Judy Garland Museum - Happy Fall - What's Coming

We are finally back with a new newsletter. We hope you enjoy it. In addition, please note, our website is in the process of changing hands, so it has not been updated, but this should occur shortly!

* New 2018 Festival Dates

* Talent Show Postponed

* 2017 Wizard of Oz Festival

* Museum Policies

*Ideas for 2018 Festival
*Garland/Gumm Author Heads to Tennessee
*Fall Clean-Up - Spring Flowers

New Festival Dates for 2018

After consideration by our Board, it has been decided that the 2018 Wizard of Oz Festival will take place one week later than usual, on Thursday, June 14, Friday, June 15, and Saturday, June 16, 2018. This change will allow more people to attend, including those who might be involved in end of the school year dance programs and the other events.  Mark your calendars now. We hope to see you there!

Talent Show Postponed

As most of you know, last year’s Judy Garland Talent Contest for youth ages 6 - 18, scheduled for June 8^th was originally re-scheduled for September. This August, it was decided that the best time for this event would be during the Wizard of Oz Festival. As a result, it has now been rescheduled one last time for Saturday, June 16^th at Reif. More announcements will be made as we get closer to that date.

2017 Wizard of Oz Festival

The reviews are in, and those who attended felt this year’s Festival felt it did not disappoint. Here is a short review.

Thursday, June 8

The Festival opened with a High Tea in the Judy Garland House. The house was beautifully decorated and an assortment of sandwiches and sweets were served with hot tea.

Prior to the “tea,” there was a piano performance by Josh Gallagher on the small grand in the Gumm Family’s front parlor. Attendees were thrilled by Josh’s beautiful performance. Visitors also received a surprise recital by two singers: Michelle Russell, who sang a song written by Judy’s mother back in the 1920s, ‘Deep, Deep in My Heart,” and Melissa Christophererson, whose wonderful rendition of Judy Garland’s hit, “The Man That Got Away,” amazed our guests.

At 7 pm that night, there was a free showing of Judy Garland’s film, Summer Stock. Persons of every age attended and thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful film with songs by Judy, dancing by Gene Kelly and a great deal of humor with Phil Silvers, Eddie Bracken and Marjorie Main.

Josh Gallagher performed a short but brilliant concert for us prior to the film. Attendees had the privilege of hearing some of their favorite Garland film songs, as rendered by this wonderful Au Claire, Wisconsin native. This event was so enjoyed, we hope to have more of these evenings in the future.

Friday, June 9

Friday morning consisted of the very popular Oz and Judy Jeopardy conducted by Paul Herrick and Joe Malinovsky.  John Fricke's marvelous short event, Introduction to Oz, followed. This year, the program included video, which helped to thoroughly educate all of us on the wonders of The Wizard of Oz film. This talk was for young and old alike and included an anti-bullying theme which the film illustrates so well.

Happy Anniversary, Judy

A favorite among the programs offered this year was John Fricke’s “Happy Anniversary, Judy.”  For this event, Fricke showed film excerpts and video of important moments in Judy’s life. One of the most interesting was watching Judy repeatedly film her thanks as she accepted her Tony Award. She was quite meek and shy in the beginning, so it was interesting to watch her grow in strength with each take.

We’re Off to See the Munchkins

One of our events this year was the showing the 1990 film, “We’re Off to See the Munchkins.” A very young John Fricke was the narrator and host on this film, along with eight Munchkin guests.
One of the interesting aspects of the picture were the detailed 

descriptions by the eight, of events leading up to being chosen for The Wizard of Oz, followed by stories of what it was like to work on the film day by day. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this screening and felt it was a worthwhile event. In coordination with the film, a new exhibits on the Munchkins in Grand Rapids was opened in the Judy Garland Gallery. Two awards were also presented, for the best stories and photos of meeting the Munchkins, one went to Brian Carlson, the other to the mother of Abby and T.J. We are sorry we don't have a last name at this time.

That evening, was the showing of the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz," on a Jumbo Screen under the stars. As usual, hundreds of families and individuals showed up for this event which never gets old.

Saturday, June 10^th

Dash for the Ruby Slippers

Saturday, June 11^th, the Wizard of Oz Festival held its first 5K run, titled “Dash for the Ruby Slippers. Suggested by fan and visitor, Justin Charles, and organized by Sheena Richards, the Ruby Slipper 5K turned out to be popular and we hope to have it as an annual event. Although only 12 runners were signed up initially, we had a total of about 33 runners of all ages in the end. This was quite a feat as there were a number of other races going on that weekend. We expect the race will double or even triple next year! By the way, the gift shop has a few shirts left if you are interested!

