Body for 2006 Christmas Letter Page

2006 marked many milestones in my career, and one of them is the end of my career in Branson. I love this town, and I love my home here. I love entertaining the wonderful people who come here from all over the world, but it is a 12-hour-a-day job, and I don't love that anymore. I would love to work here and just do my stage show every day, but with 120 shows here, and with the city government and the Chamber of Commerce seemingly working against us, it takes many hours a day to put people in the seats. It is time for me to go back on the road. I will continue to live here, but have no plans to even make guest appearances. My road dates will be listed on my website.

I met a wonderful woman this year, Pamela Sue Silver Barger of Vinton, VA., and we will be married Jan. 25th on a cruise ship off the coast of Mexico. Pam is an identical twin, has two children and five grandchildren. She came to Branson on a tour from her home town, and they came to my show. She got off the bus and never got back on it. 'Nuff said.

Suzi Weber became a Mama this year. Olivia Georgiana was born Oct. 10 and weighed almost 7 pounds. Eight weeks later she was at 11lbs, 11 ozs. Fast mover, that kid. She truly is a beautiful baby. Pam babysat her in the first weeks of her life and she was perfect. Never cried, just grunted unhappily when certain attachments fermented. Suzi looked great a week later. I told the audiences she had the baby while jogging, landed right on it's little head.

It's a good thing the baby turned out perfectly because the rest of Suzi's year was not so good. My show closed leaving her without a morning job, and then COUNTRY TONITE closed it's doors, presumably forever, and Suzi was suddenly unemployed all around. Of course, with that monster talent, she can go where she desires. She also had emergency surgery during the year, but came out fine and was working a couple of days later.

Lisa Layne, the lady of the fantastic voice, also had surgery during the season. Lisa had eye surgery, and that too, turned out beautifully. One of the great voices in music. she graced my stage for two years, and it was a pleasure to watch (and listen) to her work. Her fabulous hit record, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU, is now available at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Kmart and many other places. When you get your records into Wal-Mart, that is simply huge and I am so glad for her. What a talent. She deserves it.

The third lady on the show this year was Stephanie McKinney, a stunningly beautiful native American, a Choctaw Indian from Oklahoma with a voice that could knock down walls. It was her first time in a stage show, and she fit right in from day one. Her voice was strong and good, and she had a penchant for comedy, placing her right up there with Suzi and Lisa. Suzi is funny, Lisa is nuts, and Stephanie is slapstick. What a trio, maybe the best ever on my show.

And speaking of the best ever on my show, what we have done this year without Kathy Eckert. Kathy was with the JIM OWEN SHOW for seven years, ending her run in 1999. She came back this year again and again to fill in that third part when someone had to be gone, and someone seemed to be gone all year. Suzi missed almost a month with her pregnancy and Kathy was always right there. Lisa was out for three weeks with eye surgery and once again, Kathy stepped up. Stephanie only missed one day all year, with a sore throat, but Kathy was ready. Somehow, we never had two out at one time. Kathy is good, but that would have been tough on even her. She was always ready and always without rehearsal. Thank you, Kathy.

I was truly honored on the final Wednesday night show of the year. When the curtain opened, six ladies instead of three were standing behind me. Kathy Eckert, Susie Willis (Burr) and Tanya Locke had all sneaked on stage to honor their old boss and they stayed on stage to do the entire first segment. I was thrilled.

I was also honored in another way this year. My recording of SNAKE SONG climbed to No. ONE in the independent charts. It is my first #1 with me singing and my seventh in all. My next record, due out in March or April, is I SAW JESUS WAVING THE STARS AND STRIPES and it has worlds of promise.

The tribute this year was to Eddy Arnold, one of my favorite people in the world, and not because of his monstrous talent. He is just a super person. He's 88, and even though he doesn't make appearances anymore, he still has that wonderful voice and recorded a new album last year. His record of TENNESSEE STUD has always been one of my favorite recordings and I loved performing on the show.

Great-granddaughter Tabby Marie missed most of the show this year because she is now in kindergarten. She is still working at becoming a songwriter and has talent, no joke. She was dancing in the living room last week, showing me all her moves. I asked her if she would like to take dance lessons. She looked at me like I had three heads and said, "I don't need them."

Daughter Cris and granddaughter Leslie each moved into their own homes this year. What a wonderful thing to own your own home in this topsy-turvy world we live in. All they have to do is make the payments. We all know about that, don't we.

Son Rusty continues to be a homebuilder in the Nashville area, but would like to move to Branson and help out on the housing shortage here. I hope he can do so. It would be good to have him here all the time.