Culture
Ohio Valley Opry celebrates 25th anniversary with weekend celebration in new location
By: Julia Weber
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BELPRE, Ohio (WOUB) – On Saturday the Ohio Valley Opry will celebrate its 25th anniversary in a new location, the Belpre Celebration Center (1944 Washington Blvd). The Opry will host shows at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday featuring Grand Ole Opry band The Whites.
The Ohio Valley Opry has been bringing bluegrass, gospel, and country music to the Mid-Ohio Valley for 25 years. Husband and wife Marvin and Deana Clark founded the Opry in 2000 after years of performing with their children across the country as a family act.
“My husband and I, our family — our kids — we traveled across the country singing for many, many years,” Deana Clark explained. “Every now and then, we would get the opportunity to sing at a country music hall or something like that and we always thought ‘Man, it would be so great if we could do this in our own community.”
When they started performing, the couple knew it was important to them to have a show enjoyable for all ages.
“We wanted to have a show that was family-oriented, that folks would be entertained from little kids to older folks,” she said. “Family, faith, God and country has been our mantra for many years.”
With the idea of starting their own programming in the area, the two approached the Twin City Opera House in McConnelsville, where they began performing on what started as a three-month trial basis and ended up being more than two decades.
As their programming grew, the venue’s popularity increased. Recently, an opportunity arose to move to a building owned by Belpre Celebration Center, and the couple has since spent eight months remodeling the building in time for this weekend’s performances.
For Deana Clark, the improved facilities are quite exciting. The new venue boasts comfortable seating within the auditorium, wide aisles for accessibility, accessible parking and restrooms, and an all-around “great” space.
The Clark family prioritizes showcasing the sounds of bluegrass, gospel, and country music that are becoming less popular within modern country music, but said the array of guests they welcome to their stage brings a wide variety of different sounds and styles. For them, it’s the enjoyment of keeping traditions alive and exposing audiences to new sounds.
“We do find that we do enjoy being a venue that keeps those music traditions alive as well, Appalachian music, traditional country,” she said.
During the renovation process for the new venue, the couple said they were heavily inspired by the visual design of ’70s-style country music shows, and they wanted to evoke that same nostalgic feeling within the performance space.
“We want the place to be nostalgic and also educational in the sense of keeping it alive,” Marvin Clark said.
Ahead of this weekend’s performances, the Clarks said audiences can expect a “fantastic band” composed of “professional, top-notch players.” The Opry staff band is high-caliber, playing backing music for artists who visit from the Nashville, Tennessee-based Grand Ole Opry.
“You’ve got to drive awhile to get to a band that’s as good as the Opry band is,” Deana Clark said.
For both Marvin and Deana Clark, the Ohio Valley Opry is a chance to do what they love best: share music and build community.
“We both grew up in Appalachian traditional music venues. My family is into square dance music — my granddad, my mom, everything — I want my grandkids to experience that culture,” Marvin Clark said.
“It’s great to be able to do something that we love, that we’re passionate about. I’m sure a painter would love to have an artist gallery, somebody who is a professional athlete probably would love to have a facility, a gym, a boxing ring. For us, it’s a dream,” Deana Clark added.