Emerald City Fest and Dorothy’s Farm Animals

Saturday, the Museum also hosted a number of children’s events, including Dorothy’s Farm Animals and the Emerald City Fest. This year, these events were held in the Judy Garland Memorial Garden. There were games, face painting and other things to take part in, and despite the heat, quite a number attended.

Chasing Rainbows Event

The Wizard of Oz Festival’s special event was “Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz’ with keynote speakerTina Marie Casamento Libby. For those who were not present, Tina Marie is conceiving producer and creator of the new musical, “Chasing Rainbows.” The show, performed in North Carolina and Connecticut so far, is now being prepared for backer auditions which means it will either go to Broadway or on a national tour.

Chasing Rainbows tells the story of young Frances Gumm (Judy Garland) and her family from the time they left Grand Rapids until Judy is told that she has been chosen to play Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” The show uses the songs Judy sang during these early years to illustrate the story of her life.  

Garland fan, Lorraine Lassig-Banks
lights the candles

At the dinner, which consisted of a delicious buffet with choice of beef, chicken and delicious side dishes, Tina Marie Casamento Libby and John Fricke told the story of how “Chasing Rainbows” came to be in a way that was lively and entertaining. The audience love it. In addition, people were treated to filmed musical numbers from the show, shown on a big screen.

 This day also marked the ninety-fifth anniversary of Judy Garland's birth. The date was celebrated with a big cake and singing “Happy Birthday, dear Judy” by the entire crowd.

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New Museum policies

In recent weeks, the Judy Garland Museum has restored its original policy, not allowing large large purses, book book bags, diaper bags or coats into the museum. This policy is for everyone’s safety and is fairly standard among museums and historic libraries. A lot of work has gone into the Judy Garland Museum. Children’s Discovery Center and the Judy Garland Historic House, and we’d like to keep it in good order for everyone.

Another policy we would like to stress – Only children escorted by adults may visit the Judy Garland Gallery and House. If you have any questions about rules when you visit the Museum, please ask for our rules. Thank you for understanding.

Looking Toward the Future

During the Festival this year there was some conversation about what people would like to see at future Festivals. Here are a few of the suggestions we received:

- Along with the main programs, which are 1 ½ - 2 ½ hours, it was suggested that we have some shorter programs to fill in the time for visitors from out of town. Among those suggested were:

- A Judy Garland Television Show

- A program on how to create your own Wizard of Oz makeup and costume

- A living history program with the Gumms (such as was done in 1997)

- A short program about museum artifacts

- A new tour of Grand Rapids with more Garland/Gumm Sites

- A Judy Garland family member as guest

- Judy Garland Talent Contest for youth ages 6-18

- A music event in the house – sing-a-long or short singing concert

- Screening of another Judy Garland film, (besides “The Wizard of Oz”, on a- larger than we have now-indoors screen.

Author and Staff Member, Michelle Russell, Heads to Tennessee

Judy Garland staff member, Michelle Russell is also an author – as many of you know – most notably author of the two book work, “From Tennessee to Oz: The Amazing Saga of Judy Garland’s Family History.” In October, she will be heading down to Murfreesboro, Tennessee where Judy’s father, Frank Gumm was born. While there, she will be part of a number of events, talking about Judy Garland's fascinating family history. If you are in the area, you may want to attend:

- Sunday, October 8^th, 2-3, Oakland’s Historic Home –Multi-media presentation “The Darrows and the Gumms,” light refreshments served - $20.00

- Sunday, October 14^th, 9:00 a.m. to Noon, Ransom Schoolhouse –Rutherford County Historical Society, 9:00 am – Noon, Open for   historic discussion and book signing

- Tuesday, October 17^th, 10:00 – 1:00, Linebaugh Library, book signing

Director John Kelsch in front of Oakland's Historic House
in Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Fall Garden Clean-Up

Recently our garden has become a real forest. This September our director, John Kelsch, and staff assistant, John Michaels, spent about a week cleaning up the garden. A number of trees had died or were dying and they were taken out. Others were trimmed.

Now the garden feels much more spacious and we hope to plant more flowers there in spring. If you would like to donate your services or some flowers at the time, please get in touch with us!

It takes a lot of time and effort to care for the house, museum and grounds and we are so grateful for all who have contributed to this effort.

Happy Fall!