COLUMBUS, Ind. — Former “Dukes of Hazzard” TV star Tom Wopat knows how to accelerate nostalgic excitement.
Come Saturday, Wopat, now a nationally touring singer of everything from country to pop-folk to jazz, will hearken back to his days as the irascible Luke Duke when he makes an entrance at the Columbus Elks Lodge No. 521 for Saturday’s KORN Country Presents: Indiana Gives Back concert, a benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project.
The 69-year-old entertainer, also still acting, will be driving a replica of General Lee, the screaming orange, souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger that he and fellow actor John Schneider regularly steered toward trouble and mischief on the CBS show from 1979 to 1985.
Matt Lee, organizer of the show for the opening Night Owl Country band locally, hatched the blast-from-the-past idea for one of the so-called “good ole boys.”
“We came up with that on a whim,” Lee said.
Wopat acknowledged that this show will be one of only a few he has been able to do since entertainment venues have reopened in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. He originally was scheduled to perform in Columbus just before the disease caused a worldwide shutdown last year.
For the complete story, see Thursday’s GO! section.