Happy spring!
As those of you in northern Minnesota know, we experienced some warm weather last week, along with some smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Yesterday, however, the rain finally arrived. We got a good soaking and clean air, so it promises to be a beautiful spring.
As those of you in northern Minnesota know, we experienced some warm weather last week, along with some smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Yesterday, however, the rain finally arrived. We got a good soaking and clean air, so it promises to be a beautiful spring.
This week marks four weeks until
the 2016
Wizard of Oz Festival . In this Letter from Home, we’ll share some
information about coming events and more. We hope you enjoy!
- High Tea/Style Show at the Judy Garland Home
- Catching Up with John
Fricke
* Some History
* A New Play on
Judy
* The Oz Train
* Judy Programs
- _ Meet the Staff
- _ Gift Shop Surprises
- _ Our Wish List
High Tea, Tour & Film Costume Style Show in Judy Garland’s Childhood Home!
Our lovingly restored
historic house, adjacent to the Museum, was the childhood home of Judy Garland from 1922-1926. The house was
first opened to the public twenty-one years ago, in June of 1995. Since then,
this charming home has attracted over 1 million visitors.
After opening to the public in
1995, historic restoration on the second story of the house was completed. Over
time, thanks to the many donations we have received, Judy’s house was furnished
circa 1926.
One of our greatest benefactors
in this respect is acclaimed New York interior designer, Marc Charbonnet. Mr. Charbonnet
has his own design firm, MECA in New York City. He has worked both as a photo
stylist, creating interiors for Lancome ads, and an interior designer for many
of the rich and famous, most notably designing the interior of Michael J. Fox’s
home. For the Judy Garland home, Charbonnet traveled to auction houses on the
east coast, where he carefully chose furnishings appropriate to an upper middle
class 1920s family. As a result, the Gumm house is truly an accurate treasure.
This June, you can have a chance
to tour the home with Dorothy. Thanks to the Itasca County Historical Society, who has lent us a few Judy Garland costume replicas, we will also have a short style show at this event. Then, visitors will enjoy tea and pastries in the ambiance
where Judy’s mother, Ethel Gumm often entertained.
Don’t wait too long to sign up
for this event because seating is limited. Billed as a fundraiser during the
Festival, tickets are $20 per person.
If you think your ladies club or
group might be interested in having this experience during the summer or fall
(minus the style show), please contact the Museum for further information.
Catching Up with John Fricke
The participation of Oz and Garland
historian John Fricke at our annual Festival dates back to his appearances here
in 1989, 1990, and 1996. In fact, ours was the first such event he ever
attended -- anywhere! These last few years, he has become a regular
feature of the Grand Rapids festivities; this year, Mr. Fricke will present
three programs on Judy Garland and one short, kid-friendly talk on Oz.
Recently we caught up with Fricke and
asked him about where it all began. We knew that he first became enamored with The Wizard of Oz and Judy Garland back
when he was five, but how did he become professionally involved with these two
subjects?
A Little History
In response, Fricke
explained that “a little bit as a preteen and then a lot in my teens” he
began submitting articles to “fanzines.” These periodicals included: The
International Wizard of Oz Club periodical, The Baum Bugle;
the U.S. Garland News and Garland Gazette,
and the British Club's Rainbow Review. Then, when Fricke was eighteen, the Oz Club
published his 1969 thirtieth anniversary article about "the making
of" The Wizard of Oz movie. In light of history,
Fricke explains, “It's difficult to realize now, but that was the very first
historical piece ever printed about that film.”
Moving ahead to 1975, John Fricke
had his first Judy Garland related professional assignment while he was working
for Donald Smith and his public relations firm in New York City. At that time,
they "launched" the Gerold Frank biography, Judy,
and for the book's official publication party, produced a black-tie,
supper dance for 700 people at The Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center. Many
celebrities attended the event, including, of course, Judy’s children, Lorna
and Joe Luft. At midnight, there was a cabaret show featuring (among others) Mabel
Mercer, Dolores Gray, Margaret Whiting, Gretchen Wyler, Cy Coleman...and John
Fricke. Pretty exciting stuff!
[Note: (Garland News
was an excellent source of timely information; Garland Gazette was the journal of Judy's "official" fan
club from 1955-1966; The British Club also was endorsed by Judy and continues
to this day.]
