At its meeting on June 8, 2021, the Pull-Tight Board of Directors unanimously voted to confer the designation of Lifetime Voting Member to long-time artist members Peggy Gentry Macpherson and John Neely Davis. The honors were announced at the Pull-Tight Artist Membership Meeting on October 24, 2021.
This honor is bestowed on select artist members as acknowledgement and appreciation of their volunteerism and contributions through the decades as determined by the Board of Directors. With this title, Peggy and John will enjoy lifetime voting rights at Pull-Tight Players’ annual Artist Membership Meetings.
Peggy MacPherson was “surprised and very pleased to receive lifetime voting privileges at the membership meeting.” In her words, here is a bit of her history with Pull-Tight:
“My own personal memories involve family: Laurel and Heather as young children, and Laurel’s sons Sean and Scot being in plays from early ages. Laurel and TJ met at the theater, as did Sean and Savannah and Scot and Jordan. I claim all the credit for bringing Iain to our theater.
“I am proudest of my work with Pull-Tight’s children through the Youth Actors Guild, as well as the 17 years we performed Incident at Fort Granger for audiences in Franklin and even Washington, D.C. Getting Mayor Jerry Sharber on board with Pull-Tight was so important, too. He and his family were in A Franklin Diary, and later Jerry was in all 12 productions of Incident at Fort Granger. Jerry definitely got us into good graces with the City of Franklin’s BOMA. Involvement with this theater has been so good for me, my children, my grandchildren, and for Iain and TJ.
“I am also happy that John Davis was honored with Lifetime Voting privileges. John and his family were solidly involved in our theater before I arrived on the scene. I definitely credit him with getting our theater on its feet. It is fitting that his daughter Cindy will be directing our first show in 2022 as we take the stage once again after two years.
“I am slowing down, but hopefully can continue to do whatever I can to help our theater well into its second 50 years.”
Cindy Davis Massey, daughter of John Davis, provided this recount of his past with Pull-Tight:
“John joined Pull-Tight when it was just a few years old. He acted in several shows, always with his script somewhere within arm’s reach, just in case! Some of his favorite roles included Doc in Come Back, Little Sheba and Jessie the playboy in Plaza Suite.
“He also directed several shows including Night Watch, which was performed as a dinner theatre production at the Holiday Inn; Dear Ruth, performed in the community room of the Harpeth National Bank (now First Tennessee Bank on the square); and the first of many productions of To Kill a Mockingbird in 1976, performed at Franklin Junior High School (now Freedom Intermediate.)
“John is a past president of Pull-Tight, as well as one of the earliest recipients of the Pull-Tight Player of the Year Award. He and his wife, Jayne, are responsible for creating the Pull-Tight Knot Awards, a tradition that really caught on and continues today. He thoroughly enjoyed his years working with Pull-Tight, and even made it a family affair when he encouraged both his daughters, Cindy and Melissa, to become involved.”
Let us thank these dedicated individuals for their life’s work and the impact they made to help Pull-Tight become what it has grown to be today. Congratulations, Peggy and John!
Please enjoy these items of memorabilia, which we have available only due to Peggy’s diligence in keeping the Pull-Tight scrapbooks over all these years!
