Judy Garland - Letter From Home - Happy Holidays 2018!

December 2018  

- Holiday Events at the Museum – December 8th

- Changes in Town

- Not One, but Two Festivals!

- Donations via Amazon Smile

-  Our Store

Holiday Events at the Judy Garland & Children’s Discovery Museum

This Saturday, December 8^th is our big holiday celebration. This year we have two events.

We are sorry to announce, Christmas Concert listed here has been cancelled. The Ho Ho Ho Christmas Party WILL take place.

 Karen DeBord-Bordeaux will present her Christmas Shoes Concert. This past June, Karen appeared in the Gumm Family Living History in the Judy Garland home. On Saturday, December 8^th, in celebration of the recovery of Judy’s Ruby Slippers and Christmas season, she will be singing special Christmas songs and leading some sing-a-longs. Come and into the holiday spirit. This event is free with the price of admission to the museum - $10.


THE HO HO HO CHRISTMAS PARTY WILL TAKE PLACE AS ANNOUNCED!

From 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., the annual Ho Ho Ho Country Christmas will take place. This event, sponsored by Children First, is free and open to the public. Throughout the Children’s Discovery Museum and the Judy Garland Museum, there will be games for children with prizes, art projects, decorating cookies, snacks, and visits with Santa. Bring your camera to get a photo with Santa sitting in front of the carriage from The Wizard of Oz. Last year, this very popular event was attended by a record number of people. Activities designed for kids up to age 12 require accompaniment by an adult.

Earlier this year a car crashed into the building, thus
making it necessary for them to cover the entry door and
remove all of the facing on the building!

Changes in Town

Grand Rapids seems to be busier than ever these days, and in the last months several changes have occurred. Downtown on the block by the Pokegama Hotel--near the original New Grand and Rialto theatres--  two old buildings were torn down to make way for a brew pub. Although we can’t be certain, word is that the old Rialto Theatre, which opened the day after the New Grand closed, will become part of this pub and be used for live entertainment.

The two buildings on the left are gone - to be
replaced by the new brew put. Perhaps some
archival items were found in the ground!

The Sawmill Dining Room where many of our famous
friends dined including the Munchkins, June Allyson,
Margaret O'Brien, Donald O'Connor,  Sid and Joe Luft. A place
of many happy memories. 

While the Sawmill Inn project has been announced, the Inn still stands and it appears nothing will change until spring. It is said it will take more than a year for this new development to take place. These changes will certainly change the face of town near the Museum. In the plans are a big hotel, restaurant, convention center and strip mall. Only time will tell. If anyone has any say, they should request a full-service nice restaurant with breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is what people in town really need and want and we are certain all our out of town visitors would find that of most benefit as well. Everyone is sorely missing the Sawmill Restaurant.

John ad Michelle Kelsch at the Sawmill a year ago.

The warm and welcoming lobby of the Sawmill.

Not One Festival, But Two

As we look toward 2019, people will be asking about the 2019 festival and planning their vacations. After much discussion some new decisions were made. The Board has decided that it will work best for all involved to have not one Festival, but TWO.  Plans are not completely firm yet, but this is what we can tell you as of this month.

Saturday, June 8, 2019, there will be a Wizard of Oz or Land of Oz Festival for children. As usual, these events will include games and crafts and other fun events. We may also have characters and an indoor showing of “The Wizard of Oz.” Stay tuned in spring for more information.

Thursday, June 20^th – Saturday, June 22^nd, 2019 – The Judy Garland Festival will take place. 

This year will mark the 80^thanniversary of The Wizard of Oz and the

fiftieth anniversary of Judy Garland’s passing. Because of this and because Judy deserves a celebration generally, we would like to have a nice memorial event for her.

As stated last year by the Board of Directors, the Museum can no longer support the costs and manpower of the big festivals of yore. Nor, sadly, are there the stars and co-workers of Judy still around who can visit. Nevertheless, we owe a great debt to one fan in particular, and others, who have agreed to organize and donate funds to make this event happen.

As of now, there will be a Judy Garland Music Jazz Concert performed by Eau Claire native, pianist Josh Gallagher who has received rave reviews for his work. In addition, there will be a second musical and vocal concert at the Reif given by concert pianist Richard Glazier and Joan Ellison, the singer presently touring with him. Other events in the line-up are:  a bus tour, Judy/Oz Jeopardy, lectures by John Fricke and film/television showings. We would also like to show at least two films or TV shows on our new ten foot screen.  Please weigh in on what you would like to see and any other ideas or ways you might like to donate your talent!  Additionally, we should note, yes, there will be a DINNER!

There is one other big event which might be possible. If someone is interested in supporting this, please contact us.

Donations via Amazon

As many of you may know, when ordering online, Amazon allows you to sign up for donation and a portion of your purchase will go to the non-profit of your choice. The Judy Garland Museum is now listed with Amazon to receive donations from them, if you so choose. If you are buying Christmas and Holiday presents from Amazon, please sign up and donate to us!

The app is called:  AMAZON SMILE

Just sign up here:  https://smile.amazon.com

 Thank you!

Our Store

In buying gifts, please remember we have loads of wonderful items for presents: Wizard of Oz Collector Plates, Wizard of Oz Dolls, along with Judy Garland Magazines, Books, Recordings and DVDS.

Recently we’ve had a number of special items to sell in our store which we simply can’t list on our website. So, if you are looking for something in particular, along with checking on our website www.judygarlandmuseum.com/gift-shop  - please contact us and ask. We might just have it.

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Now, in case we don’t meet again until 2019, here’s wishing all of you and your families a healthy and peaceful holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

And a Very Happy New Year!