Posted by BF2C1 (anonymous) on November 30, 2009 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Wondered how the 'Gathering' turned out? Anyone with numbers?

Posted by talks2much (anonymous) on November 30, 2009 at 1:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Yea, I was wondering the same thing. Greenville has more talent than that mentioned. There are alot of former Old Gym Players that would have loved to have been on that stage again, but oh well. It is sad how folks from out of town are always the ones planning the reunions, etc. There are many that didn't know what was going on.

Posted by tigerfann (anonymous) on November 30, 2009 at 10:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Oh my gosh! How could you not know what was going on? It was in the paper three times, A|ND there was a website mentioned in the article all three times! Seems to me that you read the Advocate quite often online and you should have seen at least one of them. KUDOS to Audrey Leigh for getting this all together, and investing her own money to get things started! I didnt see anyone around here trying to get anything going! Any OLD GYM PLAYER who wanted to participate could have, as well as any GHS graduate. The people who performed were AWESOME! It was sadly, poorly attended, and to all who missed it, well, you REALLY missed it. This was a fabulous tribute to the talent that has come out of Greenville High School. If you would like to plan a reunion, Talks2much, go for it. It isn't easy. But it sure was fun!!

Posted by BF2C1 (anonymous) on December 1, 2009 at 7:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Bet this sort of thing does not happen again. By the way, members of the Greenville High School Class of 1940 were not aware of the reunion.

Posted by BF2C1 (anonymous) on December 3, 2009 at 10:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Must I remind the readers that the web site set up for the 'Gathering' clearly stated in bold large letters at the top of the page 'GREENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL MULTI-YEAR REUNION' an all-inclusive event for all alumni and teachers.
It turned out to be a self serving talent? skit for a small audience. What next in the 'City of Smiles'?

Posted by indiana (anonymous) on December 3, 2009 at 5:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

BF2C1, are you kidding? You have done nothing but whine and complain about the reunion. It was very well publicized, as evident that by the fact that you found this article (the 3rd one in the Advocate). You also claim to have visited the website but you neglected to mention all the many activities scheduled for both Friday and Saturday. Instead, you decide to flame one of the events only. How petty! By the way, that “self serving talent skit” as you describe it featured an award winning play, great country music and wonderful jazz/R&B music from GHS graduates of classes ’72, ’86 and ’89. There were both teachers and students from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s at the events over the weekend. There were enough different types of events that even a person like you should have had at least one that you would have been satisfied to attend.

Posted by BF2C1 (anonymous) on December 3, 2009 at 7:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I have not found a single person that attended Greenville High School that went to the 'Gathering'. I followed very closely the blog and 'talk' on the web page hoping so see classmates and it was almost blank. Know all about the so-called barn dance on Saint Francis Road near the local meth lab house that was part of the 'blow out', and 'gathering' at Sherling Lake.
My class at Greenville High in the 1960s had 132 graduates. I have talked to those that live in the Greenville area and not a one attended. We knew what was going on.
Did a little research and discovered that the individual that was organizing (if you call it that) the 'Gathering' was not even a local person. She had only lived here only a short period of time and now lives in another state. She did get help from a member of the Greenville Area Arts Council. By the way, readership if the Greenville Advocate is way down from years past. Most folks drop their subscription after moving away and many locals lost interest when the format changed under Boone Publications.
I will file this event away with the opening night of the Honey Drippers, and the Greenville Blues Festival (by the way, what happened to the Blues Festival???). Bring the wrong kind of people to town?
Everyone knows that this was not a reunion in the normal sense. Maybe it was a reunion for the classes of 72, 86 and 89. At least that is what the photographs on the reunion site seem to indicate. And that is why so many stayed away. According to tigerfann (apparently she or he attended) the Ritz performance was "poorly attended".
I passed by the Ritz about an hour before the performance and saw only one car (a white Nissan parked out front-know who it belongs to) and a young kid sitting up against the front of the theatre 'trying' to play a guitar. If this was going to be a well attended event the streets should have been full of parked cars. Not so.
Just another attempt to make an event in Greenville bigger and better than it really was. But everyone will get over this in the 'City of Smiles'.

Posted by indiana (anonymous) on December 3, 2009 at 9:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Honeydripper had over 700 people for the premier, or 10% of the population of Greenville for opening. It takes a very jaded “Scrooge” to call that a failure! Or is that someone trying to create failure? What kind of a person has no interest in an event, then takes the time to “research” the organizers and ride by at least one of the events to check it out? That sounds very creepy to me. If I don’t care about something, I certainly don’t waste my time obsessing over it!

