NEW YORK (CMA announcement) - The Country
Music Association Board of Directors honored Country
Music Hall of Fame member and retiring President and CEO of BMI
Frances W. Preston with a $10,000 donation to the Education and Literacy Programs of the Country
Music Hall of Fame on Thursday, July 29, during CMA Board meetings in New York.
"This is one of those occasions when it is difficult to find the words to adequately express appreciation to someone whose contributions have made a huge and very positive difference for our organization and our industry," said CMA Associate Executive Director Tammy Genovese. "We could go on and on about what Frances has meant to the entire music industry - and all its players - but what we want to recognize and appreciate with this donation is what she has meant to CMA."
"I'm honored," Preston told the assembled Board members. "This is one I didn't expect. But, I am particularly pleased with it."
Preston, who is a lifetime member of the CMA Board, recalled the Association's first Board meeting in New York. The group took over The Plaza hotel and planned to give away a Tenneessee Walking Horse and a case of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey at a reception - the horse was in the lobby and Merle Haggard was the featured performer.
"I don't know what we thought New Yorkers would do with a Walking Horse," Preston recalled laughing. "But I'm glad we had the case of Jack Daniel's."
"Frances has contributed so much to this organization," Genovese said. "She was in the trenches for CMA, when being a Board member meant getting down and dirty to get the job done. She was there giving her time and energy when there was little money and very few staff members."
"Some of the fondest memories of my career have been with CMA," Preston said.
In addition to the cash donation, CMA presented a book, Stagolee Shot Billy by Cecil Brown and published by Harvard University Press in 2003, to the Country Music Hall of Fame Library in Preston's name. The book explores the 1895 murder of Billy Lyons, a story which has been told countless times by performers from Cab Calloway to the Isley Brothers and James Brown. The book had been on the Library's wish list.
The Country Music Association honored retiring BMI President/CEO and CMA Lifetime Board Member Frances Preston with a donation to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for the organization's Education and Literacy programs. Pictured (l-r): Kyle Young, Director, Country Music Foundation; Frances Preston, President/CEO, BMI; Charlie Anderson, Chairman, CMA Board of Directors; Tammy Genovese, Associate Executive Director, CMA; Kix Brooks, President, CMA Board of Directors.
