After growing up in Gainesville and working many years as a television producer and now an Atlanta blues deejay, Rojene Bailey is heading to the islands.
The tropical paradise of Bermuda, to be more specific.
"KJAZ 98.1-FM was a fairly new station in Bermuda and one of the owners heard my show in Atlanta and then they started picking it up on the Internet," Bailey said. "When they called and asked me I said, ‘Where? In Bermuda? Heck ya."
Bailey has recorded one live show called Bermuda Blues so far and is slated for another trip to the island on Saturday.
As a longtime television producer, Bailey made many career strides over the years, according to companion Beverly Randolph.
"Rojene has made a lot of personal accomplishments ... Nothing has ever been said about Rojene winning five Emmys as a television producer," she said. "And he won the highest award — it’s called a Silver Circle award."
The Silver Circle awards are given to people who have devoted more than 25 years to the television industry.
Randolph, the office manager at Greenlee’s Funeral Home in Gainesville, shares the love of the blues with Bailey and also is the secretary of the Beulah Rucker Museum where Bailey is the executive director."I am the highly paid executive director for $1 a year," Bailey said. "We reconvened the Beulah Rucker Museum about three years ago because my mother and my aunt and some other people from Gainesville started it ... and after they got sick and died, my cousin (George Rucker) and I got together and said we have to keep this thing going."
Bailey added that there were many uncertainties about the museum starting off.
"So we got in it and spent our first year just straightening up stuff and finding out where we were," he said. "So in the meantime we got a recertification and this is our year to really start moving."
Bailey and Rucker are the grandsons of the late Beulah Rucker (Oliver). In the early 1900s, Rucker opened her home to teach children, veterans and other blacks in North Georgia. Her home became part of the Industrial School, which grew to include larger buildings, although the home is the only structure now standing.
She served as principal and teacher for more than 40 years before her death in 1963.
Her home, located on Athens Highway in Gainesville, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and now houses the museum.
Ruth Bruner, a Gainesville city councilwoman, is the chairwoman of the Educational Foundation and Beulah Rucker Museum. She said the work the museum is doing is an important part of the Hall County community.
"It’s real important because it is one of the only authentic African-American schools from the early 20th century," she said. "Beulah Rucker was a real outstanding woman and did a lot for education in Hall County and we want to honor her and keep that going."
Currently, the museum is open by appointment only, with hopes of opening at least one day a week in the spring.
"We are looking for volunteers, starting hopefully in mid-February, to come and learn about the history and volunteer at the museum," Bailey said.
Bruner added that the museum is in need of historical artifacts. "We need to get some more artifacts and a map of how the school was and hopefully with help of the history center ... people would have a more interesting visit when they go over there," she said.
But for the near future, Bailey has to divide his time between jet-setting to Bermuda and working on projects close to home, including getting the museum up and running again.
"The plan is for me to record three (shows) and go over there once a month and do one on the air," he said. "It’s tough, but someone has to do it."
Currently, Bailey is the host of BluesTime in the City from 4 to 7 p.m. on KISS 104.1-FM in Atlanta.
"My daddy’s side of the family loved the blues ... and I’ve always been interested in the blues," Bailey said, adding that his favorite artist is B.B. King.
"He’s the greatest blues artist that ever lived," Bailey said. "B.B. King started singing the blues in the 1940s, 50s and the 60s, and when blues became a genre of music that was not popular with African Americans, B.B. stuck to his guns. Disco came in, rhythm and blues, pop, rap, all that stuff, and B.B. King stuck to the blues.
"You just have to admire him for that and, trust me, try to get B.B. King at a concert and see how much it would cost you."
Even though Bailey lives in Atlanta and is now a world traveler with his radio show, he said Gainesville "has always been and will always be my home."
And there are some fascinating things in the museum, he said, but namely he just wants to keep history alive.
"It’s not so much for the family but it is something that needs to be done," he said. "There is a lot of great African-American history in Gainesville."