Virginia’s Li’l Ole Opry, also known as Donk’s Theater, is marking its 50th anniversary this year, looking back on five decades of entertainment by top-notch local country music performers and hosting such nationally famous special guests as Dolly Parton, Porter Waggoner, Kitty Wells, and others.

Company president Lynda Smith said this year is also the 100th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, which the Li’l Ole Opry was modeled after. Special shows featuring “faces from the past” are planned throughout the year, she said, beginning with the first show of the season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Mathews High School. (See related article here.)

Lynda recalled growing up in Donk’s Theater (destroyed by a weather event in 2016) after her dad, Jimmy “Uncle Jimmy Wickham” Smith, decided to turn the former movie theater at Hudgins into a live performance venue in 1975 in partnership with his sister, Harriet Farmer, his niece, Joanna Mullis, and, not long after, a second sister, Betsy Ripley. Smith’s wife Carolyn was an integral part of that group, as well.

“I started at age 2, and was in every show by the age of 8,” said Lynda, “and I loved it.”

She remembered Mullis dressing her for each show, sometimes making her outfits, and her older brother Richard performing, often doing an Elvis song and dancing for the crowd. Jimmy had 10 older brothers and sisters, she said, so there were a lot of members of the Smith clan, and “anybody who wanted to sing would, with almost everybody in the Christmas show.”

She also recalled the other side of the business—the side that required elbow grease to maintain the building, an agreement made with the owner in exchange for low rent. Curtains had to be made, seats had to be reupholstered, costumes had to be created, and concessions had to be sold.

“Daddy spent so much time in the rafters, fixing the fans for the furnace,” said Lynda. “And the backdrops. Joanna drew the one that’s still in use, with all the relatives helping to paint it.”

The children were involved, as well, she said. Sometimes they performed, but any of them who weren’t on stage were expected to help out, including working the lights and the spotlight.

“I always thought of Donk’s Theater as my playground,” said Lynda. “There was something to be discovered in that building every time you went in it. I’ll always be thankful I had that place to grow up in. It was nice to be able to do something as fun as that with your family. And the community seemed to love it and kept us going.”

After the building collapsed under the weight of snow and ice in 2016, the Li’l Ole Opry moved its performances to Mathews High School, where they’ve been held ever since.

The beginning

Carolyn Smith and Betsy Ripley, sisters-in-law with a long history of working together, bounced memories of Donk’s off each other.

Carolyn, a Gloucester native, said that when she moved to Mathews after marrying Jimmy, the agreement was that they would continue to attend her church, Ebenezer Baptist in Harcum. She was a church pianist and Jimmy was the choir director, so they drove from their home in Moon to the church twice a week every week. After Donk’s movie theater closed its doors in 1970, the wheels started turning for Jimmy.

“Every time we drove by Donk’s, he’d say, ‘Isn’t it a pity that building’s empty,’” said Carolyn. “He said the same thing more and more frequently, and I thought, “Somebody’s getting ready to do something.’”

Jimmy finally approached Donk’s owner Mary Dunton and made a deal, and Wickham Enterprises was born. The work began, with everybody in the family pitching in to turn the 1940s-era building into a live performance space—cleaning up, painting, re-covering 140 seats, paneling the lobby, and installing new lighting and sound systems. Opening night was on June 14, 1975. The show was called Country Jamboree, and it included a young Sam Hogge, who still plays with Shades of Country today. Tickets were initially $2 for adults and $1 for children.

“They never made a lot of money,” said Lynda, “but that wasn’t the point. It was a labor of love, for the love of music and community.”

In the beginning, shows were weekly, but “everybody worked full-time and didn’t have a life,” said Carolyn, so performances were changed to every other week, and “it was wonderful. We all had a good time doing it.”

This gave the singers and band members time to travel around and perform in other venues, said Betsy, winning awards, signing autographs, and inviting the crowds to come to Donk’s. Two performers, Fiddlin’ Curly Collins and Yodelin’ Benny Kissinger, “followed us to Donk’s and were both there ’til they died,” she said.

Jimmy’s concept was to have a show that “everybody could come to,” said Carolyn, “with nothing vulgar and no drinking, just a family-style show.”

Betsy said every show closed with a gospel song and a prayer, and with Jimmy saying, “Thank you for being with us tonight, and we’ll see you at church in the morning.”

Donk’s had a big impact on people, drawing a crowd every week, some of whom drove for over an hour to see the show. Betsy recalled one man from Richmond who hadn’t been to church in a long time but, after becoming a regular while visiting his weekend cottage at New Point, asked Betsy where she went to church and became a regular there. “He never missed a Sunday,” she said. A family who lived in Virginia Beach visited so often that they decided to move to Mathews, said Betsy, and some neighbors had family in Richmond who visited regularly, but they would only come on the weekends when there was a Donk’s show.

“We still get calls from people planning a visit who want to come the weekend of Donk’s,” said Carolyn.

“I think the Lord has put us here to reach out to people,” said Betsy.

The two women fondly recalled the time in 1976 that Dolly Parton came to Donk’s to perform two back-to-back shows on the same day because she was recovering from throat issues and needed a place to test out her voice. Betsy wore a madras blouse that was the most expensive one she’d ever owned, and when Dolly walked in, she was wearing the exact same blouse.

“I said, ‘We both have good taste, but it looks better on you,’” said Betsy with a laugh. “When she was practicing ‘Jolene,’ she looked out in the audience and asked me, ‘How does that sound out there, honey?’ Can you imagine her asking me? I said, ‘It sounds just wonderful.’”

“She did a grand job and talked to everybody as long as they wanted and invited everybody out to her bus,” said Carolyn. “After we paid her and all the expenses, we only had $27 left, but what we got was reputation.”

People in Nashville started calling Donk’s the Li’l Ole Opry, said Carolyn, and the name stuck, replacing the original name, Country Jamboree. The Clark Family from the television show “Hee Haw” came and performed a show “to help us out” and didn’t charge a cent, she said, and Ernest Tubbs came and brought his whole band, selling out two shows, with standing room only. When he called to book the show, Tubbs spoke with Joanna, said Betsy, and she didn’t believe it was really him until he said, “Mrs. Mullis, what do I gotta do to convince you? Sing “Walkin’ the Floor Over You?”

Joe and Rosalee Maphis, original members of the Old Virginia Barn Dance, became particular friends, parking their bus in Joanna’s yard and fishing every chance they got. Joe Maphis took the body of a guitar, wrote “Reserved Joe Maphis” on it, and nailed it to a tree in the yard. One day when Betsy dropped by, Joe was on the phone and asked her if she’d like to talk to Barbara. Betsy said “Sure,” not knowing until she started talking that it was Barbara Mandrell. Joe became good friends with Shades of Country lead guitarist Roy Farmer and had Fender build a guitar especially for him.

When the old movie theater was destroyed in 2016, Betsy and Joanna both dropped off the board of directors, and Jimmy and Lynda, who had joined the board in 2006, continued to run the business until he died in 2019. Now it’s just Lynda running the show, with her mom continuing her longtime job of handling the books and ticket sales. And the duo has no intention of stopping anytime soon.

“The great thing about Donk’s is that we’re all stars,” said Lynda, “and we can still go home and see our family.”