🌧️ A brutal summer storm turned Gypsy Hill Park into a flooded mud pit. 100,000 people refused to leave.
They stood ankle deep in the rain outside Staunton Virginia on July 4 1994. The crowd was there for the final Happy Birthday USA celebration hosted by The Statler Brothers.
For twenty five years the quartet had built the free Independence Day event as a gift to the town that raised them. The tradition began in 1970 when Don Reid Harold Reid Phil Balsley and Lew DeWitt chose to remain in Staunton instead of moving to Nashville.
The event grew into a massive community festival. It drew fans from across the country and brought stars such as Johnny Cash Charley Pride Conway Twitty and Barbara Mandrell to the park stage.
Every vendor dollar and donation went to local charities. The quartet kept the concerts free because the celebration was meant to thank their neighbors.
By 1994 the group announced the twenty fifth event would close the chapter. Jimmy Fortune had joined after Lew DeWitt retired for health reasons in 1982. He stood with Don Harold and Phil for the last hometown show.
Then the sky broke open. Heavy rain swept across the Shenandoah Valley. The field turned slick and flooded. The air grew cold and the usual comfort of a summer concert disappeared.
Under normal rules such weather would empty the grounds. Yet the audience stayed. Umbrellas and raincoats spread across the field like a colorful sea. Nobody ran toward the exits.
From the stage Don Harold Phil and Jimmy looked out at tens of thousands of neighbors and longtime fans enduring the storm. The sight brought visible tears to the men.
With the production stripped away by the rain only the songs and the crowd remained. The final hometown notes rang out through the mud and water.
The crowd proved they would weather any storm for the Statler Brothers.