Historic Rodgers Theatre celebrates 75 years of entertainment

Nostalgia and memories filled the Historic Rodgers Theatre for its 75th anniversary kickoff celebration Saturday.

Fans and the Rodgers’ Board of Directors described the event featuring Narvel Felts in concert as fantastic and amazing.

Many of the concert-goers were decked out in their poodle skirts, saddle oxfords, and bobby socks to hear Felts, who is a rockabilly legend perform his hits.

Among the full house were several special guests including one of the original ushers at the Rodgers, Jimmie Kent, 92, of Poplar Bluff, as well as Walter Bowman of Doniphan, who treated concert goers to his 1948 Ford Super Deluxe; friends of Felts from Norway; and Missouri Sen. Jason Bean (R-District 25).

“Saturday night was a lot of fun, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Historic Rodgers Theatre,” Bean said. “I was honored to present a resolution to the board of directors recognizing their commitment and investment in the community.”

Kent was excited to visit the Rodgers to see a show. When he heard of the event, he offered his help to Rodger’s Board President Wally Duncan, who invited Kent to be the board’s guest.

Prior to the concert, Kent talked about his career as a movie usher before he entered world of banking.

Kent was 16 when he went to work at the Jewel Theater, where he helped with popcorn and concessions. While at the Criterion, he advanced to being an usher and “when this theater opened I moved up here.”

The fourth theater in town was The Strand.

Kent explained, the theater employees “were all friends and would do things together.”

Life working for the four theaters in Poplar Bluff was “wonderful” and all the young people “hung together after work and were just a little club.”

After his career with theaters, Kent went to work as a teller at the Bank of Poplar Buff and moved to the State Bank.

“After I left State Bank, I went to work at the Liberty Loan Corp. and they moved me to Malden and then Michigan, where I spent most of life,” he said,

He retired to Poplar Bluff to be near his mother. Within the last six months, his wife, brother and sister-in-law have died.

“I get up everyday and walk two miles,” Kent said. “I work in the yard and visit my friends around town.”

Among the guests were three of Felts’ fans from Norway. They’ve known him since the early 1990s when one of them produced his album, “Pink and Golden Days,” while he was performing abroad.

They enjoy touring the United States and learned Felts was appearing at the Rodgers. They traveled from St. Louis to see him in concert and visit. The local Millstone Band kicked off the evening’s entertainment. Findley Watkins, 16, of Bernie captivated the audience with his impersonations of Elvis Presley.

The board was impressed Felts spent two hours after the concert signing autographs and memorabilia for the crowd. One board member called him “an amazing and humble man.”

One concertgoer heard Brent Davis calling it, “One of the best nights I’ve had in the 16 years of shows I’ve done at the Rodgers.”