The stage will fall silent in December at the Newborn Schoolhouse as the Newborn Opry is set to end its 10-year run with a final show.

The gospel and country and bluegrass music concert series has been popular but no moneymaker, and requires a major investment of time to stage, produce and promote, according to Bob Thompson, an Opry organizer.

“It was more or less a charitable operation” he said Monday.

The final show will be a Christmas special, at 5 p.m. on Dec. 18 at the schoolhouse, Georgia Highway 142 in Newborn. Past performers are asked to participate in the event.

“It may be a way to be a part of local history,” Thompson said.

The concert series was revived in October after the series took more than a year-long hiatus while the schoolhouse was repaired. The schoolhouse was built in 1923 and had structural damage in the roof and foundation.

The series offered free or low-cost gospel concerts on first Saturdays and country and bluegrass performances on third Saturdays.

The reopening attracted one of the largest crowds ever, Thompson said, but staging it has become a burden for he and his wife.

“All good things come to an end eventually,” Thompson said.  “We hate to do it.”