SCOTT LUDWIG: Schoolhouse rock … Walhalla, S.C. style

If you’re traveling north out of Atlanta on Interstate 85, after you cross the border into South Carolina you’ll see a sign for Exit 1. On it will be listed a welcome center, a rest stop, and Highway 11 … which is the road that leads to Cashiers, N.C.

But before you get to Cashiers on Highway 11, you’ll pass through the Main Street to the Mountains: Walhalla, S.C. – a quaint little town in Oconee County in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with a population of just over 4,000 residents.

But if you play your cards just right, you won’t simply be passing through. Rather, you’ll be staying for a night or two to catch some top-notch entertainment at one of the finest venues the south has to offer: the Walhalla Performing Arts Center.

The building, now on the National Register of Historic Places, was originally a grade school when it was built in 1903. The auditorium, currently used to host some of the finest performers in the world of entertainment, was not added until 10 years later. It served as a school for 77 years then in 1990 became the home for district offices.

In 1993, a local group of retired educators got together and came up with a plan to save (and repurpose) the building. Over a period of 10 years – through bake sales and quilt sales, grant applications, and any number of fundraising activities – they raised half a million dollars, enough money to allow them to open the doors to the public. At that point, 10 or so plays and concerts were performed there annually through 2017, the year Mark Thompson came on board as the full-time executive director.

Thompson, along with his staff of two part-time women working in the box office, four rotating sound engineers, and 100 volunteers – half of them originally from the area, the other half transplants – work together to promote the center’s mission of providing a world-class facility for performances, conferences, and special events to “enhance the cultural and social life of Upstate South Carolina.”

The center has 465 seats – 140 of them located in the balcony – and offers professional sound and lighting to create “an ambiance befitting the period of this elegant and historical venue,” according to its website. The volunteer staff, ranging from 16 to 24 for any given event, is there to assist with parking, greeting guests, answering questions and showing guests to their seats. The staff, Thompson says, is passionate about what they do and works well together as a team.

As the executive director, Thompson is in charge of the heavy lifting: scheduling the entertainment … no easy task when you’re talking about 80 to 90 shows a year. (By his estimation, Thompson has produced well over 400 shows thus far.) How does he do it? Phone calls. Internet research. Word of mouth. Smoke and mirrors … whatever it takes to line up the acts to fulfill that “enhance” component of the mission mentioned earlier.

Has he been successful? Here is a sampling of the acts Thompson has landed. Feel free to judge for yourself:

Arlo Guthrie. The Righteous Brothers. BJ Thomas. Wynonna Judd. The Oak Ridge Boys. Lee Greenwood. Edwin McCain. Tanya Tucker. Ronnie Milsap. Mother’s Finest. Crystal Gayle. Mickey Gilley. The Allman Betts Band. Travis Tritt. The Marshall Tucker Band. Ricky Skaggs. Marty Stewart.

So, how is he doing so far? But wait, there’s more.

The center also has hosted (or will be hosting soon) a large number of the best tribute bands in the business: Back-N-Black (AC/DC), Skynfolks (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Tapestry (Carole King), End of the Line (Allman Brothers), Sad (Metallica), Ticket to the Moon (ELO), ZOSO (Led Zeppelin), and my personal favorite, the Black Jacket Symphony, who perform classic rock and roll albums exactly as they were originally recorded on vinyl. (They’ll be performing a couple of times later this year: check them out.)

Walhalla has also hosted comedians as well: James Gregory, Leanne Morgan, Henry Cho, John Reep, and Tyrus all have graced the stage at one time or another.

Cindy and I were in Walhalla recently for a couple of shows. Sitting in front of us one evening was a South Carolina state senator and his wife, both of whom had grown up in the area. Their enormous pride in what the Performing Arts Center has accomplished was readily apparent as they told us about its history, making sure to point out the brass plates on the backs of a large number of seats with the names of the many patrons who purchased one to support the center, just another one of the various fundraisers mentioned earlier.

Thompson says that his goal for all of their shows is that “everyone has a good time and leaves happy … including the entertainers.”

Cindy and I have attended several shows at the Walhalla Performing Arts Center, and so far he’s batting 1.000. We’ll be going again soon. Maybe we’ll see you there. If you can ever make it to Walhalla, be sure to say hello to Mark. And don’t forget to thank the volunteers.