New News! 2015-2016
The past fourteen months
have been extremely busy and exciting for John. Not only has he appeared at all
four national Oz Festivals (OZ-Stravaganza! in Chittenango, NY
(Frank Baum's birthplace), the new Midwest Wizard of Oz Festival in
Tinley Park, IL (just south of Chicago), OZtoberFest! in
Wamego, KS (home of The OZ Museum), and the Judy Garland Museum’s Wizard of
Oz/Judy Garland Festival in Grand Rapids, he has lectured on Judy and
Oz, sung in the holiday musical revue, Silver Bells, in
Nebraska; and been interviewed on dozens of radio shows.
A New Play About Judy!
“The script covers Judy's
life from approximately age five to age sixteen; the emotionally true
scenario recounts her experiences with The Gumm/Garland Sisters,
her parents, Bill Gilmore, Louis B. Mayer, Ida Koverman, Ma Lawlor, George
Jessel, Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable, Deanna Durbin, Lana Turner, and etc. Best
of all, it features the genuine music from that era, as sung by Judy and
others.”
“The North Carolina
audiences were rapt throughout every performance -- and stood to cheer every
night and matinee. The show now moves to the legendary Goodspeed Opera House in
East Haddam, CT, where previews begin mid-September. The show officially opens
there the first week of October and runs through Thanksgiving.”
Keep an eye out for “Chasing
Rainbows.” Some of you may even want to travel to Connecticut to see the show!
See:
See:
The Wizard of Oz Train Ride
Another exciting event
which John Fricke took part in this year was the new “Wizard of Oz Train Ride.” About this event, he writes:
The Wizard of Oz Train Ride -- to give it its full and official title -- is a joint
production of Rail Events, Inc. and Warner Bros. This is the team responsible
for the enormously successful, holiday-timed Polar Express Train
Ride, which now takes place in many locales around the country.
“This, of course, is the
eventual hope for The Wizard of Oz Train Ride, as well. It had
its try-out across four weekends in French Lick, Indiana, in March/April, and
thousands of people of all ages took part and raved about it. There'll be more
opportunities to try it out in Asheville, North Carolina, between July and
August this summer. Pending the ongoing reception and the ride's evolution,
it's likely to pop up many more places in the years ahead.”
Thoughts of Judy
This year at the Wizard of
Oz Festival, John Fricke will be presenting some programs of interest to
Garland fans: "We Remember Judy," "Judy Remembers Dorothy," and
"The Best of Judy Garland on TV,
1965-1968," so we thought we’d ask:
JGM: In the last year, have
you found anything or realized anything new about Judy that surprised or
enlightened you in some way?”
JF: I can't say
"surprised," but I can say what pleasure there has been to see
(once again, and over and over and over) the impact she has on all ages of
people -- whether professionally, as in the reruns of the TV series, or
personally, as in the impact her story makes on the audiences for Chasing
Rainbows.
“There seems to be much
more comprehension of how she triumphed; of how extraordinary, powerful, and
unique her talent remains; and of all she had to face and withstand
and work to conquer across every year of her life, from the time she was a
little girl, and made to feel that her family's stability and potential
happiness rested on her ability to work.”
“And, in a way, all of that
is "enlightening," too, as its ongoing proof-positive of what a
wonderful human being she tried so very hard to be -- for her children, for her
coworkers and associates, for her audiences, and for total strangers.”
We can tell you there’s a
bit more to this “interview” with the amazing John Fricke, but we’re going to
include it in another “Letter from Home,” so we can only say here:
To be continued…
MEET THE STAFF
This year there have been some
changes at the adjoining Children’s Discovery Museum. Each year, in
addition to our regular youthful visitors, the museum hosts school field trips for several thousand children. We are presently in the process of a reorganization, to improve operations.
This year, thanks to a grant
from the State of Minnesota Legacy Fund, administered by the Minnesota Humanities Center, new exhibits for the Children’s Discover Museum will be built.
Here are two important members of the new Children’s Discover Museum team:
Here are two important members of the new Children’s Discover Museum team:
Nancy
O’Toole
Nancy O’Toole joined the Children’s Discovery Museum (CDM) education staff in 2015 and began her job as
Program Director in January of 2016. Recently, she retired from teaching
preschool at Ready Set Grow (Grand Rapids United Methodist Church), where she
taught for twenty-five years.
