The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour is hosting its annual holiday/membership party, including a very unique silent auction, on Friday, December 7 from 6–9 pm at Southside Gallery at 150 Van Buren Avenue. The event will feature live music by Thacker’s house band, The Yalobushwhackers, as well as food and drink by local caterers, Party Waitin’ To Happen and The Main Event.
The party is free to current members. Memberships (new or renewed) are available at the door for $50 (single), $75 for couples, and $20 for students. Memberships are good for one year. If you are unable to attend, you may donate at the show’s website, http://thackermountain.com/. Checks can be sent to: Friends of Thacker Mountain Radio, Inc., P.O. Box 2196, Oxford MS 38655.
Bidding on auction items will remain open until 8:30 pm, giving guests ample time to browse the large collection of mind-boggling events and gifts. The prizes include the “Oxford Town Progressive Dinner,” a dinner for six with each course provided at the home of a different Oxonian including food journalist John T. Edge and Chef John Currence with transportation provided by Flying Tuk.
The “Whole Hog Comes to You” is a BBQ dinner with all the trimmings for 100 brought to your location by Oxford’s Smoke Shop and Cookout Catering. A performance of the play, Oh, Mr. Faulkner, Do You Write? performed by playwright/actor John Maxwell for 20 guests at Rowan Oak, will be offered for bidding, which also includes food and drinks. Other items include: two tickets to the Hill Country Boucherie at Home Place Pastures next August; an evening of photographs and stories with acclaimed blues/rock photographer Dick Waterman; a guided fishing trip on Pickwick Lake, and a weekend at Ocean Springs Mardi Gras with Ron and Misty Feder.
Another item sure to generate interest is a one-of-a-kind “Private Thacker” performance for 20 friends. This mini-version of the radio show with feature host Jim Dees, house band, the Yalobushwhackers and bestselling author, Ace Atkins. Beverages and appetizers will be provided.
There are special VIP packages for bidding from the Lyric Oxford, the Oxford Film Festival, and the Double Decker Arts Festival. Artwork from area artists and those with ties to the region will be offered including Dick Waterman, Glennray Tutor, Bill Dunlap, Deborah Freeland, Yerger Andre, David Rae Morris, Milly West, Bruce Newman, among others.
In other fund-raising news, the show recently announced the establishment of an endowment fund beginning with a seed donation of $2,500 from the Lafayette Oxford Foundation for Tomorrow (LOFT). The show will conduct an official endowment campaign beginning in early 2019.
The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, now in its 21st year, is broadcast live every week in spring and fall on WUMS (92.1 FM) from Off Square Books. It can be heard every Saturday at 7 pm on Mississippi Public Broadcasting (90.3 FM in Oxford) and online at http://www.mpbonline.org/programs/radio/listen-live/. The show is also broadcast on Alabama Public Radio every Saturday at 9 pm at https://www.apr.org/#stream/0.
Live performances of The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour will resume at Off Square Books on Thursday, January 24, 2019. Admission is free to all Oxford performances. 
