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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Opryland USA Facebook group has more than 40,000 members, all sharing their favorite park memories. A while ago, member Donna Byrd, his girlfriend, posted a question hoping to find out who it was.
“Shannon Schramm!” Donna told NewsChannel 5 on a Zoom call. “He was a ventriloquist at Opryland many years ago. I tried to find him, but it had been years since I had seen him or heard from him.”
A long-lost connection between some of the people who worked at Opryland is now being resolved. Watch in the player above.
We decided to catch up with Shannon and his ventriloquist dummy, Rod.
“Good day?” said the ventriloquist dummy Rod, without moving his mouth.
“Your mouth isn’t moving,” Shannon pointed out to Rod.
“You’re not pulling the strings,” Rod replied.
“We’re kind of a comedy team like Abbott and Costello, but I’m the funny team,” Rod continued.
“I started practicing ventriloquism when I was five years old,” Shannon said. “That’s what I said I wanted to do!”
“He’s been working with dummies ever since,” Rod interjected.
By the late ’80s, Shannon and Rod were roaming Opryland and later performing their own shows in the park.
“We played about 6,000 gigs,” Rod said.
“It was a magical place,” Shannon continued. “It was one of those rare places where there was such a high concentration of talent and creativity. It was great to be surrounded by that. I felt energized and inspired.”
Opryland has given me connections to some of the greats of country music. They became friends with Porter Wagoner, Minnie Pearl, and others.
“Did you know I had an uncle who worked at the Grand Ole Opry?” Rod asked.
“Was he a musician?” Shannon replied.
“No, he was the circle of trees where everyone was standing.”
Since Opryland closed, Shannon remained in the world of puppetry.
“We don’t travel much, but we make dolls in our doll workshop,” Shannon said.
He created puppets for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program and some of the stars of String City, a show that has been performed for many years at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. . Shannon’s travels led to a collection of treasures.
“Shelly Lewis gave me these lamb chops,” Shannon said, showing off items from her collection. “We got Minnie Pearl’s hat. We worked for Hee Haw and all that stuff. When the show ended, we got the cornfield.”
Shannon also owns the cast of Dummies from the 1978 Anthony Hopkins thriller Magic and the original Everlasting Gobstopper from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Although his interesting life led him to this space of pure imagination, Shannon said simple things like Donna’s message are rewarding.
“When I saw that post, I was really, really moved,” Shannon said.
“I hope to see them again after many years,” Donna said.
“Are we part of the nostalgia?” Rod asked.
“Yeah.”
“oh.”
“It’s really an honor to be a part of that, to be a part of something that people love so much,” Shannon said. “It’s amazing that Opryland’s blessings continue to exist.”
Lori recommends:
Tennessee county’s ‘policy’ of jailing mentally ill people led to man’s death, lawsuit says
Another example of detailed reporting and tenacity from our award-winning colleague Ben Hall. Ben’s ongoing “Broken” series shines a light on persistent issues that extend from local governments to state legislatures. The details of this particular story are alarming, but essential to affecting change. Please take a look at the works aired on this week’s news programs.
-Lori Johnston
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