NASHVILLE,
TENNESSEE
THE TENNESSEAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1993

[Headline] ADAPT negotiators accept help on issues from trio of music legends
By BRAD SCHMITT, MARK IPPOLITO and TIMOTHY CORNELL
Staff Writers

They said they couldn't say what the acronym ADAPT stands for.

But three Grand Ole Opry stars, with kind words, handshakes and hugs, last night defused the disabled-rights group's plans to try to disrupt what is arguably Nashville's most important night of the year.

Porter Wagoner, Whisperin' Bill Anderson and William Lee Golden brought a close to intense day-long negotiations between ADAPT and Opryland officials trying to head off any trouble during the nationally televised Country Music Association Awards show.

An army of Opryland security and Metro police stood by in the event the negotiations failed. Opryland Hotel put chains across entrance roads, ready to block vans carrying protesters.

Chain-link fences went up on sidewalks, though they remained open.

[Image]
[Image caption] Paulette Paterson of Chicago chants at the ADAPT rally. Behind her, country entertainers William Lee Golden, Porter Wagoner and Bill Anderson appear in support of the rally participants.

Rex Perry • Staff

The three entertainers showed at a 6 p.m. meeting across from the Opryland Hotel with about 150 protesters, mostly in wheelchairs, from ADAPT, Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today.

A day after the protesters stormed the Opryland Hotel, knocking down a front door, the stars said they would try to help ADAPT push its platform of diverting 25% of Medicaid dollars for nursing homes to home health care.

"We're proud and honored to be here with you," Wagoner told the group.

A day after Opryland security un-successfully tried to herd protesters off hotel property, Opry stars signed autographs and posed for pictures with them.

"I believe what they said was genuine," said ADAPT's Mike Auberger.

The group had considered interfering with the CMA Awards show for attention, said Auberger.

But after meeting with officials from Gaylord Entertainment Co., Opryland's owner, the group agreed to a press conference with the stars behind the Ramada Inn, across from Opryland Hotel.

"We are not here to take away people's fun. We're here to make a point," said Diane Coleman, a Tennessee ADAPT organizer, who uses ‘a wheelchair. "Our opponent is the nursing home industry, not country music fans."

ADAPT came to Nashville because the American Health Care Association, made up mostly of nursing home operators, was having its convention at Opryland Hotel.

Yesterday's peace was shaky, though.

When some groups of protesters entered the hotel afterward as "tourists," security personnel called out on hand-held radios how many entered at one time and where they were going.

"We got two WCs [wheelchairs] and a walker, and they're headed to the presidential ballrooms," a radio crackled after one group entered.

But the white limousines and Mercedes-Benz sedans driving in were greeted by waving Opryland security and suit-wearing maintenance managers. They were told to wave, several said, to show Opryland is a friendly place.

Opryland spokesman Tom Adkinson said company officials tried all week to negotiate with ADAPT, even offering the group a demonstration site:

"We've never allowed demonstrations on our property, but we offered it this time."

Coleman defended ADAPT's tactics:

"I guess it's like any other civil rights movement. When you've tried all the meetings and the phone calls, then there's nothing left but to take it to the streets."

[Subheading] What other stars said

Kathy Mattea: "We live in a world where there's a lot of need. There's so many people out there trying to do something, to get things done on behalf of so many great causes that sometimes it's just overwhelming. It's overwhelming how much we don't take care of each other."

Joe Diffie: "I think any kind of violence is not the right way to go about things. I hope that doesn't happen; I hope they don't disrupt the show for our sakes and for their sakes, too. I think it would bring more embarrassment to them than anything else. If I knew more about it, I'm sure I'd be sympathetic to their cause, as would most people."

Radney Foster: "I'm glad those people can exercise their right to protest. I don't know enough about the issues. As far as access for the disabled, I have two friends who live in wheelchairs. I'm all for it."

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Martes 16 Xullo 2013

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Martes 4 Febreiro 2020

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