Arkansas State University (ASU) has created a working masterpiece. As true testament to their diverse skills and creativity, they have recreated Dyess, Arkansas, the boyhood home of Johnny Cash, in preparation for the Official RL Johnny Cash Festival...
As you walk around, the immersion felt between SL and RL is both comforting and reassuring. It’s hard to resist the strong lure that beckons you further into the warmth of this beautiful small town in the 40’s. The attention to detail becomes evident – His piano sat waiting in the hallway, vintage cars parked eagerly in the lights of the picture theatre. Everywhere you look, detail is waiting to sweep you away into another time...
The reality is a far cry from this incredible Sim. The City of Dyess, with it’s population of 515, managed to raise enough funds to secure the roof of the administrative building, and ASU received a grant to restore the exterior and to stabalize the Theatre - But to realize their hope of creating the Johnny Cash Museum, and restoring the key buildings to a state that will encourage tourism and ensure Johnny’s story lives on, they need help.
All this hard work in Second Life mirrors the vision held in RL to restore Dyess to it’s former glory of the 1930 – 50’s era, when Johnny Cash resided there as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s new Deal Program during the Great Depression. So much of his work was inspired by this time in his life, and with a little help, it can be restored and kept in his memory. In Aug 2011, Arkansas State University hosted a sold-out concert—the first-ever Johnny Cash Music Festival. More than 7,000 tickets were sold, raising over $310,000, with every cent earmarked for the restoration. The latest figure raised in total is $1.4 million.
Now it’s back! Friday, Oct. 5 2012, the second Johnny Cash Music Festival will take place at ASU’s Convocation Center, with a line up including Willie Nelson, Dierks Bentley, and Grammy Award winning ‘Civil Wars’.
In a Statement from their Official Site, ASU hopes that, “With enough support and resources,"Historic Dyess Colony: Boyhood Home of Johnny Cash" will become a heritage site that represents the Dyess Colony Town Center and the Johnny Cash boyhood home during the years 1935-1950, the period when Cash resided there”
Come and lend your support, in this incredible venture, and enjoy the unique atmosphere of this beautiful recreation in SL.
http://www.astate.edu/tickets/ asu tickets
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