Sean C. Morgan
To help raise cash for a project at the Sweet Home Elks Lodge, Shirley Austin is bringing her “Hee Hee Haw Haw Dinner Show,” a tribute to the “Hee Haw Show,” there on Sept. 20.
“We have a lot of the components from the old Hee Haw Show,” Austin said. The show is inspired by the “Hee Haw Show,” including a lot of corny jokes, music and characters.
“We’re doing ‘Where, Oh, Where are You Tonight,” Austin said. Among those portrayed will be Minnie Pearl, Dolly Parton and Johnny and June.
Sweet Home had a preview of the show during the Chips ’n’ Splinters kickoff to Sportsman’s Holiday, with several performances, including a portrayal of the Soggy Bottom Boys performing “Man of Constant Sorrow.”
Austin and her cast performed the program at the Lebanon Senior Center’s summer barbecue in August, she said. She put together a luau for the barbecue the past couple of years.
“We have had a blast rehearsing,” Austin said. “We have been rehearsing for about three months. It’s just a really good group of people that are very talented. It’s just fun, and we’re looking forward to this performance.”
And they’ll use the fun to fix the main hall at the Elks Lodge.
“Our divider curtain, which divides the meeting room, is literally falling apart,” Austin said.
The cost is $12, which includes the program along with a pulled pork dinner featuring chuckwagon beans, cowboy coleslaw and Hee Haw brownies. Tickets are available at the Elks Lodge, 440 Osage St., (541) 367-3559, and Chamber of Commerce, 1575 Main St., (541) 367-6186.
The performers are primarily from Lebanon and Sweet Home.
They include Bob Fisk running sound and Linda Rowton, Austin, Brandi Vinson, Michelle Swett, Lori McNulty, Jeanne Reeves, Paul Rowton Jr., Paul Rowton Sr., Darcy Hess, Jim Heimbuck, Ron Sharrah, Alan Chambers, Mac McNulty, Jonathan Pedersen, Lori Williamson and Charlie Williamson.