Here's a Toast to the Oak Ridge Boys at Bagelfest
Growing up in the "Bagel Capital of the World," also known as Mattoon, Ill., the annual Bagelfest is a pretty big deal in my hometown. Not only is there a plethora of bagels and cream cheese, but the nightly entertainment is always country music. When I saw that 28 years ago this week, "Elvira" went platinum, I immediately thought of one summer night when my mom yelled to my brother and me to come outside and hear the Oak Ridge Boys. "The who?" I thought to myself.
Since the Bagelfest concert was only a few blocks away, we could hear the performance perfectly from our front stoop. I was about 16, my brother was 11 and we both had zero interest in listening to them. But to appease her, we slowly dragged ourselves outside. She told us both, "Someday you will remember being able to hear the Oak Ridge Boys from the front yard and you will be glad I made you come out here and listen."
Although I didn't believe her at the time, she was right and I'll never forget the time we danced in the front yard to "Elvira." Thanks to her, I am able to appreciate a lot of timeless country music and especially that infectious oom poppa, mow mow classic.
©2008 Country Music Television, Inc., a Viacom company. A division of
Mom says:
Ha! I remember that evening well!
Thank you for the reminder and the appreciation.
Glad I could pass on some of the wisdom of country music, for which it receives too little credit.
Well, maybe not “oom poppa, mow mow”!!!
Love you!
Jeff says:
Great post and great response by “Mom”!
judy says:
I’ve been to Bagelfest several times. In fact, that’s where I saw Josh Turner for the first time and now he’s my favorite artist.
Alan fan says:
some how “bagelfest” and country music don’t seem to go together but I like it!
Shadow says:
The music of the Oak Ridge Boys goes with country music better than the music of Taylor Swift, but it doesn’t stop people from like that, either. LOL