290 A BICENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI of Royal’s productions was a comedy of errors featuring Elliott Street, who later became an actor in television shows such as Mayberry R.F.D., Love American Style, Cade’s County, Ironside, the Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-0, Kung Fu, Serpico, and The Rockford Files, and movies like The Legend of Bagger Vance and Runaway Jury. Born in Whynot (Clarke County) in 1941, David Ruffin left home around the age of fourteen and ended up in Memphis, Tennessee, where he sang and wrote songs and toured with various groups. After he moved to Detroit, Michigan, David’s big brother, Jimmy, joined him. Berry Gordy of Motown Records signed both brothers, but it was David who stood out as a singer and a performer. In 1963, David replaced Eldridge Bryant as a tenor vocalist in the Temptations, and sang the vocal lead on such hits as My Girl, I Wish It Would Rain, and Ain’t Too Proud to Beg. Jimmy Ruffin also had success as a solo artist with several top ten Motown hits, including What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, released in 1966. The Ruffin Brothers remain music legends from the East Central region, alongside Jimmie Rodgers, William Butler Fielder, Al Wilson, George Cummings, Hayley Williams, Paul Davis, Randy Houser, Big K.R.I.T., and many more. Through a partnership between Mississippi State University and the Riley Foundation, the Grand Opera House in Meridian built in the late 1800s was reopened in 2006 as the MSU Riley Center, reviving its history as a premier entertainment venue in the South. On the same block, the historic J.J. Newberry and S.H. Kress Buildings are another phase of the MSU/Riley partnership and will serve as branches of the MSU Meridian campus. In 2002, the Mississippi legislature established the Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Center in Meridian. The economic tailspin from Hurricane Katrina caused serious delays in the project originally planned for the Meridian Bonita Lakes area. With a new board and new plans for a downtown Meridian location, board member and BMI Senior Vice President Fred Cannon asked the board to create a Walk of Fame in front of the MSU Riley Center to honor Mississippi legends in the field of arts and entertainment. The first Walk of Fame star was awarded to Meridian’s own Jimmie Rodgers. Walk of Fame Bronze stars have been presented to several East Central region artists, including Marty Stuart (Philadelphia), Moe Bandy (Meridian), Sela Ward. (Meridian), and Hartley Peavey (Meridian). The Walk of Fame is winding its way through downtown Meridian to the new museum site on the corner of 22nd Avenue and Front Street. At the October 3, 2015 groundbreaking that drew state officials and excited people to the site where the two-story, 58,500 square foot facility is being built, the new official name of the Center was announced: The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience. Walk of Fame Star recipient Hartley Peavey, the founder of Peavey Electronics began his company in the spring of 1965 with the $8,000 his father had reserved for Peavey’s college education. Hand crafting amplifiers in his father’s basement, Peavey expanded his Meridian business into the only American company that manufactures every link in the audio chain, including public address systems, guitars, amps, digital electronics, UNION STATION With multiple major rain lines and up to forty-four trains running through the city daily, Meridian was the largest city in Mississippi in 1900. Union Station was the center of the railroads, and has become a multi-modal transportation facility. PHOTO COURTESY OF MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY, COOPER (FORREST LAMAR) POSTCARD COLLECTION