Night the Lights Went Out

By Charlotte Hodge

We all have our stories to tell about the times the electricity has gone out at home or office, but this time the lights went out in downtown Morrilton. And, I happened to be right downtown at the Rialto Theatre. It happened Thursday night, June 25, just as Lulu (“Hee Haw” TV star) took the stage as the main attraction for Gospel Night, a kickoff of sorts for the Great Arkansas Pig Out, sponsored by Ozark Conference Center. Approximately 300 to 350 fans were gathered to enjoy the gospel singing and then the portion of the star’s contribution to the successful night.

The stage was set with bales of hay with milk buckets sitting on them, an easy chair, and the usual speakers and stuff needed to get good sound to the audience and the singer. Lulu came out and greeted the audience; then it went dark and the sound system shut down. It was quiet for about a second, then everyone started talking, and the emergency light (singular) came on. Then the true star of the night began to shine. She was sitting on stage with that one light spotting her, no sound system, and no one had a clue as to what had happened.

I was imagining a bad wreck or something and got up to go outside, but before I left I heard this gallant lady tell everyone that since she couldn’t sing without the music, “Let’s just talk.” So, a couple of people went on stage holding flashlights on her face so everyone could see her, and she asked for questions from the audience. She said, “Ask me anything, and I’ll give you an answer.” She told about losing, I think it was 250 pounds, but admitted she did it the easy way with the lap band procedure, but she just kept on losing weight and got very ill and ended up in the hospital. She said she came within two days of meeting Jesus, but it just wasn’t her time. Lulu continually gave snippets of her testimony as a Christian throughout her entire performance. Questions were asked about her children, and she told of her two sons, both of whom are Christians, and said one had also had the lap band surgery and had lost 150 pounds since December. He weighed 450 pounds, she told us.

I missed some of her answers and stories because I was outside using my phone to call some contacts to find out what had happened. Of course, no one knew at that point. But Mayor Bobby Kirby was outside calling around getting some help, and Benny Baker was checking with his son, Brandon, who is director of Conway County Emergency Services.

Benny is the person who works so diligently to get these gospel nights in place with the special guests. (He’s doing a fabulous job.) The mayor had some police officers to come by and got some flashlights in case they were needed later.

Some of the people in the audience had flashlights and would help anyone who needed to leave to go the rest rooms or the lobby. In the meantime Lulu was sitting on stage, pretty as you please, telling funny but true stories about her times on “Hee Haw” and how she got her job. I think I understood her to say she is writing a book and will include those stories. If and when she does, you must buy one. I loved her stories.

I can’t begin to tell you how impressed I was with this lady. She didn’t complain, and she didn’t get mad and stomp off the stage. She just accepted it and went on with the show.

Her, I guess you would call him her manager, was trying to get something rigged up for her, and someone got a generator or something; anyway, several men helped him, and they got a microphone going and then the CD player, and we had live music. Lulu then continued sitting in her easy chair and belted out her songs. She sang gospel songs as well as pop songs, and I thoroughly enjoyed her singing as well as her chatter.

I found someone in the audience who had a good camera, John Osburn from Oklahoma, who had come to see the show along with his mom, a former Oppelo gal, Fern Helton, and asked him to take some pictures for me of Lulu sitting on the stage with the flashlights as spotlights.

Lulu is so quick on the uptake. While she was giving a very serious talk about being a Christian her stage manager, who was sitting right behind her, sneezed really loud because of the hay and everyone laughed. She just pretended to wipe her hair (from the sneeze), and said, “Well, you blew that,” and picked up where she left off.

The lights didn’t come back on until long after the audience had left. Volunteers with flashlights and police officers escorted people to their cars. I have to say that I am proud of our Rialto Theatre, and I appreciate so much the people who worked so hard to make it possible. I also want to say thanks to Benny Baker for bringing gospel music and entertainment as part of our wonderful Great Arkansas Pig Out where more volunteers are working. I can’t leave out the Fabulous Fourth either. Susan Henderson and her helpers do a really tremendous job. And, guess what, folks, everything is FREE to the public. We are blessed to have such wonderful volunteers. Thanks to all of you and the sponsors who make these events possible.