Saturday night’s storm over Anniston forced an impromptu decision by organizers of Music at McClellan. They moved the first part of the four-part outdoor music series indoors.An estimated 450 music lovers packed a gymnasium, under renovation as the future Buckner Arts and Exhibit Center, to enjoy the music of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the 21st Century Platters.
Between 1,500 and 2,500 tickets to the concert had been sold. Many who braved the weather had to be turned away because the gymnasium was not large enough to accommodate the crowd.
Five charter buses carrying ticket holders were turned away. Those who could not be accommodated in the makeshift concert venue will receive a raincheck, organizers said.
Before the decision was made to move the concert, families huddled under the hatches of sports utility vehicles or in cars, hoping the deluge would end in time for the concert’s start.
A lightning strike damaged the soundboard and other equipment, and shocked two deputy sheriffs.
Sheriff’s Deputies Harold Hall and Donald Reaves were standing under a canopy next to their horse trailer, trying to keep the trailer’s canopy from blowing away, holding it with one hand and the trailer with the other, Hall said.
Lightning struck the trailer. Hall, Reaves and their horses managed to escape the strike without serious injury, Hall said.
Shortly after, around 7:30 p.m., the decision was made to move the concert inside. Electricians worked quickly to bring enough wiring and elecricity into the building. Concert goers carried in the chairs they had brought to use on the field.
"As they say, the show must go on," said Pete Conroy, chairman of Music at McClellan.
The Alabama Symphony Orchestra opened the night’s performance with the National Anthem and followed it with a medley of 1950s music, receiving a standing ovation from the reduced crowd.
Windows provided little ventilation for the crowded and hot building. Anniston Mayor Chip Howell handed out bottled water to the patrons. The Anniston Water Works and Sewer Board had planned to sell the water, but in the circumstances just gave it away.
Concert-goers who were turned away were disappointed, but remained optimistic about future concerts.
"We’ll do it again next week," said David Prosser of Anniston. "I hope it doesn’t spoil the other concerts." On May 29, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Three Dog Night will perform.
Prosser and his wife, Janet Tyson Prosser, brought their 8-year-old daughter, Sveta, and her friend, Kirstie Salers. The concert was to be a highlight of the girls’ spend-the-night party.
Like many others, the Prossers had postponed leaving home earlier in the evening, waiting out the rain instead of arriving early to picnic at the concert grounds, Janet Tyson Prosser said.
Jack Causey of Oxford said he hated to miss the Platters, his favorite group.
Causey and others enjoyed their leftover tailgating dinner of fried chicken and sugar cookies after they were turned away from the concert. They would have boarded the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the concert sooner, but they were taking shelter from the storm in their Buick, he said.
Some, like the Haynes family, made the most of the circumstances and sat outside the building enjoying the family time and hoping to hear the show.
Circled in modern-day lawn chairs, the family shared laughs, saying five years from now they’ll recall the memory of the time shared. Anna Haynes opened the back door of the Sequoya to provide shelter from the rain and everybody brought food, including barbeque, slaw, beans, fried chicken.
The concert is intended to lay the foundation for a permanent presence of cultural arts at McClellan.
That’s welcome news to Scott Cameron, a 32-year-old father of three sons. He and his wife, Misty, said the area needs more entertainment. Cultural events like the concert will draw people and money to the area, more than some sporting event because they attract all ages, Scott Cameron said.
"It brings family and friends together," Misty Cameron said.
Anyone who could not enter the gymnasium can redeem the ticket stub for a rain check. Unclaimed will-call tickets also will be honored with rain checks. Any ticket purchases made by telephone or on the Internet The rain checks will be available Monday and Tuesday at the Anniston-Calhoun County Joint Powers Authority headquarters at McClellan and at the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce. Rain checks are good for any of the remaining concerts in the series.
Anyone with any questions should call the JPA at 236-2011 or the Chamber of Commerce at 237-3536.
Star Staff Writer Charlotte Tubbs contributed to this report.
