Brenda and Wayne Sinard, who are themselves featured on the Wall of Fame at Park Place Restaurant, took over its operation a little over a year ago. They are preparing to add 14 new faces to the wall in February.Park Place Restaurant is well-known in the area, with many coming both for the food and for the Musician Wall of Fame housed there, which is dedicated primarily to local country, bluegrass and gospel singers. However, when Brenda Sinard and her husband Wayne, both with the Georgia Gospel, Country and Bluegrass Association, took over the care of the wall, they noticed there was some under-representation, and set out to fix it.
“We saw that gospel and bluegrass had fallen behind,” said Sinard, who is in her third year as president of the association. “We’ve been working to get it more even and have three separate walls for each. Some of the best singers I’ve ever heard have come from the Fort Oglethorpe area, so we’re trying to have them represented evenly.”
The wall features musicians from throughout Georgia and Tennessee whom the association determines are worth adding. Sinard and her associates take artists’ accomplishments, performances and any songs written, into consideration, she said.
GGCBA is planning another induction ceremony in February to celebrate 14 new additions to the wall. Some of the new faces include Shane Burroughs from East Ridge, Jim Defreest from Cleveland, Tenn., and Laney Marks and Austin Oldey, both area high school students.
“People audition, and from there we have showcases in different places,” Sinard said of the nomination process. “We take the top three entertainers from each genre and send them to the NACMA [North American Country Music Association] Awards Show.”