The “We’ve Got Your Back” backup singers prepare for a performance featuring songs and skits paying homage to USO performances and the 1970s while honoring local veterans. Pictured from left are Barbara Pooler, RuthAnn King, Pat Teague, Joann Hamman and Suzie Dukes. Photo by Seti Long

 

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) – Following the successful debut of its Veterans Day fundraising event last year, the Gridley Museum is returning to the stage at the Gridley Moose Lodge once more.

The “We’ve Got Your Back” play is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 21, and will continue to support the mission of the 2025 event: raising money for the Gridley Museum’s recording studio project, “In Their Own Words” (ITOW).

The Gridley Museum used proceeds from the first play to purchase equipment for a designated recording studio at the museum, with certain programs allowing the ITOW project to go mobile. The equipment has given ITOW committee members the ability to meet with veterans wherever they feel most comfortable sharing their stories.

At the time of this article, the museum board and ITOW committee had collected stories from five local veterans and were arranging future interviews with more veterans who served in the Vietnam War.

Their goal is to create an audiovisual archive of these veterans’ stories for future generations to learn from and understand how war can affect local lives and families. The museum hopes to make these recordings, whether audio only or a combination of video and audio, available for the public to access on-site at the museum.

The “We’ve Got Your Back” backup singers prepare backstage for their upcoming performance honoring local veterans. Pictured from left are RuthAnn King, Joann Hamman, Pat Teague, Barbara Pooler and Suzie Dukes. Photo by Seti Long

The public can hear samples of those recordings at the “We’ve Got Your Back” fundraiser, held in honor of veterans and Veterans Day.

Suzie Dukes, a member of the ITOW committee, said sound bites from interviews with local veterans will be played as voiceovers during portions of the play, which will feature scenes from World War II and the Vietnam War.

The “We’ve Got Your Back” program will take viewers through serious moments mixed with comic relief, paying homage to pop culture shows popular in the 1970s, such as “M*A*S*H,” and period music from World War II, including big band and swing songs such as “In the Mood” by Tommy Dorsey.

Four Gridley women, the “We’ve Got Your Back” backup singers, will lend their talents to songs such as The Chordettes’ “Mr. Sandman.”

Not only do the backup singers support the play throughout its multiple acts, but they are also meant to symbolize the support the museum hopes to offer local veterans as it works to preserve their memories.

Doors open for “We’ve Got Your Back” at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, with a social hour before the play begins. Although the event is a fundraiser, the museum is not charging an admission fee but will accept donations at the door. Veterans are encouraged to attend free of charge.

The Gridley Moose Lodge is located at 1533 Highway 99 in Gridley.