Judy Garland - Letter from Home - Guinness World Record!

Judy Garland's Birthplace
Autumn 2014

     Since we last wrote, summer has come and gone, autumn arrived, and for all intents and purposes it is now winter northern Minnesota. We apologize for the long delay with this newsletter, so we’ll get right on to all the great news.

We Smashed the Guinness World Record!

Yes, it’s true! We broke the Guinness World record for the most persons dressed as characters from the 1939 film, “The Wizard of Oz.”  The number to beat was 446, a record set in England back in 2010.  We had 1,150 persons show up on Friday, June 13^th, 2014 at 5:30pm. Of these, 1,093 qualified under the Guinness rules and regulations. For a closer look, please visit YouTube and watch the film by A+B Productions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyF_QrxN8dI&feature=youtu.be

Reece Veatch

As we wrote previously, the idea for the Guinness World Attempt was originated by nine-year-old Reece Veatch. For more information on this, please read our January 2014 newsletter. http://garlandletterfromhome.blogspot.com/2014/01/january-2014-newsletter-guinness-world.html

Many tried to break the world record for the most persons dressed as characters from The Wizard of Oz, however no one came close to 1,093 figure. Even in the record of persons dressing as storybook or film characters, this figure has only been passed in a couple of instances. Needless to say, Reece Veatch, The Judy Garland Museum, Grand Rapids and Itasca County are all very proud of this accomplishment. Over one thousand people can say, “I was there!”

Festival Events

Meanwhile, The Wizard of Oz Festival as a whole was very popular this year. There were all kinds of events for children and adults alike. Here are a few of the highlights.
The Festival opened on June 10^th with cupcakes celebrating Judy’s 92^nd birthday (though we know she will be forever young).  That day was the first showing of one of the Festival Highlights.

New Wizard of Oz Exhibit!

Tuesday was an exciting day for the Judy Garland Museum because of the grand opening of the new “Land of Oz” exhibit. A good portion of this exhibit is comprised of more than 2,000 unique artifacts and memorabilia from The Cheryl Ann Silich Wizard of Oz Collection.

Included in this exhibit area also some very precious artifacts from The Judy Garland Museum collection, a portion of which have not been seen by the public before, including a rare copy of The Wizard of Oz book by L. Frank Baum signed by the stars of the 1939 film.

The highlight for many was seeing the carriage from the Emerald City itself, on a mirrored revolving turntable which allows the viewer to see the carriage from every angle. This carriage, which Dorothy and her friends rode in on their arrival into Oz, was originally built for President Abraham Lincoln, The carriage is a rare and precious artifact because of its significance to both film and American history enthusiasts.



One of the many cases with items on exhibit.

Not far from the carriage is one of the original test dresses made for Judy Garland as well as a talking witch, a replica of Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West, and an original Winkie sword from the film, among other rare items.

Visitors also were thrilled to see the vast array of items and the newly fabricated gallery with “Emerald Green” and “Ruby Red” walls. In the last few months, visitors have come as far as California specifically to see this exhibit. “The Land of Oz” exhibit will be on display at the museum for at least five years, so don’t miss it!

Judy's Karaoke Birthday Party

A karaoke party celebrating Judy Garland’s birthday was hosted Tuesday night at the Sawmill Inn by the multi-talented Tom Hendricks. Tom is most famous here in Grand Rapids for his appearances as the Scarecrow. It was certainly a fun night with participants of all ages. At one point, Tom was seen dancing through the ballroom with a bunch of children following along. The crowd also took delight in singing “Happy Birthday” to Judy.

Carriage Rides with a Horse of a Different Color

The Horse of a Different Color with Tom Hendricks (Scarecrow)
and Ray Nickel (Carriage Driver)

Wednesday, many events took place downtown at the Old Central Schoolhouse. A grand event that day was the arrival of Reece Veatch as our Dorothy for the day in a wagon pulled by a “horse of a different color.” Riding along with her were the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Glinda and a host of other characters from the film. Even the Wizard himself, in the form of John Kelsch, director of the Judy Garland Museum, was on hand, along with Grand Rapids’ Mayor, Dale Adams, who appeared dressed as the Munchkin Mayor.

 Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy in Grand Rapids that day, but that didn’t seem to matter to the kids, who took ride after ride once Dorothy and friends had disembarked. Unbeknownst to the children, our volunteer horse was painted blue on one side and orange on the other. Riding in a large circle, each time the horse turned it seemed he had changed colors. The children were thrilled.

Oz Mystery Dinner

Wednesday night’s highlight was the Oz Mystery Dinner Theater. Performed by the Uncommon Loons actors and an Australian puppy sweetly filling in as Toto from his basket, the sold out audience enjoyed a delicious dinner, fabulous Oz cake, and were held enthralled by the story.

