Sylacauga is known for several notable things.
It’s the Marble City, with world-class marble quarries and sculptors.
It’s the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream, complete with an old-fashioned ice cream parlor with one-dollar cones and cups.
It’s the only place in the world where a meteor struck a person, and Ann Hodges lived to tell about it, including on CBS’s Garry Moore Show.
And Sylacauga is “the home of Gomer.” Jim Nabors, famous for portraying Gomer Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show,” was born and raised in Sylacauga, 95 years ago.
This Saturday, the people of Sylacauga will throw a 95th heavenly birthday party for their most famous native son.
Neighbors for Nabors.
It is at a place that Jim Nabors knew very well growing up. It was the Sylacauga Library at that time, and he spent a lot of time there, right next to his high school. Now, the old classic marble building houses the Isabel Comer Museum and Art Center.
A few years ago, the museum received an abundance of Jim Nabors items. That led to its Jim Nabors Exhibit. And this Saturday, it hosts his birthday party. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The party is free. No ticket or RSVP is needed. Just show up. And don’t eat before you come. There will be free hot dogs and birthday cake.
Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.
Nabors got his start in entertainment in Sylacauga playing in the high school band – the Sylacauga Aggie Half-million Dollar Band. From there, he went to the University of Alabama. Roll Tide.
Nabors started out performing and singing in musicals, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway. Way off Broadway. He played (sang) the lead role in “The Music Man.”
Nabors’ big break was when he landed the part of a dim-witted, Southern gas station attendant on the Andy Griffith Show. He and the character Gomer Pyle caught on.
Nabors later spun off his own show, “Gomer Pyle, USMC.”
Nabors was also a singer in nightclubs, variety shows, and recordings. His singing voice was a deep, baritone-like tone, almost operatic. It has been described as “like the voice of God.” His singing voice was the opposite of his Gomer Pyle voice, a high-pitched comical squeal – Surprise, surprise, surprise. Shazaam!
After Jim Nabors hit with the Gomer character, he went back to his first love of singing. For decades, he sang the opening song at the Indianapolis 500 race each year, “Back Home Again in Indiana.”
Nabors bought a macadamia plantation in Hawaii and moved there. He often visited his home in Sylacauga while his parents were still alive. After the death of his father, he moved his mom to his place in Hawaii.
Nabors died in 2017 at age 87. His cremated ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean near Honolulu.
Jim Nabors never forgot where he came from. His high school English teacher, Velma Goodgame, would not like that last sentence. She would write, “He never forgot from where he came.” No preposition at the end of a sentence.
Happy heavenly birthday, Jim Nabors. We know you will celebrate with Andy, Barney, Aunt Bee, Opie, Floyd, Goober and the rest.
