it will mark the 10th season of the Playmakers’ production of
the stage play Tom Dooley: A Wilkes County Legend.
Written
by Karen Reynolds, the show details one of the most legendary love triangles
and murder mysteries in American history.
The
story - set around the time of the Civil War - deals with Tom Dooley (Dula),
and the murder of Laura Foster.
Reynolds,
during a Monday afternoon interview, said when she first completed the script
to the play 10 years ago, she had no idea it would have such a long lifespan.
“And,
I certainly never thought it would be an outdoor drama,” said Reynolds.
The
show moved to the 900-seat amphitheatre from Benton Hall in North
Wilkesboro in the summer of 2006. During that season’s opening
night, the Kingston Trip – whose version of the Dooley ballad made the story
known internationally – performed.
Tom Dooley (originally
spelled Dula) had many women — including Laura Foster. He had met her a short
time after he was discharged from the Confederate Army at the end of the Civil
War.
At the same time, Dooley
resumed his relationship with Anne Melton, although she had married an older
man (James Melton) while Dooley had been in the service. Dooley and Anne had
worked out a way to carry on their affair. Anne’s cousin, Perline Foster, was
the decoy — or “blind” — for them. Dooley would visit the Melton home under the
pretext of coming to see Perline.
Anne didn’t seem to mind
Dooley’s sexual escapades with Perline as long as she got her lover’s
attentions, too. But when Anne heard that Laura was pregnant with Dooley’s
child and that they planned to marry, that may have been more than Anne could
stand.
The night of May 27, 1866,
Anne, Perline, Dooley and rowdy friend Jack Keaton — a former beau of Laura’s —
joined together for a night of hard drinking at Anne’s mother’s home. From that
point the story becomes unclear.
Neighbors saw Laura riding
her father’s horse in the direction of the old Bates Place — now called Laura’s Ridge —
where the two lovers would meet. Those who saw Laura in those early morning
hours were the last to see her alive.
The next day, when Laura’s father’s horse
returned without his daughter, he set out to find the girl. Members of the
community joined the search, but Laura could not be found. Some began to look
at Dooley suspiciously. He left for Tennessee
under an assumed name, but word got back to Wilkes. Laura’s body was later
found in a shallow grave and Dooley was arrested and brought back across the
mountains.
Anne and Perline were also
arrested following a fight at a neighbor’s home in which Perline blurted words
that implicated them in the crime. Perline, however, agreed to testify against
Dooley and Anne in exchange for her freedom.
Dooley was tried twice — the
first time in Wilkes, then again in Statesville.
He was found guilty both times and was sentenced to hang for the murder.
Many, even today, believe
Dooley was innocent.
The outdoor version of the
play offers battle scenes with explosions and replica Civil War weapons
(audience members should brace themselves because the bombs and gunshots are
loud). It also utilizes horses and the natural hills and trees flanking the
stage.
And, even after 10 years, the
show is still drawing folks in who are interested in the Dooley story.
“For example, today (Monday),
we got ticket orders from Myrtle Beach and from Florida,” Reynolds said.
“It’s pretty amazing.”
David Reynolds directs the
show. Karen Reynolds plays the part of Tom’s mother, Ma Dooley.
Tom Dooley is played by
Travis Collins. Jessica Barlow plays the part of Laura Foster. Nicole Collins
plays Anne Melton and Brendetta Huffman plays Perline.
Showdates for Tom Dooley:
A Wilkes County Legend are July 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15,
16, 17 at 8:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are regularly priced at $15 dollars
with a $5 discount on Fridays when requested by Wilkes County
residents. Tickets may be purchased by calling 336-838-7529 and leaving a
name and number and a representative will return the call or by ordering online
at www.wilkesplaymakers.com. Tickets may also be purchased on site on the
night of each performance. The on site Box Office will open at 7 p.m.
The show is performed at The
Forest's Edge Amphitheatre off Hwy 421 North in Historic Fort
Hamby Park
in Wilkesboro in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Independence Day events set
The annual fireworks display at Memorial Park in
Downtown North Wilkesboro will once again be held. The event is sponsored by
the Wilkes Law Enforcement Officers Association.
This year, the fireworks and other events will be held
on Saturday, July 3.
Prior to the fireworks, which will begin at dusk,
there will be a parade of about 200 emergency vehicles. The parade will start
at West Park in North Wilkesboro, head west on D Street, east on the CDB Loop
to Sixth Street and then on Main Street to 10th Street, back onto
the loop to Forester Avenue then Wilkesboro Avenue and end at Memorial Park.
The emergency agencies participating will include
Wilkes County Emergency Medical Service, Wilkes County Fire Marshal's Office,
Wilkes County Sheriff's Department, Wilkes Rescue Squad, North Carolina Forest
Service, North Wilkesboro and Wilkesboro
Police departments, North Carolina Highway Patrol, North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission, North Carolina National Guard, W. Kerr Scott Rangers,
State Bureau of Investigation and Wilkes County Bomb Squad.
Also during the evening’s festivities, the Wilkes
Acoustic Folk Society will host a jam at the Old Train Depot in Downtown North
Wilkesboro on Saturday evening. The music will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is free.
