‘WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN’: The Grand Ole Opry’s famed circle
of wood was ceremoniously returned to its home—center stage at the Grand Ole Opry House, which is a Gaylord Entertainment property. Taking part in the happy event were (left to right) Gaylord Senior Vice President Steve Buchanan, Grand Ole Opry members Jimmy Dickens and Brad Paisley, Congressman Jim Cooper, Mayor Karl Dean, Gaylord Chairman and CEO Colin Reed, Gaylord President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Kloeppel, and Grand Ole Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher.
end of September.“We decided to do that,” Reed said, “because we didn’t want our people to find permanent jobs because they didn’t have health-care coverage.” The rehire was an “extraordinary” weeklong event in August,
Reed said.“We had ‘Good MorningAmerica’ come in and film part of it. You could not believe the outpouring of love among our employees. People were hugging each other, crying.” Even though he knows it “sounds hokey,” Reed said the expe-
rience took him back to his early childhood in the little town ofTonbridge, in Kent, England. DuringWorldWar II, his mother was a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), serv- ing the country during the Battle of Britain, when air-raid sirens
would sound in Tonbridge every night. “She told me as a kid,” Reed said, “because I was born just after the war, she said the strangest thing occurred out of this terrible tragedy that was going on, people came together and the country was stronger because of that. “I see that in our people,” Reed said. “I go over to that hotel
at least two or three times a week now, and I see our people are back and they’re proud. They want to showcase this place and they want the customers back so they can show them what a fabulous hotel this is.”