Posted by BF2C1 (anonymous) on December 3, 2009 at 10:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

What our readers need to know is that the Honeydripper movie had very poor attendance after the premier night and that movie houses refused to book it several months after the opening night. It was a box office bomb.
The Honeydripper only grossed $267,880 at theaters.
And yet the honorable mayor stated that the opening night of the Honeydripper would be the "greatest day in the history of Greenville". Would I be jaded If I strongly disagree?
No, I am not trying to destroy Greenville. The local elected officials are doing that. What I am tired of is the overboard attempt to portray Greenville for what it is not.
Best small town in America to live in. I think not.
When is the next 'GREENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL MULTI-YEAR REUNION'?
Smile Indiana! This is the 'City of Smiles".

Posted by indiana (anonymous) on December 3, 2009 at 11:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I don’t know about the Mayor’s quote but I do know Honeydripper had a good run here in Greenville, not just opening night. Great wish on your part but it wasn’t a failure here. And I sure don’t remember anyone claiming it would be a blockbuster! It was an independent art film and most of those go directly to DVD, so making a run in theaters was an accomplishment.

And I still think the “spying” is creepy. And, is there some GHS rule that you have to live in Greenville to plan a class reunion? Why did that bother you so much that you had to post that Audrey “only lived here only a short period of time and now lives in another state”. Why does that matter? Again, really creepy!

There are three kinds of people, optimists, pessimists and the group that wants to malign and destroy anything they don’t like or agree with, most of the time without merit. If you didn’t like it, what difference did it make in your life that caused you to have to post so negatively? Why are you so bitter that you take joy in the number of people that attended or didn’t attend the Saturday night entertainment? I believe it’s called narcissism. And there is treatment for that.

Posted by KBWilhelm (anonymous) on December 4, 2009 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)

My wife and I drove 3 hours one way to attend "The Gathering" and we had a blast. All three performances were outstanding and we got to see friends and teachers we hadn't seen in years. I was very disappointed at the turnout, but I was not shocked. Greenville never has supported anything like this and with the attitudes that have been displayed on this blog it never will. I for one appreciate all of the time and effort that Leigh and the others put into organizing the event and I hope they have it again. If I can find out about it and attend while living in the Huntsville area, there is no excuse for those living just around the block. If Greenville is ever going to grow and attract people to return to their home town, attitudes will have to change. If not, drive down to Georgiana and look around.

Posted by BF2C1 (anonymous) on December 4, 2009 at 2:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I am a spy all right. One of our spies blew the whistle on Pioneer Electric's propane business. And our spy network learned that Danny Glover (lead man in the Honeydripper) received over $ 3,000,000 from the dictator of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez to further his acting career and the lambasting of the United States.
If subscribing to and reading the Greenville Advocate is spying, then I am guilty. If riding down Commerce Street or any other public street in Greenvile is spying, then I am guilty. Just about every person in Greenville is spying.
And now about attitude. Some people see a half full glass and others see a half empty glass. But what I have been seeing in Greenville for some time is the belief that the glass is always full. Every single bit of negative news out of Greenville is played down. Even the unemployment figure of 16.7% was reduced in the news to 16.0%. Two weeks later it climbed to 17.0% We all know that lying in office now days is an accepted fact. Sad but true.
When the Chapman Forest Products plant closed the negative news was countered by the statement by the mayor that two Korean Companies were looking at locating. A person in office can say just about anything. Unfortunately for Greenville hardly anyone questions such statements.
Now for a positive thought. The town of Greenville got a grant for over $ 500,000 to beautify Commerce Street. New sidewalks, power lines taken down and so on. It looks better.
Now a negative thought. I drove relatives that live out of state down Commerce Street since the new changes were made. They had not been here in over 30 years. Their comment after telling them that the city have spent this sum was 'where in the world was it spent"? "Just look at all the run down and vacant buildings". This is what people see when they come to historic Commerce Street.
The narcissitic people that you speak of were on stage at the Ritz Saturday night performing for the large 'gathering'.
And Indiana don't worry that I am going through you garbage, listening to your constant use of your cellphone, or spying on you at your little club meetings. I have far more inportant things to do with my life.
Everyone is happy in the 'City of Smiles'.

Posted by indiana (anonymous) on December 4, 2009 at 4:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

KBWilhelm, you nailed the problem with Greenville. I didn’t expect that all GHS graduates would want to or could attend this past weekend, but BF2C1 is a perfect example of a small group that tries to malign anything positive in this community. Instead, he rambles and attempts to put a reunion in the same category as gross mismanagement at Pioneer Electric and Danny Glover accepting money from Hugo Chavez to fund a movie. Fortunately, most people here don’t have that same mental problem. Unfortunately, they are the loudest group and appear larger than they really are!

I agree with you – it was a great weekend! I appreciate all the many people that worked so hard for all the activities we could attend, not just Audrey. Those that missed it have no idea how good the food, companionship and entertainment were! Great event.

By the way BF2C1, politicians aren’t the only people that can say anything they want and nobody questions those comments. Non politicians can lie and spin as well! As an example, would you care to explain how you know that Honeydripper “had very poor attendance after the premiere night”? Give us those figures. I would love to know them as well! Or did you just create that in your own mind? More wishful thinking? Give us the numbers so we can verify your story so you aren’t like all our bad politicians.

