In years gone by, a vital part of the social life of a small town was between church socials and community theatre. In fact, those two items made up a lot of my young life and young married life. We went to a lot of plays and musicals. Of course, being from this area, every time the church was open, we were there. Yet, there are two events I remember and will remember till my dying days.

The Turkey Gala. Yes, you read that right. This was an event Social Circle United Methodist Church put on for a few years. Now, I ask you. When you think of the holidays and big turkey dinners what is your next thought? What is the one thing that makes you go oh yeah that sounds like fun or that sounds like an evening I want to go to? Yes! You are correct. Big Band music and dancing. Why wouldn’t you pair turkey and dressing and an active after dinner activity? I have no idea whose idea this was to begin with, but the whole church took hold of it and participated in it with gusto. Even to the point of the pastor (Rev. Kevin Lobello) and the church organist (who’s name escapes me right now) getting together a big band and playing music for us to dance to. We had saxophones, a piano, trumpets, trombones, a true jazz ensemble to move effortlessly across the floor to after having a big turkey dinner. Seriously, every year this was a huge hit, and we had a ball. Even the youth group once decided to take ballroom dancing lessons so we could dance to the music. From 88 to 8 this was a hit and, in my mind, sums up the glory that was small town life before the internet and streaming church services.

In my family we love live theatre. This was something my parents made sure to take my sister and me to, often along with the symphony or ballets. On top of this my dad ensured we saw every Muppet movie. I might be country, but I am well-rounded country thanks to my parents. This was also in a time and place where a middle-class family could still do these things and not go broke. Small theatres from Marietta and Alpharetta to Monroe and Social Circle got our business. But right about the time I got married my family discovered a special play that we went above and beyond to see every year. Even after my wife and I moved away, we would come up from Hilton Head to see this production every year. It was the “Sanders Family Christmas.” This was a moving story of a small mountain community and a traveling evangelical missionary group that sang and preached. Now, unless you are from a small community and of a very distinct Appalachian heritage you might not get a lot of what this play was about, but we could relate. From the first time till the 10^th time, when we saw this production, we laughed and laughed hard. To this day I can text or mention to my sister “The pink eye of Jesus” or the fact that “she signs” and we will both know exactly what we are talking about and start laughing.

Two weeks ago, my oldest daughter, Emma, bought tickets to the Lake Country Players version of “Arsenic and Old Lace” and took me, as well as my parents, to see it. This brought back wonderful memories and was a wonderful production. We laughed and enjoyed remembering how many times and places we had seen this play and how much we still loved it. Don’t forget the movie starring Cary Grant, which by the way is one of his best performances! So, in the end, that is what brought about reminiscing and reflecting on today. A play. While this particular play may not be going on anymore, I encourage you to seek out and find a local theatrical group to support. It’s a lot of fun folks!

Tight lines and following seas y’all!

—Outdoors columnist James Pressley can be reached at jameskpressley@gmail.com .