As long as I live you can always find me close to the Ole Red River. I was born here, raised here, my heart and soul are here, along the sand bars and swift waters, listening to the wind whispering through the willers,” said Dean Price, better known as Wildwood Dean.

In 1966, Cecil Isaac, an Austin College music professor emeritus, brought together 30 or so volunteer musicians and formed the Sherman Civic Orchestra.

Not long after that, he found a few professional players to join the group, and Sherman had itself a full-fledged symphony. Professor Isaac is retired now and lives in Washington, but his musical creation plays on.

Every story has a beginning. For Ron Cassady, managing director of Main Stage, a division of the Sherman Community Players (SCP) designed specifically for adults, that start was 32 years ago. It was 1974, and SCP was still small. “I kind of came in on the low end of it when it was still a little group,” says Cassady. “It’s grown and I’ve grown with it and grown with the community.”