Local entertainers Rick and Jane Vernon will present a program of various musical genres, including gospel, country, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and pop standards, at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Grainger Hill Performing Arts Center, 300 Park Ave., Kinston.
Their performance is the season finale in GHPACs Second Sunday Series. The program will be performed with no intermission. Light refreshments will follow in the historic center’s newly refurbished lobby.
Joining the Vernons on stage will be vocalist/guitarist Vance “Tres” Rich and drummer John Galog.
In 1971, Rick Vernon graduated in the last class of students to finish at GHS, the auditorium of which is GHPAC.
“GHPAC is one of the best venues for entertainment that Eastern North Carolina has to offer,” said Rick Vernon. “It is my Rick Vernon, vocals and guitar, is a retired pastor and a graduate of Lexington Theological Seminary Ministers School in Kentucky. He hosts “Down East Today” on WTMH Channel 21 which is also seen on Suddenlink Cable 103 at 7 a.m. Weekdays. He was honored locally with the Fonnie B. Murrill and Ruth M. Jones Scholarship Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution in Music several years ago.
Jane Vernon, vocals and keyboard, is a retired Lenoir County Public Schools (LCPS) music educator and holds bachelors and masters degrees in music education and National Board Certification in Early/Middle Childhood Music. She has more than 40 years experience directing youth, adult and handbell church choirs.
The Vernons have been performing together for more than 40 years. Highlights of their musical career include performing on the Nashville Network and with various country star performers. They enjoy singing and entertaining as part of Down Home Country and the Golden Oldies groups that perform at the Duplin Winery Bistro Dinner Shows, and at civic group meetings, conventions and church functions. They have two sons, two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren.
Vance “Tres” Rich, vocals and guitar, works with Lenoir County Public Schools and holds a music degree from Pembroke University and a Juris Doctorate from Iowa’s Drake University. He has been a professional musician since playing his first gig at age 11 and has performed with various performance groups across the eastern and midwest United States.
Rich also is part of the Down Home Country and Golden Oldies groups that perform at the Duplin Winery Dinner Shows. His and his wife, Anna Lea, have two sons.
Drummer John Galog is a technology specialist with LCPS. He is a graduate of Johnston Community College and also has performed professionally since age 11. He performed and ran sound for many national acts, including Delbert McClinton and Maceo Parker while technical director of Johnston Community College Performing Arts Center, and also with many musical groups throughout the years.
He is sound engineer for the group, Down Home Country, plays drums for the Golden Oldies Group at the Duplin Winery Dinner Shows and is co-founder and drummer for Souls ‘Devotion at 902 Church in Kinston. He also is a recipient of the Fonnie B. Murrill and Ruth M. Jones Outstanding Musical Contribution Award. He and his wife, Tammy, have two sons, a daughter, and four grandchildren.
Tickets are $10 and are available by calling (252) 560-8515, (252) 521-4513; at the Community Council for the Arts or by visiting Grainger Hill’s Web site, www.ghpac.com.
Upcoming on the Grainger Hill Performing Arts Series is Franc D’Ambrosio, star of Broadway’s “Phantom of the Opera,” at 7 p.m. March 29. GHPAC’s Mystery Dinner Theater offerings include:
1 p.m. March 30 at the Queen Street Deli and 6:30 p.m. April 5 at the Chef and the Farmer.
Grainger High School educated area youth from 1925-1971, until it was phased out as a school. A group of volunteers formed the nonprofit corporation, the Preservation of the Grainger Complex, Inc., to preserve the building and its auditorium to serve as a performing arts center for future generations. The rest of the main building has been converted to apartments for senior citizens.