The Barn

More than 45 years ago, Chaffin's Barn opened as Nashville's first professional theater and was the first place to bring live theater tours from New York to Nashville. It was part of a chain of "barn" theaters around the country that offered its audiences a full buffet dinner along with live theater in the round. Today Chaffin's claims to be one of only two remaining original barn dinner theaters in the country.

Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre

 

A.W. "John" Chaffin and his wife Edna – known to everyone as "Puny" – opened their theater at 8204 Highway 100 on March 27, 1967. It still provides live theater productions, comedies, mysteries, musicals and special events under the leadership of their son John. One of the barn's most unique features is its elevator stage. Guests are treated to a full dinner buffet, set up and served in the center of the seating area. Once the salad bar and hot food are removed from the floor, the stage is slowly lowered from the ceiling and the live in-the-round entertainment begins.

In addition to dinner and a show, Chaffin's Barn also hosts a number of charity events to help raise money for area non-profits, including churches, the YMCA and the Nashville Symphony.

Edna "Puny" Chaffin passed away earlier this month and will be missed by not only her family, but the Nashville theater community as well. What started in a little red barn in Bellevue in the late 1960s is known as one of Nashville's most unique venues for quality, live entertainment.

 John and Puny Chaffin opened Nashville's first live theater in 1967. Puny died on Dec. 10, 2012.

 

 

 

50 years of WPLN

Fifty years ago today, Nashville's public radio station went on the air. At 9 a.m. on December 17, 1962, there was an official opening ceremony followed by the broadcast of Brahms' Sextet #1 in B flat. Thus began a tradition of news, information and classical music that continues today. In fact, WPLN is older than all the members of the news staff at the station today.

The call letters WPLN serve as an homage to the station's first home in studios set up in the Richland Park branch of the Public Library of Nashville (get it?). The station was originally licensed to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County as a unit of the public library. With a transmitter and antenna on Love Circle, the station operated for only 14 hours each weekday at 15,000 watts. Three years later, the station moved to the main Ben West library downtown where it remained for more than 30 years.

 WPLN studios in the Ben West library basement circa 1966

In the mid-1990s, WPLN separated from Metro Nashville and became an independent station. Shortly after that, work began on a brand new studio on Mainstream Drive in Metro Centre. The switch was flipped on May 24, 1998, and the newest era of public radio began in Nashville as the station began broadcasting from its current location.

Today, WPLN has repeater stations that allow its broadcasts to reach further into Middle Tennessee. World news and talk WPLN 1430 AM began in 2002,  HD services began in 2006, and the station recently began operating WFCL 91.1 FM with 24/7 classical music and arts programming.

  WPLN's state-of-the-art studios today

As a founding member of National Public Radio, WPLN has had a strong presence in Nashville for 50 years. With a strategy of in-depth reporting, quality programming and community involvement, the station and all of its entities will undoubtedly be a Nashville icon for a long time.

You can help WPLN celebrate this milestone at an open house this afternoon from 4-6 pm at the studio located at 630 Mainstream Drive. Everyone is welcome.