Wade Hayes

Pat Griggs of Nashville with Wade Hayes

Any serious student of country music knows about Tootsies Orchid Lounge. The Music City hotspot, legendary for its country music clientele, has been around since 1960 (a decade after first opening as “Mom’s”). Somehow, though, Pat Griggs, a 70-year resident of Nashville, never got around to visiting the famed watering hole. The subject came up at a meeting of Miss Pat’s bridge club, and all the ladies agreed they’d like to take a maiden voyage downtown to Tootsies.

Helen Neal, a good friend of Pat’s, then hatched a scheme worthy of a country song: She’d take the group to Tootsies, in a limo, no less, to celebrate Miss Pat’s 100th birthday, where she’d be serenaded by Wade Hayes. According to Helen, Pat “spryly climbed into the VIP booth” to meet Wade. The singer led the rowdy afternoon crowd in singing “Happy Birthday,” and also dedicated a performance of his breakthrough 1994 No. 1 hit, “Old Enough to Know Better,” to the birthday girl.

“I never imagined such a thing,” Miss Pat tells CW. “It was so delightful—Wade was very kind and thoughtful.”

Wade might have gotten the best gift of all out of the deal. “I adored Miss Pat,” he said later. “She was fun to visit with, telling jokes and stories. That day was a blessing to me!”

• August 1, 2008
• story by Steve Morley