Visitors are encouraged to bring instruments and a chair.
Click here to go to the website
www.historicnws.com
Sen. Robert
Byrd, born in Wilkes, dies
By JERRY
LANKFORD
Record Editor
Sen. Robert Carlyle Byrd, 92, of West Virginia,
who was born in North Wilkesboro, died on
Monday.
Named Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr., at the time
of his birth on Nov. 20, 1917, Byrd was a Democrat who served as a Senator from 1959
to 2010 and was the longest-serving
senator, as well as the longest-serving member in congressional history.
Initially elected to
the United States House of
Representatives in 1952, Byrd served there for six years before
being elected to the Senate in 1958.
Over the years he
rose to become one of the most powerful members of the Senate, leading the
Democratic caucus in the Senate from 1977 to 1989. Later, he served as President pro
tempore of the United States Senate for the 17 years of the 21 years
1989 to 2010 when the Democratic Party had a majority in the Senate. As
President pro tempore, he was third in the line of presidential succession,
behind the Vice President and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
Byrd always
remembered his ties to Wilkes
County.
His great niece,
Retha Cagle, called him a man of great principle.
“He was a stickler for the law and trying to make sure that
government didn’t overstep its boundaries,” Cagle said. “Whether you liked him
or not, he always stood up for what he believed in.”
Cagle added that Byrd and her grandfather, Reuben Rathmel Sale
(Byrd’s brother), shared many of the same principles.
“Although the two were raised apart, it was amazing how they
believed in the same things,” she said.
A year after Byrd was
born in North Wilkesboro, his mother, Ada Mae
Kirby, died in the 1918 Flu Pandemic. In accordance with his mother's wishes, his
father, Cornelius Calvin Sale, dispersed the family children among relatives.
Sale Jr. was given to the custody of Titus and Vlurma Byrd, his uncle and aunt,
who adopted him, renamed him Robert Carlyle Byrd, and raised him in the
coal-mining region of southern West Virginia.
Byrd was valedictorian
of Mark Twain High School
and, in 1937, he married his high-school sweetheart, Erma Ora James. He
eventually attended Beckley College, Concord College, Morris Harvey College, and Marshall College, all in West Virginia.
Byrd died at 3 a.m.,
Monday, at Inova Hospital
in Fairfax, Va.
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Community
Happenings
Mayo's Baseball
School: Dream Bat Baseball Camp Fundamental
Baseball Clinic. June 29-July 2 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ages 6-14, Memorial Park,
North Wilkesboro $150 membership fee. Free
T-shirt for every camper. Registration deadline June 4, after which a $15 late
fee will be charged. Spaces are limited. For more information contact Jeff Mayo
at 336-684-4861 E-mail: mayosbaseballschool@charter.net.
The Humane
Society of Wilkes offers registration for the low cost spay/neuter clinic
every Tuesday night, from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the Wilkes County Public
Library. Registered pets are transported to the clinic on the second
Monday of each month. For more information please call 336-984-0227.
You are invited
to Vacation Bible
School at Hilltop Baptist
Church in Fairplains on
June 27- July 1 from 6:30 until 8:30 each evening. There will be classes for
all ages and everyone is welcome.
The Wilkes
Senior Citizens Council, Inc has fans to give to persons 60 years and
older. The eligibility requirements are
as follows: Must be 60 years or older, and must be a resident of Wilkes County
and have a home situation where a threat to the person’s health and well-being
exists.
The Wilkes County
Library Sci-Fi Convention has a website at http://www.wilkeslibrarycon.com.
Please visit the website to
learn more about the upcoming Convention on Saturday, July 31, 2010 at the
Wilkes County Public Library.
Millers Creek Baptist Church
will have Vacation
Bible School
from June 27-July 1 from 6:25-8:50 each evening. Classes will be offered for
all age groups and a nursery will be provided.
The theme for this year is A Saddle Ridge Ranch Vacation Bible School. There will be a special guest appearance by
Rev. Will Graham. For more information, call 833-4446 or visit www.millerscreekbaptist.org.
Celebration of our 35th
Judy Barber Tribe Reunion
Friday, July 2, the celebration starts at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Heights School
for an evening of fun and entertainment known as the Barber Shuffle/Karaoke
Night. Admission is free.
Saturday, July 3, picnic at Smoot
Park beginning at 1 p.m.
Meat and drinks will be provided. Bring a picnic basket filled with other
goodies and swim wear if you want to play in the pool. A horseshoe competition
will be held and trophies will be presented.
Sunday, July 4 at 3 p.m. a special Celebration Service will be held
at Rickard’s Chapel
AME Zion
Church.
The 30th annual Davis reunion will be held Sunday, June 27 at the Fish Dam
Picnic Center
at the flag pole entrance to the dam.
Family and friends are welcomed. Please bring a picnic basket of food to
share.
Come and join us for a
fun-filled adventure at Faith
Chapel Church,
located at 141 Campbell Glen Lane
in Fleetwood, beginning June 28-July2 from 7 to 9:15 nightly. The theme for this year is High Seas
Expedition, Exploring the Mighty Love of God.
