Jim Ed Brown, left, chats with Vince Gill at the R.O.P.E. awards banquet on Thursday at the Al Menah Shrine Temple in Nashville.

We sincerely thank Peter Cooper of the Tennessean for joining our 25th Anniversary of R.O.P.E. last night and for the 21st Annual Golden Dinner/Awards Show.  His article reflects how strongly R.O.P.E. continues to grow, and though he was he had time constraints last night to get his story into the paper, as you can see by his article, his hand wrote an article that gives an insight to what true traditional country music is and what it means to the legendary artists and their fans.  Where else can you go to an awards show and not be hounded by security guards and where most of the "so-called name artists," find no time to gather with their fans and leave their managers, security dogs, and booking agents to fend for themselves.  Last night you would have had to have been there to enjoy the comraderie between the artists and fans, and to my surprise, there were many young people in the audience who also were there to witness what it is like to be able to walk up to the legends in country music and say hello, take a picture, shake hands, get an autograph and just talk.  Oh by the way, Vince Gill was there for the complete evening and he is one of today's artists who know what the word legends means.  He was a gracious as always and I guess it is because he understands what a fan means to an artist, and he has learned well from his legendary friends at the Grand Ole Opry.

So, thank yu Peter Cooper and the Tennessean and to all of the other media and photographers who spent the evening with us and we invite all of you to come back next year for the 2009 Celebrations in June at the Fan Fair and for our 22nd Annual Banquet/Awards Show in Oct. 

A special, special thanks to The Time Jumpers, Vince Gill, Hazel Helms and Jean Hughey for being a part of this great evening.  Oh yes, and what a great place to hold our banquet at the Al Menah Shriner Temple here in Nashville. 

Legends gather for R.O.P.E. awards

By PETER COOPER • Staff Writer • October 10, 2008

Laughter suspends the time. Familiarity breaks through any showbiz airs. At the Reunion of Professional Entertainers awards Thursday night in Nashville, deeper concerns ruled the evening.

"A fan said to me, 'I grew up with your music, and I want us to grow old together'," said Jeannie Seely, standing next to her table at the Al Menah Shrine Temple as legendary figures walked, talked and hugged around her. "That's the way I feel about these people."

To country music fans, "these people" are heroes of the genre. At the R.O.P.E. function, they are respected as such, but they are more than that. Asked why she attends the event each year, Opry star Jean Shepherd said simply, "You get to see old friends."

Some of those old friends also get recognized and singled-out. At the CMA and ACM Awards in recent years, Kenny Chesney has been named the entertainer of the year. At the R.O.P.E. awards last night? The entertainer of the year was 52-year Opry veteran Jimmy C. Newman, who remains an invigorating presence on the show, playing his unique "Cajun Country" songs.

If it seems unlikely that some of today's country stars will be performing on the Opry 52 years from now, Newman had some advice on how the current crop might weather whatever storms could appear between 2008 and 2060.

"They should go watch what Little Jimmy Dickens does," he said. "He's the last of the breed, and he's the best that ever was. That man is an entertainer."