Longwood's annual Roy Clark Benefit Concert will be held Saturday, Dec. 12

The annual Roy Clark Benefit Concert at Longwood University will be Saturday, Dec. 12. This year's concert, the 17^th year he has performed at Longwood, will feature a new twist and a different venue. With Jarman Auditorium closed for renovation, the concert will be held in Dorrill Dining Hall and includes a holiday meal. Seating will begin at 4:30 p.m. with dinner (the main entrée is stuffed chicken breast with rice pilaf) served at 5. After-dinner entertainment by Clark and his band will begin at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $50 per person, are now on sale, and can be purchased with cash, check or credit cards. There is limited seating (328), and advance reservations are required. Order forms are available at the Box Office, on the first floor of the Center for Communication Studies and Theatre at the south end of campus on the corner of Franklin and Race streets. Regular Box Office hours are noon to 5 p.m. For more information, phone the Box Office at 395-2474 or email boxoffice@longwood.edu.

Proceeds from the concert benefit the Roy Clark Music Scholarship, which he established in 1995 in memory of his parents, Hester and Lillian Clark. Clark, who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, supports philanthropic causes that aid young people, and he has raised money for the emergency treatment center at Southside Community Hospital in Farmville.

Clark, a native of Meherrin in Lunenburg County, is one of the world's most popular entertainers. Described as "one pistol of a musician," he is a virtuoso performer on 12-string and acoustic guitar, banjo and fiddle, and he can "get by" on five other instruments. He has recorded a string of hits over the years, including "Yesterday When I was Young" and his own 12-string version of "Malaguena," and has received countless awards from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.