Art Linkletter to speak at Boyd banquet
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“We’re very glad to get him,” said Boyd president C.N. Womack. “He’s a household name and we had to pull a few strings to get him here.”
With an entertainment career spanning over 60 years, Linkletter, an Emmy award winner, made his name starring in such radio and TV programs as “House Party,” “People Are Funny” and “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” a show based on his best-selling book of the same name.
Now in its ninth year, the Boyd spring banquet is school’s largest annual fundraiser. Since its inception, it has raised close to $250,000, said Womack. It’s money which has been used to build the school’s high school building, provide maintenance and upkeep, buy library and other educational supplies and fund the school’s computer and science labs. It has also been used to keep tuition to a minimum, Womack said.
While Linkletter, 91, will be perhaps the biggest nationally known personality to headline the banquet, in years past it is has featured such big names University of Tennessee football coach Phil Fulmer, quarterback Peyton Manning, and UT ladies basketball coach Pat Summitt.
The spring banquet will be held at 7 p.m. April 27 at McMinnville Civic Center. A tailgate party will precede the banquet at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets for the banquet, which include a catered dinner, Linkletter’s remarks, and an opportunity for pictures and autographs with Linkletter, are being sold by the table and half table. An eight-seat table will cost $1,000, while a four-seat half table will cost $500.
Womack said given Linkletter’s prominence, he is expecting a sell-out crowd. For tickets, call Boyd Christian School at 473-9631.