Contributed commentary by former Leaf-Chronicle reporter Tim Ghianni:
The ongoing “what do we do with The Roxy” plans, counterplans and debate would not be occurring if it wasn’t for a group of Clarksville journalists, The News Brothers, who kept it from being turned into a multi-level city parking lot in the autumn of 1982.
In fact, the only reason The Roxy is still on the corner of First and Franklin occurred November 12, 1982, when those young journalists brought that doomed, classic and abandoned theater back to life for a night of glory that captured the heart and changed the intentions of then-Mayor Ted “Wild Turkey” Crozier, who proclaimed it “News Brothers Night in Clarksville.”
That’s the night the actions of four journalists from The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper staged the world premiere of our sort of “Hard Day’s Night” film entitled “Flapjacks: The Motion Picture.”
In addition to me as the title character, Leaf-Chronicle police reporter Rob Dollar, news editor/copy desk chief Jerry Manley and rookie copy editor Jim Lindgren all starred in the film and worked hard to bring the theater to life for what was forecast to be its final night of glory before proposed demolition.
The aim of the premiere was to raise money for local charities as well as breathe some life into a Franklin Street dominated by vacant storefronts, pigeons and rats.
Co-owner of the doomed movie theater George Terrell not only gave us the keys to the theater for the month, so we could clean it up and prepare for the big premiere, he also provided formalwear from his next-door costume shop for the four main characters.
Some other members of the newspaper staff participated in the event that was covered, live, for radio broadcast by our friend Scott Shelton on WJZM.
We also had the help of The Clarksville Fire Department and Police Department in the filming of the movie’s action sequences – all set in downtown Clarksville – and in getting us to and from the theater on premiere night in light-flashing, siren-wailing style.
The Clarksville High School cheerleaders dazzled the crowd before the film was shown with their award-winning gymnastics-filled routine on the Roxy stage, and members of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Jazz Band entertained beneath the marquee for the hour before the film began flickering on the big screen.
We made the film in large part as a way to offset our emotional scars – likely shared by much of the city – from having covered the kidnappings and murders of Kathy Jane Nishiyama and Rodney Wayne Long. Kathy was a student at Northwest High School. Rodney was an expected superstar receiver for the Austin Peay State University Governors.
The News Brothers, me (Tim Ghianni as “Flapjacks”), Rob Dollar (“Death”), Jerry Manley (“Chuckles”) and Jim Lindgren (“Flash”) all had been affected by the weeks and weeks of coverage of those two brutal tragedies. We also had some help in minor roles from characters nicknamed “Dumbo” (sports editor Ricky G. Moore) and “Street” (reporter John Staed) as well as filmed appearances by other members of the newspaper staff and many townies, some of whom lived in the old Royal York Hotel or worked in its coffee shop. Newspaper photographers Larry McCormack and Robert Smith also loaned their expertise to our efforts.
I was the paper’s associate editor, and it was part of my job to organize coverage of the tragedies. I also wrote many of my first-person “Clarksville Calling Card” front-page columns about those cases that were unrelated but happened basically at the same time. A side-note: I remained friends with the families of both the murdered youngsters right up until their deaths. Once you stand with people in the midst of the ultimate trauma, you keep them in your heart.
The feeling was similar for Dollar, who was the police reporter and covered most of the breaking news of those murders and pursuit of the bad guys.
Manley, backed up by Lindgren, had the final edit on all of those stories, and he wrote the headlines, aided by those of us involved in the coverage.
Dollar has referred to me as “the charismatic leader” of The News Brothers, but all those men played major roles and felt the scars of coverage. When you are just 30 (as Manley and I were) or in your mid-20s or younger (like Dollar and Lindgren), you are not emotionally equipped to deal with the darkest underside of the human spirit on a daily basis, week-after-week, month-after-month.
If you want to read more about the murders, the psychological damage and the movie filming and premiere, let me recommend a book Dollar and I wrote: “When Newspapers Mattered: The News Brothers & their Shades of Glory,” available through amazon.com. It details those events as well as other newspaper occurrences back, well, when newspapers mattered.
To tell you the truth, even at 74 years old, I still have not come to terms with those darkest days in the Queen City of the Cumberland.
But, I smile when I think about that night at The Roxy. I remain proud of the film, of my staffers’ involvement, of the community participation in staging a memorable world premiere and, of course, of the news coverage that sparked us all to try to raise a few laughs to counter the city’s trauma and raise money for local charities.
Proceeds benefited police department and fire department community outreaches and The Mustard Seed charity second-hand shop on Third Street.
I could go on forever, but you’d likely get weary.
The point is that we invited Mayor Crozier to the premiere and he gave us the civic honors. He also toured the theater that we’d scrubbed and polished. Instead of pushing for the demolition and parking lot that was being discussed and mapped out by many in the city, he fell in love with the old theater.
The rush to get out the wrecking ball was slowed down long enough for theatrical performers/producers John McDonald and Tommy Thayer to arrive in Clarksville, looking for a place to stage local theater.
They, too, fell in love with The Roxy, in fact they lived in a little room above the marquee after they were able to lease or otherwise occupy the building.
Their productions continued for decades. There was controversy toward the end of their run, but they did keep the theater flourishing to the point that now it “lives” 44 years after the city made preliminary plans to turn it into a multi-story parking lot.
I have been told how much repair needs to be done to the old building. Perhaps it will be torn down? Proposals I’ve read include trying to try to keep the neon and restore the marquee and use them on the front of a recreation of the old façade, with a community arts center and other assets inside. Sounds reasonable.
Whatever happens, no one can destroy the spirit of love and hope that triumphed over tragic melancholy in the newspaper, the stuff that kept The Roxy thriving and turned it into a cornerstone of downtown redevelopment back in 1982.
It truly was, at least in a large part, due to those young journalists who tried to counter, for themselves and the community, a deadly dark era in Clarksville by producing and showing a film about the adventures of Flapjacks, Death, Chuckles and Flash.
As one final note, radio announcer/journalist Scott Shelton, who died more than 14 years ago, became a full-time associate of The News Brothers and in their adventures in the years after that premiere. His nickname was “Badger.” Manley died this summer.
But the Roxy is still there.
Tim Ghianni won numerous state and national awards for his writing and editing and photography during his 14 years as newsroom leader at The Leaf-Chronicle. He went on to earn honors as a columnist, writer and editor at Nashville Banner and The Tennessean for 20 years. For the last 19 years, he has been a freelance writer and author of numerous books, two of them with his almost-lifelong friend and honored journalism colleague Dollar.