Note from the Editor
Brown County lost a legend when Andy Rogers passed away this summer.
You wouldn’ t know to look at him that he was one of the most influential men in Brown County. He most often wore jeans and suspenders and sometimes sported a red, elf-like hat. He was a mover and shaker, yet he came across with an unassuming manner( until he was mad). At one point he owned or operated about half of Nashville while managing the Abe Martin Lodge in the Brown County State Park. Andy was on the go, moving from one property to another, until the last few years of his life.
Someone remarked at his celebration of life that he was good at“ nudging” people and I would have to say that he personally nudged me quite a bit. He offered constructive criticism about this publication speaking from some experience with his own newspaper venture. He encouraged me to participate in politics when I expressed some interest in it, and I ended up serving a term on the County Council. I never took his support for granted, though. He enjoyed challenging me.
We had annual meetings to discuss renewing advertising and to talk about the direction of tourism in Brown County. During one conversation I asked him what he thought about all the recent changes that were taking place in Nashville and I expected a nostalgic response about“ the good old days.” He surprised me with,“ There’ s room for everybody here. We have to accept change.”
In a 2002 article of the magazine Andy said,“ People say,‘ Well, we can’ t change.’ But we can change and still retain some of the flavor of Brown County. We need people to live here. I’ m in the tourist business but we don’ t want to turn this town over to the tourists. You can go to Gatlinburg if you want to see what happens to a town that turns it all over to business. It’ s not a town anymore— it’ s a shopping center. We need people here. This town needs to be alive.”
He understood that people come here because they find something that they have lost in their own communities, a small town soul.
Andy served on a long list of community boards, helped to establish the Convention and Visitors Bureau, started a bank to fund local businesses, got the Brown County Playhouse off the ground, helped to bring water
to the county, and was active in local government. He offered support to many artists and business people and often quietly contributed to many community causes.
He had a special connection with the Brown County State Park. His father Jack managed the park when Andy was a child. He and his family shared many memories there.
Honoring history was important to Andy and he was a founding member of the Brown County Historical Society. He was also a supporter of the arts. His wife Fran was an accomplished artist herself. He didn’ t consider himself to be an art collector but he owned some of the early Brown County artists’ works.
Andy had to back down from his Brown County responsibilities in recent years to care for his late wife and to battle dementia. He turned over some of his properties to buyers he thought might give them a brighter future.
Many of us wonder who can fill the shoes of a man that helped make Brown County what it is today. I suspect no one. But I have faith that the uniqueness of this place will continue to attract Brown County characters that make things happen. •
— Cindy Steele
12 Our Brown County • Sept./ Oct. 2018