Ozarks native Gina Keltner celebrates 25 years working at the Grand Ole Opry as the associate producer of talent.
“My responsibility has been booking the show, putting the show together and then just finding artists who have that open hole in their schedules to come and join us,” said Keltner.
Keltner grew up in Republic and moved to Eldon near Lake of the Ozarks before returning to southern Missouri to obtain a bachelor's degree in administrative management at Missouri State University.
“By that time, I loved country music,” said Keltner. “I went to every concert that I could and just did every term paper I could on country music, just I lived and breathed country music.”
There are a couple of vivid memories that Keltner has of the Grand Ole Opry and country music from both her childhood and during her time there.
“One of my earliest memories I have is sitting in my dad's Dodge Coronet in the driveway,” said Keltner. “And he pointed to the radio and he said, ‘That's the Grand Ole Opry.’ He said, ‘That's coming from Nashville, Tennessee.’”
Her favorite memory while working at the Grand Ole Opry was when Dolly Parton sang “I Will Always Love You” to Porter Wagoner a few months before he died.
“We got close enough to where you could see the tears in Porter's eyes. And you don't see Porter cry very often. You could have heard a pin drop. It was just a very, very special moment,” said Keltner.
