Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.
Dec. 5, 2008 — Toby Keith has refused to move to Nashville, keeping his home in his native Oklahoma, but he’s having an impact in several different urban centers.
One of them, naturally, is Oklahoma City, where he swung a sledgehammer Wednesday to to help renovate part of the cancer center at the OU Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital. The new center is being created thanks to a $500,000 donation from Ally’s House, one of the charities Toby’s most closely involved with. He visits kids at the cancer unit frequently, and he’s touched by them, telling The Oklahoman they’re "God’s little gifts to the world."
Toby’s finding increased acceptance meanwhile in Washington, D.C., where he was honored with a resolution in September for his support of the U.S. military. Gen. James Jones, who’s been added to President-Elect Barack Obama’s cabinet, is buddies with Toby, and now it seems Bill Richardson, set to become the Secretary of Commerce, also rates him highly.
"One of the great things about him is that during dinner, he’ll start singing a song," Bill told Esquire magazine. "Not to perform, but to tell you what he was feeling the particular day that he wrote it."
A couple days after the Obama inauguration, Toby will launch a new leg of his Biggest & Baddest Tour. At least five concerts are promised with Jason Aldean opening, though so far, the only dates that have been announced include Albany, N.Y., Jan. 22; Peoria, Ill., Jan. 29; and Evansville, Ind., Jan. 30.
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