Wayne & Kathleen Newton

When I visited the luxurious home Wayne was renting while he performed in Branson, I waited in the den with Robin Leach for some time before a carefully coiffed Newton made his entrance. Leach was there to do a “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” For the first time since his bankruptcy, Newton opened up, saying the worst part was when he heard people were feeling sorry for him.

Glen Campbell

One afternoon at Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede in Branson, the featured trick roper asked Glen to mount his horse and take a bow. Glen, the `Rhinestone Cowboy,’ got jittery and finally confided to me that he was in no way a horseman. He bravely climbed onto the big pony and clung to the saddle horn as the horse took a deep bow. `I didn’t fall off,’ Glen crowed afterward.

Tony Orlando

In 1993, six Branson entertainers including Andy Williams chartered two private planes loaded with bottled water and flew to Des Moines, Iowa, to take relief to people who had been displaced by the horrendous flooding that summer. I covered the event for the Springfield News-Leader. Flying home after an exhausting day when it never stopped raining and Tony gave encouragement and hugs to hundreds of victims, he learned it was my birthday and sang “Happy Birthday” to me.

Andy Williams & Ann Margret

Andy Williams has truly become part of the community where he has lived most of each year since he built his Moon River Theatre in 1992. He’s spoken on issues at city council meetings and done numerous fund-raisers for charity. In a visit to the lakefront home he shares with his wife, Debbie, I got to tour the lower floor that is a devoted to a fitness center where the couple exercise daily. I also got to peek in Andy’s closet that has ample shelves for his collection of his trademark sweaters.