Nancy is a Grand Rapids native,
where she graduated from Grand Rapids High School. She received a degree in
elementary and special education from the University of North Dakota. Before
returning to teach in Grand Rapids, she taught elementary and junior high
special education in Mahnomen, Cass Lake, Bismarck, and Duluth.
Nancy is married to Dennis
O’Toole and they have two grown sons.
She enjoys fly-fishing trips to scenic locations (mostly Montana &
the Caribbean). Gardening, reading,
walking, lake swimming, and church choir are some of her activities.
This year at the museum, Nancy is
enjoying the opportunity to teach visiting school groups, along with developing
new curriculums. She likes to use her imagination to plan new exhibits,
displays, and special events for young families. This year, Nancy is assisting Melanie Jacobson with the Emerald City Fest in downtown Grand Rapids, MN at the Old Central School.
Debbie
SiasDebbie Sias has been employed at the Children's Discovery Museum since 2009. This year she was officially named Education Director for the Museum school program.
Teaching comes naturally to Debbie. She has been
teaching in one capacity or another every year since she was 12 years-old. She has
taught young people from toddlers to seniors. About her work, Debbie says: “I
love to challenge people to learn and explore while making it fun.”
About her work for the Children’s Discover
Center, Debbie says: “My vision for the
Museum is to make it a place that the entire family will enjoy, from toddlers
up to and including grandparents. By each
one finding something engaging, hopefully, they will go out feeling they’ve had
an awesome experience and are glad that they came to visit.”
In addition to her work as a teacher, Debbie Sias
has an entrepreneurial business background. She and her husband, Marlon, who
has also worked as a teacher at the museum, have owned several businesses.
Debbie and Marlon Sias have been married for 42 years. They have five grown
children and three grandchildren who live a long ways away.
The Siases have a hobby farm where they have
raised goats, pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, a cat and dog. Each year, Debbie
and Marlon help organize and provide animals for the Wizard of Oz Festival
event, Dorothy’s Farm, so please say
hello if you see them!
Gift Shop Surprises
The Judy Garland Museum’s Gift
Shop is an ever-changing place! Last year, we cleaned out our archives and
discovered many duplicates of Garland books, records, CDs, Videos, DVDs and
collectible plates.
We still have quite a few of these items left, so if you
are looking for books or records from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, as well as those
in the present, please contact us or better yet, come and visit!
This week we received an antique
collection of dolls, doll furniture, china and other items which are now in our
gift shop.
Meanwhile, we always have
souvenirs, postcards, children’s items, Wizard of Oz costumes and much more.
Please visit our website:
Please visit our website:
Just remember you’ll find a lot
more if you come in person!
Our Wish List
Do you and does anyone you know
love to garden?
If you have time on your hands,
the Judy Garland Museum could use volunteer help weeding, pruning and helping
to make our garden look beautiful. Any amount of time is good. Once or half an
hour to an hour a week. We have mowers, but as you know, gardens need attention
and ours is pretty big. It’s a lovely place to spend some time.
Houses age with time and when
you’re over 100 years old and survive the cold winters of Minnesota, the time
comes when you need extra loving care.
Right now, our windows are
aging. The wood on the storm windows is decaying. The exteriors of the interior windows need to
be sanded and painted. Our upstairs windows also need storm windows. If you are
a carpenter or a painter and would like to donate your time, please talk to us!
That’s our wish list for now.
We appreciate all your help and
support!
Don’t forget to visit our
website for the 2016 Wizard of Oz Festival!
See you soon!
I'm curious to know if there is any furniture in the Garland home that was actually in the house when the Gumm family lived there.
ReplyDeleteNo. At the the time the Gumms moved they either sold their furniture or gave it to family in Duluth. All the furniture in the home is period and also based on stories from the people who visited the family but none of it is original. I'm told at one time the museum actually have items in the home that belonged to Judy in Hollywood, such as salt shakers and some juice glasses that Frank Sinatra gave here but these are now on display in the museum. Many items such as kitchen furnishing and bedding were given to the museum by local families who had them in their homes back in the 1920s.
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