Roll up your jeans, pull out your poodle skirts and shine your loafers as we get ready to go back in time and enjoy the sights, sounds and music of days gone by.

On Friday night at 7, “A Night to Remember the 50s & 60s” is set to be presented at the KE Bushman’s Celebration Center.

The musical extravaganza is a premier event to benefi t Breckenridge Village of Tyler.

It was inspired by BVT friends Jim and Ann Powell, who were vacationing in Panama City, Fla. Looking for something fun to do, they called the local chamber of commerce and found out about a 50s/60s performance.

During the show, Jim Powell realized the event was actually benefiting the local art school for the mentally challenged. He looked at his wife about the same time she looked at him and they both said, “This is something we can do in Tyler for Breckenridge Village!”

The night promises to be a success thanks to the support of longtime BVT friends Ed and Sandy King of Chick-fil-A and Pierre deWet of Kiepersol Estates.

As we looked for a location for this musical variety show, deWet offered his new, state-of-the-art KE Bushman’s Celebration Center as the venue.

Under the direction of Kevin Burdette of GABC and his wife, Penny, “A Night to Remember” will showcase the East Texas talents of Tyler Junior College’s Harmony & Understanding, The Kilgore Rangerettes, C-Man (Dale Cummings), James L. Wages as Elvis, Class Reunion, One Heart, a young men’s quartet from All Saints Episcopal School and many more.

Appearing with these artists will be several actors and actresses from local acting troupes as well as a few of BVT’s own special residents.

Popcorn, the famous 50s soda pop bottles and the audience dressing the era will add to the ambiance of this fun-filled evening.

Whether you are re-living the 50s or experiencing it for the first time, this will definitely be “A Night to Remember.”

Tickets are available at the Troup Highway and South Broadway Chickfi l-A restaurants, the Rice Road Brookshires, Copeland’s Chandler Drug and BVT. All proceeds benefit the BVT scholarship fund.

History

When Robert and Jean Breckenridge had two sons and discovered their younger boy was mentally challenged, they had to think and plan for his future.

Jimmy would never be able to live on his own. How could they ensure his care and safety when they were gone? They also began to think about all the other parents who were facing the same dilemma.

Was there a way to help not only Jimmy, but some of the other children as well? The Breckenridges began to dream of creating a home for mentally challenged adults: one that was faith-based, and that would provide a warm community of care for the “forever children” who needed protection when their families could no longer be there for them.

Together, they purchased 70 acres near their home in Tyler to serve as the site.

Then the unthinkable happened: the family lost Robert St. and Robert Jr. Jean Breckenrdige, already past mid-life, felt overwhelmed. How would she complete the project without them?

She was unaware the Baptist General Convention of Texas was also searching for a way to meet the needs of adults with mental disabilities.

A group of families with intellectually challenged children approached the Convention and asked it to address the lack of adequate resources in Texas.

The Convention conducted studies and concluded the need was great, and the BGCT members would be supportive of creating and maintaining a residential care facility for mentally challenged adults.

In time, Jean Breckenridge and the BGCT discovered their shared agendas and the complimentary nature of their resources.

She donated the 70 acres of land she and Robert Breckenridge had purchased, and the Convention formed a nonprofit agency that would always be there to care for Jimmy Breckenridge and others like him.

The new agency would build and operate the facility the Breckenridges had dreamed about. In her anxiety to see it come to fruition soon, Jean Breckenrdige set a stipulation on her property donation: construction had to begin in a year.

Jimmy Breckenridge must not be left without somewhere to go, and she was all he had left. Facing a short deadline, the agency took out municipal bonds to capitalize the facility.

With the gift from Jean Breckenridge, the issuing of municipal bonds and welcomed seed money from a local Jewish foundation, construction began.

The new campus was constructed by the Texas Baptist Men Retiree Builders, a volunteer organization that travels throughout the state to build and repair facilities that house Christian ministries.

In 1998, BVT opened its doors to mentally challenged adults from all over Texas.

From the beginning, it was understood that while families would be asked to pay tuition, they would need help in the form of scholarships (additional financial support) provided by the BGCT and others who recognized the importance of the agency’s mission.