First Baptist Church has dubbed 2008 a year of community. This theme carries over into its Dessert Theatre, where members make an effort to produce shows with a positive message.

Beginning Saturday, Dessert Theatre will present “Foxfire,” written by Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn and directed by Rodney Strong.

Strong, a church member who has been affiliated with the Dessert Theatre for nearly 20 years, believes the play will touch the hearts of Chattanoogans, as “Foxfire” deals with issues of family, tradition and knowing when to let go.

At the center of the story is septuagenarian Annie Nations, a high-spirited woman living in the Appalachian Mountains with her husband, Hector.

The roles are played by Nancy and John Hammons.

When a real-estate developer wants to turn the Nationses’ land into a resort space, Annie must decide whether to stay in the place she’s always known or to leave with her son, Dillard, a bluegrass singer who’s long since left home.

“It’s a tribute to old ways that we are losing as we become more urban and less tied to the land,” Strong said.

Family, the first community most people really know, is the axis around which “Foxfire” revolves. The play deals with the issue of parental care and the role reversal that takes effect between children and parents as the parents age.

“It’s about the struggle of honoring parental independence versus caring for them,” said Strong.

He calls “Foxfire” a play with a lot of depth that is still lighthearted. Moments of humor and poignance balance each other in a touching manner that speaks to the heart of the ever-changing family and the struggle of the generation gap.

Originally, Strong planned to produce Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” but not enough people auditioned for the cast, he said.

Friends' Discovery Camp at Creative Discovery Museum at CREATIVE DISCOVERY MUSEUM
Lookouts vs. Diamond Jaxx at AT&T FIELD
Painting for Young People at ATHENS COMMUNITY THEATER