Gainesville man to be honored at Grand Ole Opry

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A retired longtime Gainesville radio executive - A.O. "Red" Healan - will be honored at the Grand Ole Opry Saturday night.

The 82-year-old Healan, once General Manager of WGGA, now 1240 ESPN Radio, will be recognized by country music great Bill Anderson from the Opry stage in Nashville, Tenn., for his help in launching Anderson's career.

Particularly, Healan will be singled-out as the very first person to ever play a Bill Anderson recording on any radio station anywhere, according to his friend. A.C. Marshall of Gainesville.

Marshall writes in a email announcing Saturday night's event, that "when Anderson was just launching his career, it was Healan who carried Bill and another young man noted in northeast Georgia Country music circles, Billy Dillworth, on their very first visit to Nashville to the Country Music Disc Jockey Association's annual meeting, of which Healan was one the founding members.

Before coming to Gainesville in 1966 and taking over the operation of WGGA, Healan was a popular country music disc jockey in Athens.