Next Sunday, July 8, the well-known all-American singer Guy Hovis will be coming to Greenwood to perform in a fund-raising concert at the Confederate Memorial Building.
The concert will take place at 2:30 p.m.
Hovis, a Tupelo native, earned a degree in accounting from the University of Mississippi before deciding to pursue a career in music.
He got his first break with a television appearance on the "House Party" variety show on CBS, which was hosted by Art Linkletter.
From there, Hovis teamed up with David Blaylock to form the singing duo "Guy and David."
It was around this time that Hovis met his future wife and singing partner, Ralna English. The couple was married in 1969.
Soon after, English began performing on the "Lawrence Welk Show," and she convinced Welk to allow Hovis to join her for a duet on the show's annual Christmas episode.
The couple went on to become one of the most popular acts in the show's history and performed regularly for the next 12 years until the show went off the air in 1982.
English and Hovis were divorced in 1984, but Hovis continued to perform as a solo singer, and he also took on the roles of songwriter and record producer.
In 1990 Hovis returned to Mississippi to serve as state director for Republican Sen. Trent Lott, who he had been friends with since their college days together at Ole Miss.
Hovis now lives in Jackson with his wife, Sarah "Sis" Lundy. The couple has three children and three grandchildren.
Mary Ann Shaw, the treasurer of the control board for the Confederate Memorial Building, says that concerts like Hovis' help to pay for the building's insurance each year.
The building is owned and maintained by members of the local United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter and the Greenwood Women's Club.
"We run the building and make all the decisions that need to be made," Shaw said.
The building, which was originally constructed in 1915, is a multi-purpose center used to host concerts, parties, meetings, receptions and other types of events.
The costs for renting the space are $225 for the downstairs area, and $275 for upstairs.
Tickets to the concert will be $15 per person and may be purchased at the door or from any member of the UDC or the Greenwood Women's Club.
For more information on the Confederate Memorial Building or to purchase tickets to the Guy Hovis concert call 453-5734.
