But once inside it’s easy to see why Rose owner and performer Madlyon Oppermann calls the space her “Little Grand Ole Opry.”

The stage in the back is surrounded by chairs in a room decorated in keeping with any great opry.

On Thursday, Mrs. Oppermann, her husband, Paul; Shorty Grisham, leader of the Texas Rose Band; and his wife, Linda, sat in the darkened dance hall and discussed their upcoming performance at the 77th annual Pioneer Day and the fun they have running the monthly Texas Rose Opry.

Mrs. Oppermann and the Rose Band got their start at Pioneer Day nine years ago, she said. “They started us with 25 minutes, then gave us 30 minutes, then 45, and now we’re up to an hour and 15 minutes.”

The self-taught Shorty Grisham backs up Ms. Oppermann on lead guitar and also helps out with the vocals.

Grisham and Mrs. Oppermann prefer “the old country, from probably back in the ’60s,” Grisham said. The “old country” includes “Ray Price, Johnny Bush, Merle Haggard and Patsy Cline,” noted Ms. Oppermann.

The Oppermanns danced at a few Pioneer Days before finally joining other local performers on stage. Oppermann explained that even though some of the attendees may not look like typical dancers, it never stops them from cutting a rug. That’s where Mrs. Oppermann and the Rose band come in - they play the music that gets the crowd moving.

“We like to play things like waltzes and the two-step,” Oppermann said. “Some of the people walk up with crutches, but before you know it they get up and dance.”

Grisham echoed those thoughts from his time as a musician at the Sammons Community Center. After performing a few songs, Grisham received a kind, but earnest, rebuke from the crowd to step up the tempo.

“They walked up to me and said, ‘Shorty, we may be old, but we ain’t dead,’” Grisham said with a smile.

Mrs. Oppermann and the Rose band might wish they are allowed to at least play dead on Saturday when they pull double-duty and perform in the morning at Pioneer Day and in their own opry at the Rose Center that night.

“It’s going to be very long day,” Mrs. Oppermann said. “But it is worth every bit of it.”

The event is a family affair, with the Rose band backing up local singers who want to perform and Mrs. Oppermann turning out her well-known cobblers and chicken salad sandwiches, and even managing to hit the stage to keep the audience in their dancing shoes.

“We don’t make a lot money,” Mrs. Oppermann said. “But we have fun putting smiles on people’s faces. Once you’ve come, you won’t forget it.”

As the group of friends laughed and told stories in the shadows of the center, Oppermann took a moment to sum up not only what the Rose Opry is about, but also found another meaning to the Pioneer Day celebration.

“It’s Temple’s family reunion,” Oppermann said. “We’re all in this together. All for one and one for all.”

The rest of the Texas Rose Band is Dean Pankonein, Bud Harger, James Adams, Jimmy Rogers and Bill Dearmore.

The Texas Rose Opry is held once a month on the fourth Saturday. Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for adults. The Texas Rose Center is at 893 FM 93 in Temple. For information, call 254-773-7754.