The Alapaha Station Celebration got off the ground as a festival marking the 100th anniversary of Alapaha in 1981. The celebration has transitioned into an annual event held during the second weekend of November extolling community spirit.
On Veterans Day, November 11, expect a parade at 10:30 a.m. followed by free concerts, arts and crafts, antique cars and tractors, kids’ rides and games, delicious food, and more genuine fun in a safe family environment. Tifton Chief of Police Stevie Hyman was raised in Alapaha and will lead the parade as grand marshal.
Booths are still available for prospective vendors. Visit https://www.facebook.com/alapahastationcelebration, email JeremyLR@windstream.net, or call Bank of Alapaha at 229-532-6115 for further details.
The theme, “Small Town Livin’,” acknowledges the multi-faceted virtues exemplified by this little town with a big heart. Cardinal red or athletic green long and short sleeve T-shirts depict the theme and can be purchased at Carl Dixon’s little barbershop building adjacent to Shear Legacy Salon on 210 Northeast Railroad Street.
The entertainment roster consists of a Grand Ole Opry chanteuse and crowd-pleasing regional talent. Mandy Barnett, the Danny Dawson Band, the Ten Mile Bay Band, Justin Schools, Mendi Stone, the Berrien High School Band, State Prison Cloggers, and cartoon characters are all scheduled to perform.
After the National Anthem and a special presentation of the colors by the Moody Air Force Base Honor Guard, Justin Schools will sing and play guitar at 11:45 a.m. The Ray City songwriter has called Music City USA home for several years and is signed to Red Door Music Group/Warner Chappell. He is primarily influenced by ’90s/’00s country stalwarts such as Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, and Chris Stapleton. Green Day, Nickelback, and 3 Doors Down supply Schools’ rock playlist.
Stone is a nurse practitioner by day and country-soul chanteuse as soon as the sun sets. She patterns her sound after Bonnie Raitt, Wynonna Judd, Reba McEntire, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight. Stone’s backing band for her 12:15 performance will include members of country road warriors Kason Layne.
Ten Mile Bay will rock the entertainment stage for the first time at 1 p.m. TMB was established in 2019 and boasts an “exhilarating blend of country and southern rock music. Their aggressive attitude, emotive expression, progressive intellect, and modern flair,” a perfect fit for Alapaha.
Back by overwhelming demand, Dawson is saddling up for a good ole heartbreak-laden country concert at 2 p.m. Dawson’s hardscrabble origin can be traced to a tenant farm in Manor alongside 18 siblings. He has shared a stage with Waylon Jennings and Travis Tritt and opened shows for Ronnie Milsap and Confederate Railroad.
The headliner for the show is Mandy Barnett, the “torch singer with the chameleon-like chops” who was inducted into the Opry in 2021 by Marty Stuart and Connie Smith, will headline a free show at 3:30 p.m. A singer since the age of five, Barnett is a world-class vocalist whose style is deeply rooted in the classic country and pop crooning of the all-time great singers.
The Crossville, Tennessee, native first garnered national attention as a teenager, earning rave reviews for her portrayal of the legendary Patsy Cline in the stage show “Always…Patsy Cline” at the famed Ryman Auditorium.
She released her debut album “Mandy Barnett” in 1996 following the successful first run of “Always…Patsy Cline.” Singles “Now That’s All Right with Me” and “Maybe” landed on Billboard.
The follow-up record, “I’ve Got a Right to Cry,” was produced by Nashville Sound pioneer Owen Bradley, his final contribution to the music community before his death. “I’ve Got a Right to Cry” was named the top country album in the year of its release by Rolling Stone, and similar stellar reviews appeared in People and Newsweek.
Barnett has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” and PBS’s “Sessions at West 54th.”
Kenny Chesney [“Ain’t That Love”], Ray Price [“Prisoner of Love”], Asleep at the Wheel [“The Letter (That Johnny Walker Read)”], and Ronnie Milsap [2014 duets of “You Make Me Feel Brand New” and “Make Up”] boast vocal collaborations with Barnett.
She has been a featured artist on a host of movie soundtracks including Clint Eastwood and James Garner’s “Space Cowboys” and even sang on the “SpongeBob SquarePants” album, sharing the spotlight with the likes of Beach Boys studio genius Brian Wilson.
Equally comfortable onstage with symphonies or at historic theaters and performing arts centers, Barnett has been called “a torch singer in the grandest sense of the word” by the Chicago Tribune, while the Los Angeles Times lauded her “pipes of steel” and “glorious echo.”
For her “Strange Conversation” album, Barnett cut at the famed Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant’s production team of Doug Lancio and Marco Giovino. The sultry Southern R&B groove of the title track, the gritty blues of “Put a Chain On It,” to the drastically rearranged, funky take of Tom Waits’ “Puttin’ on the Dog,” Barnett stepped out of her comfort zone with winning results
Prior to Halloween, a mega-wattage superstar tribute LP to The Judds will bow on BMG. Barnett, Shelby Lynne, and Emily West have been tapped to sing Wynonna and Naomi’s “I Know Where I’m Going.” And next time you’re in Barnett’s hometown, take a gander at her Tennessee Music Pathways marker on the lawn of the Cumberland County Courthouse.
Bro. Scott King of Alapaha Baptist will lead a community worship service a day later on Sunday, November 12, at 11 a.m. in the Alapaha Gym. After special music, Bro. Nathan Barnes of Alapaha Community Church will welcome Bro. Scott and wife Donna. Organizers and community members encourage your attendance at this free, non-denominational event where the Lord will be uplifted through songs, prayer, and preaching.