Who knew that Rotarians had talent? Apparently, they thought they did May 10, 1949, because someone slipped into one of the Thursday-noon meetings, took notes, and turned them in to the Marshall News Messenger, which blabbed it all, over town.
It started innocently enough with group singing lead by Nathan Goldberg, after which cigars were passed out by O. H. (Sam) Clark, bearing the inscription, “It’s A Girl”, and Bill Nutt was recognized the MISD student for the month.
Apparently, the Rotary club had a talent committee in those days, and V. H. Hackney was chairman, and they had a pianist, Mrs. Dana Taylor, who served as the accompanist. Gordon Boone acted as Master of Ceremonies, in what was described as a “Big Time-Hollywood-Radio-Style” production.
Many talents were showcased that day, beginning with Dr. W. L. Munden and Dr. W. H. Rickles, mystifying the crowd with their team magic act, followed by Martin Hirsch, on the violin, who was so good he had to do an encore.
Then Wade Lane, widely known as “The Whistler” accompanied a couple of recordings, including “Tea for Two, and one other to the delight of the crowd.
R. M. Dick) Williams offered a couple of numbers on his trusted banjo, surprising four others by calling Eddie Graham, the Rev. Bruce Brannon, Mr. Hackney, and Nathan Goldberg to the front. They learned that they were to be a quartet with him as the accompanist. Needless to say, they weren’t asked for an encore.
Program Chairman Dudley Taylor called a special meeting of the program committee at the conclusion of the program, to which Master of Ceremonies, Gorgon Boone shouted: “You need it”.
I suppose it pretty much killed their chance of going pro, and no one knows if Mr Hackney survived as Talent Chairman, but the club survived that brief, but giddy moment in the spotlight, to go on doing what they did best, “Changing Lives in Marshall – And Beyond”, and for that we will fondly remember their 15-minutes-of-fame, when we meet August 24, 2019, in the Marshall Convention Center to celebrate this and the many other wonderful memories of the Rotary Club of Marshall, Texas, USA.