 In the play (which took place after Oz), the Scarecrow became a lawyer, the Tin Man, a mechanic, and the Lion got involved in the underworld. Meanwhile, the ruby slippers were missing and it was up to Dorothy to figure out what happened and get them back!  We won’t tell how things turned out, but it was great fun.

The Toto Too Contest

There were seven contestants for the Toto Too dog contest. Page, Buddy, Rosie, Kudo, Bailey, Bee and Beau.The dogs were judged on their obedience, originality of the tricks and the owner/dog stage performance. All dogs ranged in points from 14 – 22.

 Page, John Suhadole’s dog, was the winner of the Toto Too contest.  Although Page was the closest in looks to Toto, the real clincher was her ability to perform many unique tricks. Page responded immediately to commands to sit, lie down, beg, stay, leave a treat untouched until told, and kiss. Beau, who belonged to Heather, took second place, responding to commands to sit, shake, stand and dance.

Thursday events also included an Oz film festival, Wizard of Oz Jeopardy and the Welcome to Oz Banquet.

John Fricke with Michelle
Russell, who is dressed in
a replica of Munchkin
Margaret Pellegrini's
original WOZ costume

John Fricke Oz Talks

Along with the many events taking place on Friday, besides the Guinness World Record attempt, two talks given by Oz Historian John Fricke were certainly the highlight of the day. The first talk focused on the “Making of the Wizard of Oz.” As always with Fricke, the audience learned things they had never heard before and were thoroughly entertained.

The second talk, “The Impact of Oz” was equally fascinating and audience members were given the chance to ask questions of Mr. Fricke.

Talent Contest

Volunteers at the Judy Garland Museum spent a lot of effort getting the word out to our local schools and community centers about the youth talent contest for boys and girls between the ages of six and eighteen. In addition, word was spread online and in the newspapers. We wanted to make sure that every talented young person who wanted to was able to show their talent and receive the opportunity to win one of the three scholarships, the largest being $1,000.



First Place Winner,
Guilia Piscitelli

The show took place at the Reif Center and a wonderful group of 20 talented acts  performed. One girl with a remarkable voice traveled from Duluth. Several others came from as far as southern Wisconsin. There were musicians, singers, dancers and comedians.

The judges had a difficult time deciding on the great talent. In the end, Guilia Piscitelli, who performed an unforgettable classical ballet to “Over the Rainbow” won first place. Evan Hisey took second place for his performance of “If I Only Had a Brain, Kaitlin and Olivia Skaja took third place for their performance.

Next Year’s Festival

This year’s festival was so popular attendees were already asking for the dates of the 2015 festival the day after. Although no specific plans are available for release at this time, the scheduled dates are June 10^th – 13^th. We will be posting information in the next few months. Please send us your ideas and comments.

Judy Garland appears to greet a visitor on
the First Friday Walk event.

First Friday Walk

The Judy Garland and Children’s Museum are now a part of Grand Rapids’ monthly First Friday Walk – an event where locals visit various cultural attractions around town. This past month, the museum was graced by the very popular Ophoven Family. This group consisting of mom, dad, two sisters and two brothers, are all brilliantly talented musicians playing everything from religious to classic American songs and country.

The Ophoven family performing in
the Children's Discovery Museum

This month, on Friday, December 5^th, the museum will host “Fireside Christmas Concert with Wayne and Laurie.” The performance will go from 6:30 – 8:00p, There is a $2 charge per person which includes admission to the museum. A “free-will” donation for the performers is requested and snacks are available.

News from Home!

On September 22^nd, John Kelsch, director of The Judy Garland Museum was married to Michelle Russell at the historic Mission Inn in Riverside, California. Michelle, who has been coming to the Judy Garland Festival since 1995, is also the author of From Tennessee to Oz, The Amazing Saga of Judy Garland’s Family History.

End of the Year Fundraiser

As 2014 draws to a close, we celebrate achievements of 2014 and looking toward the future. As with every year, we are still in need of funding to keep the Judy Garland Museum and Birthplace dream alive.

As wonderful as our festivals are, they are not large fundraisers. We need your support and your ideas. Please keep us in mind with your end of the year donations. No amount is too small! We absolutely depend on you!

Come One, Come All for the Ho Ho Ho Down Christmas Party!!!
Saturday, December 6^th from 2 – 4pm, The Judy Garland Museum and Children’s Discovery Center will host a Christmas party. Everyone is invited. There will be hayrides, crafts, snacks, and SANTA will be in attendance!

As 2014 closes we want to thank everyone for their support. We are looking forward to a great 2015. Have a Merry Christmas and a very happy Holiday Season.