Shown clockwise from left are city manager John Godwin; Rickey Lucas, member of the Red River Valley Fair Board; Rita Haynes, executive director; Steve Tucker, secretary-treasurer of the board; board president Wade White; and Paris Live Open Mic representatives Robbie Gunn and David Millsap. (eParisExtra Photo by Charles Richards)
By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra!
Members of the Red River Valley Fair Board this week signed off on renaming the two-block thoroughfare inside the fairgrounds to ‘Gene Watson Boulevard” and discussed the logistics for honoring the acclaimed singer upon his Sept. 25 performance at the Red River Valley Fair.
The Paris City Council on July 9 approved a resolution to that effect. City manager John Godwin told the fair board on Wednesday that the city’s public works department will make new red Gene Watson Boulevard signs to replace the three street signs in place from the south entrances of the fairgrounds to the north entrance.
Watson has long made it a point to be in Paris each year for the annual Red River Valley Fair, where he is the biggest attraction. Watson grew up in the Paris area, and this year is marking his 50th year as a country singer well known nationally.
The two-block-long section of Northwest Sixth Street inside the fairgrounds will officially become Gene Watson Boulevard on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 – the date that Watson is scheduled to entertain during this year’s Red River Valley Fair.
Rita Haynes, executive director of the board, is a longtime friend of Watson, as is Red River Valley Fair Board president Wade White of Sumner, an acclaimed entertainer in his own right, who for years has been the warm-up act for Watson at his Paris performances.
David Millsap of Paris Live Open Mic, who is perhaps Watson’s biggest fan, spent months making the case to city officials for honoring Watson in this way.
Watson’s Sept. 25 performance at the fairgrounds will be interrupted by Millsaps and others coming onto the stage to honor Watson. Millsap will present to Watson his own “Gene Watson Boulevard” sign.
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Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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