Posted by BF2C1 (anonymous) on December 4, 2009 at 6:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Link for Weekend Chart Record for the independent film 'Honeydripper'.

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2007/H...

Go to the bottom of the page for weekly numbers. Look at the time the film played in theaters. The film simply was not viewed as being worthy of seeing, even by the black population.

Posted by indiana (anonymous) on December 4, 2009 at 7:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

BF2C1, you’re avoiding the question. You attack people for making erroneous claims when you do the exact same thing for your own twisted purpose. I asked you to back up the attendance numbers for Honeydripper here in Greenville, specifically the statement that it “had very poor attendance after the premiere night”. You made a statement of fact then you back it up with your opinion. It’s your opinion that “it’s not worthy of seeing”. So, prove me wrong. Give us the numbers. Or are you just like the politicians you malign? You claim they exaggerate and lie towards the positive but you seem to exaggerate and lie towards the negative. And this isn’t a black/white issue – it’s a truth issue. Supply us the facts.

Posted by BF2C1 (anonymous) on December 4, 2009 at 9:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The numbers supplied are facts. The reason that I put a link to the web site is so that others could see them. They clearly show declining interest in movie early on and you know it. Greenville was a fluke driven by the hype of the mayor and others in the community. The movie was quickly moved to VHS and DVD to try to salvage something. It even aired a few times on television with the expected poor Neilson numbers. It was tried in England and failed terribly.
By the way, Greenville was not the first showing of Honeydripper. It was shown at a film festival in Canada, and at film festival in Detroit where it received luke warm reception.
John Sayles sought marketing suggestions for this movie from the predominately black colleges and universities in the United States. This was a clear indication that the movie was targeted to a specific population. You are right it was not a black or white issue.
I do not know why it is that some people insist on defending this darling of a movie. Even John Sayles said that it was not one of his better indies. Boy was he right.
If this continues to trouble you then maybe you need to try to make an appointment to see Mr. Felts and or Mr. Nimmer to discuss this troubling issue with you. I seriously doubt that they saved the ticket stubs from the movie.
Since I have been off subject for so long I might as well mention something else that troubles me. And that is the calling of Greenville the 'City of Smiles'. Who in heavens name came up with that?
The late Mr. Glenn Stanley (owner of the Greenville Advocate) worked extremely hard to make Greenville the 'Camellia City'. And his descendents today continue that tradition.
I hope that the city council addresses the issue of 'City of Smiles' and totally banishes it from usuage in city government. Greenville will always be the Camellia City to me smiles and all.

Posted by indiana (anonymous) on December 4, 2009 at 10:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Spoken like a true politician! You did everything but answer the question. You made a statement about Honeydripper that was wrong and I called you on it. It had a big premier in Greenville and played very well after opening, regardless of whether the movie was any good or not or what it did anywhere else. The point was how it played here. Now you won’t back up your false statement. As soon as you do, I will call Mr. Felts for the real answer. Try as you might, you can’t change what really happened.

The problem is that you tear into people that work for the betterment of our city and community, even when it’s easy to prove some of your statements wrong. You throw mud hoping some of it will stick. The reunion was a good event as was the filming and premier of Honeydripper. Nobody was forced to participate. Why do you demean and try to destroy so many positive things that we do have in our city? I know it’s about you and only you and what you want - you have made that very clear in your posts. But there are many good people here that work to make our community a better place, including many of our political leaders.

Posted by mysticriver (anonymous) on December 4, 2009 at 11:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

indiana, I have read all of these posts and I really must tell you that you are wasting your time. I enjoy your effort, but as you stated, BF2C1 will not admit to being wrong. If he/she were ever wrong about anything that has happened in Greenville it would be because some corrupt elected official put out false information and he/ she was fooled by it.

Really, you are right about pretty much everything you said to good ole BF2C1, but as long as the mayor is the mayor and BF2C1 and company are not in control of anything in the City of Smiles then he/she will just continue to complain. Granted, it does make for interesting reading on the Advocate online.

Anyway, my only comment about the article itself would be that I did not graduate from GHS but the people I spoke to that attended this event said it was awesome.

BF2C1, keep up the fight. One day, the mayor will decide he has had enough and he will not run for re-election. Until then, he will be re-elected with little opposition.......... that is, unless you can find a way to get all those people that support him to change their views........ well, nevermind. lol

Posted by indiana (anonymous) on December 5, 2009 at 8:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Mysticriver, you’re right. What was I thinking? I’m one of those that would not qualify to organize a class reunion under BF2C1’s rules, but living in many other places (including a foreign country) makes me appreciate Greenville and what we do have in our community. I’m especially grateful for the many wonderful and kind people that live here! And one negative person can’t change that for me, no matter how much he hates Mayor McClendon. It just amazes me how that hatred of one person can spill over to so many other people.