Patsy Cline exhibit opens to public
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Memorabilia on display to serve as preview for singer's historic house re-opening
By Alex Bridges - abridges@nvdaily.comWINCHESTER -- Willa Cather is out at the local visitors center. Patsy Cline is in.
Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc. unveiled an exhibit of memorabilia on the late country music singer at the Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The exhibit, which opens to the public today, serves as a preview of what the nonprofit organization plans to feature at the Patsy Cline Historic House once renovations are complete, according to the group's representatives.
"It's kind of a prelude to opening the house," said CPC board President Ron Hottle. "That's what we're calling it."
CPC has expressed a desire to open the house on South Kent Street to visitors in late spring or early summer.
The goal is to have visitors stop at the center, see the exhibit, then buy tickets to take a bus tour and view the house.
"We are so pleased to have Patsy in the house," said the center's executive director, Sally Coates, noting that many visitors who stop in Winchester specifically ask about sites related to Cline, including her house.
Several members of the CPC board, city officials and other Cline enthusiasts appeared for the sneak preview Friday. Mel Dick, brother of Charlie Dick, Cline's husband, stopped by and perused the exhibit items.
The walls of the exhibit feature paintings and photographs of Cline and a collection of her album awards. Glass cases contain other memorabilia and historic items, including some of her original vinyl singles. A replica of one of Cline's western-style outfits also appears in the exhibit, along with pieces of furniture that Cline had in her homes in Winchester and then in Nashville, Tenn.
"She lived in four different places and kept the same furniture," Cline historian Douglas Gomery said at the exhibit.
The CPC has existed since 1996 and has collected memorabilia from donors over the years. Much of it has sat in storage.
"It's well-known that when people age or get rid of something that has to do with Patsy they donate it to us," Gomery said. "They've got so many items. The collection is huge."
The memorabilia on display in the exhibit and items shown in the house likely will change over time as the organization rotates out the artifacts.
An exhibit on Willa Cather, a well-known author originally from Gore, occupied the space for a period of time. But, Coates said, the time came for Cline to take Cather's place.
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Here's hoping this really is just a prelude to something larger and more comprehensive in the house at 608 S Kent Street.
One hopes that this time CPC are able to do what they say they will do and nothing prevents them achieving sucess
One does not want a repeat, all be it on a smaller scale, of the saga of broken promises that ran from 2006 to 2009. A saga during which CPC appears to have spent $ 300,000