Earl Hamner Jr. to visit namesake Nelson theater

Nelson County native, best-selling author and creator of the iconic television show “The Waltons,” Earl Hamner Jr. will visit his home county next week and making an appearance at the Nellysford theater that bears his name.

The Earl Hamner Jr. Theater at the Rockfish Valley Community Center in Nellysford will host “An Evening with Earl Hamner” at 6 p.m. Nov. 5, which will include a reception and book-signing wth Hamner and then a reading by him from his novel “The Homecoming.”

During the reading, cast members of the play “The Homecoming” will appear on stage with Hamner, said Boomie Peterson, co-artistic director for the Hamner Theater.

Tickets are $50 and seating is limited.

The event is a fundraiser for the Hamner Theater, Peterson said, and is the first time the theater has planned a fundraiser strictly for the theater. A matching grant that previously had funded the theater was cut this year.

“We’re looking at new ways to fund the theater,” she said. “We’ve never done one and thought this was a perfect chance.

“We consciously decided to do a benefit for the Hamner Theater, and Earl said he was happy to be here,” she said. “This is for those people who wouldn’t ordinarily come to the theater, but they love Earl Hamner.”

Peterson said the price was not meant to preclude those who could not afford it, but to try and reach a wider variety of audiences and bring people to the theater who have “different interests.”

Hamner last visited the theater in 2007 for a similar book signing and reception. This will be the first time in three years Hamner’s play, “The Homecoming” will be on stage at the Hamner Theater.

The Hamner Theater will be staging “The Homecoming,” a Chistmas play, from Nov. 18 thru Dec. 13. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.

For more info, visit http://www.thehamnertheater.com.