Sale Creek Opry celebrates three years

Floyd Bledsoe plays the keyboard every Saturday at the Sale Creek Opry. Originally supposed to an outlet for him and friend Randy Hatfield to keep themselves occupied and connected following the men's retirement, the Opry has turned into a popular community gathering. (Contributed photo)
Floyd Bledsoe plays the keyboard every Saturday at the Sale Creek Opry. Originally supposed to an outlet for him and friend Randy Hatfield to keep themselves occupied and connected following the men's retirement, the Opry has turned into a popular community gathering. (Contributed photo)

The Sale Creek Opry is celebrating three years of offering country music and family fun.

Founders Floyd Bledsoe, 68, and Randy Hatfield, 70, have played music together every Saturday night since June 2015 for the Soddy-Daisy and Sale Creek communities.

Hosted at the Sale Creek Lions Club from 6:30-10 p.m. on Saturdays, the Opry is meant to be a community event for people who want to get out and have fun but don't like to go to bars or clubs. Bledsoe and Hatfield, along with other friends, play an assortment of country music, old-time rock, bluegrass and gospel. There's dancing, home-cooked food and plenty of socializing.

Hatfield likes to describe it as "a family reunion with hot dogs."

He and Bledsoe have known each other their whole lives, growing up together in Soddy-Daisy. Before their retirement, Bledsoe worked as a pipe fitter and Hatfield as a truck driver, but both were also professional musicians.

After the two men retired, they wanted to find something to do together to keep themselves and their other friends connected.

"We were worried that we would have nothing to do when we retired as we circled the drain," Bledsoe said jokingly.

With him on the keyboard and Hatfield on guitar and vocals, they started the Opry simply to occupy their time and jam with friends, but it quickly turned into a popular community gathering.

"We just wanted a place to play music," Hatfield said. "It was for us, but these people needed it more than we do."

The joint is usually packed with what they refer to as their "Opry family." Young and old attend each week. Families bring their children to expose them to old-time music. A 92-year-old gentleman, whom Bledsoe and Hatfield call "the dancing man," can be seen on the dance floor all night.

The event is notoriously alcohol-free. The intent is to keep it family-friendly and to offer clean, wholesome fun, the founders said.

"Our friends told us we wouldn't last six months without selling beer," Bledsoe said. "That was three years ago and we are doing just fine."

Besides the camaraderie, Bledsoe and Hatfield's goal for the Sale Creek Opry is to keep old traditions alive. They don't perform any song less than 20 years old, and love to introduce this type of music to the younger generations, they said.

The Sale Creek Opry is held at 15222 Coppinger Road every Saturday evening all year long. Admission is $5 for couples and $3 for individuals. Children 12 and younger are free.

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