Photo Credit: Richard Piotrowski

The Jesters filled the stage at The Georgia Theatre Friday night without Harold Williams but with his son, Ben.

The Jesters sold out the the Georgia Theatre Friday night, May 30, and they filled up the stage, with the help of musician friends, in their farewell performance after 50 years of bringing musical delight to their fans, many of whom have been with them since high school. The show raised a phenomenal $41,000, according to Jester Donny Whitehead, who spearheaded the effort. Proceeds go to fellow Jester Harold Williams, the popular musician/CPA debilitated by a paralyzing fall in November.

Among the many highlights of the evening was a solo drum extravaganza put on by Harold’s son, Ben, sitting in with the guys.

The show was “an Athens moment,” according to longtime local musician Dirk Howell, and Donny Whitehead summed it up by saying that the show was “as much fun, and I am as honored to be a part of it, as any event ever.”

Dennis Haynes, Harold’s colleague at Williams & Guined CPA, called the evening a happy occasion and a sad occasion. “I’ve never heard The Jesters without Harold,” Haynes said.

And it’s true. One’s eye kept trying to pick out Harold on the crowded stage, forgetting for a moment that he was not there.

The show was videotaped, and there are rumors that copies will be available for those who didn’t buy tickets in time and even for those who did. Stay tuned.