Spooky Halloween tours available in Clayton County, Ga; “Jonesboro Historic Haints and Haunts Tour”
Jonesboro, Ga. – This October, the Clayton County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CCCVB) is scaring up a frighteningly fun time with the launch of their newest minibus tour, the Jonesboro Historic Haints & Haunts Tour.
Hosted at 8 p.m. every Friday and Saturday evening throughout October (excluding Fri., October 19 and Sat., October 20), the Jonesboro Historic Haints & Haunts Tour invites visitors to explore the strange sightings, unexplainable encounters and dark secrets of Jonesboro’s past. The tour will also feature additional weekday tours during Halloween week including Tues., October 30 and Wed., October 31.
Rebekah Cline, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Clayton County Convention & Visitors Bureau, explains “With a rich history rooted in fierce battles and colorful characters, Jonesboro has long been rumored to play host to a variety of supernatural activity. The Jonesboro Historic Haints & Haunts Tour pairs local legend and lore with first hand encounters and paranormal investigation findings to allow individuals to determine truth versus tale.”
A 90 minute adventure, Jonesboro’s Historic Haints & Haunts Tour is a guide-led minibus tour that provides the exclusive opportunity to explore five haunted locations on foot. Visitors will have the chance to inspect the shadowed corners of the historic train depot, investigate the century old graves of the Patrick Cleburne Confederate Cemetery, step within the grounds of the Warren House, discover the story behind the gates at Stately Oaks Plantation and uncover the secrets of the Old Jail.
Departing from Jonesboro’s historic train depot/Welcome Center (104 North Main Street, Jonesboro, Ga. 30236), tours begin at 8 p.m. on all dates. Tickets are $22.95 per person and must be purchased in advance by calling 770.478.4800. Walk-ups will be accepted the evening of the tour based on existing availability. Group rates are available for parties of 6 or more by contacting Julie Bustamante at 770. 478.4800 or julie@visitscarlett.com.
While the tour is family-friendly, no children under the age of 6 are allowed due to scary content.
For more information, please visit www.AtlantasTrueSouth.com or contact the Clayton County Welcome Center at 770.478.4800.
Clayton County Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Clayton County Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official tourism marketing
agency for Clayton County. The CVB advertises and promotes the area to bring business
to hotels, attractions, historical sites and meeting facilities within Clayton County and its
neighboring communities.
[Information supplied by Clayton County Convention and Visitors Bureau]
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Sally Tippett Rains, the author of this site is the author of “The Making of a Masterpiece; The True Story of Margaret Mitchell and Gone With The Wind.” For information on ordering the book: www.GWTWbook.com
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Aug. 11 is the anniversary of Margaret Mitchell being hit by the car that eventually caused her death
“I’m 73 years old and my health isn’t good–and before I die I want the world to know what my dad told me,” said Gloria Gravitt Moulder on the eve of the 63rd anniversary of the day that her father Hugh Dorsey Gravitt was blamed for the death of one of the most famous and beloved authors the world has known.
The death of Margaret Mitchell was a life-changing event for the Gravitt family. Gloria was only 10 years old when it happened. Her father never talked about it but at the end of his life she took care of him and lived with him. He wanted her to know the truth as he saw it and told her some things that were shocking and took her time to process but she knew after that she had to write the book.
Every year on August 11, the day of the incident Moulder’s father would receive hateful phone calls from media outlets and regular people. He kept it to himself and in a sense, shut out the rest of the family.
Today, the press has not forgotten about it and now years later her father is dead, and she is getting media attention. The reason they are calling her: she wrote a book telling her family’s side of the day Mitchell was hit by the off-duty taxi driver—a very different account than the newspapers and biographies books tell.
Gloria Moulder wrote “Death of Margaret Mitchell”
Moulder’s book accuses a cover-up and says when she tried to investigate what her father had told her, she found the court documents were sealed, which would have included Mitchell’s autopsy. She also felt that when John Marsh burned Mitchell’s belongings –including according to Moulder, the clothes Mitchell was wearing when hit by the car– he may have been burning evidence.
“My dad was so traumatized from the incident, then the cover up, lies, and media circus that occurred following it, that he refused to tell what actually happened that day for forty-two years,” she said.
“In my book I explained what dad told me about what happened at the scene,” said Moulder. “He was extremely upset because of the extensive amount of time it took for them to put Margaret Mitchell on the gurney, and into the ambulance to get her to the hospital while they stood around discussing who she was.”
Even the intersection near where the incident occurred is still in thenews. On August 7, 2012 there was an article in the Atlanta Midtown PATCH titled, Crossing at Peachtree & 13th Dangerous? [www.GWTWbook.com)
GWTW hodge podge: California event being planned, Ann Rutherford to be remembered, Georgia’s governor recognizes GWTW
Bob Frischman did not have pictures of some of the people he met but Yakima Canutt and Victor Jory signed the one he did have. (Photo by Bob Frischman)
(By Sally Tippett Rains) –If you are reading this article you already know about the many Gone With The Wind outlets available to fans. There are books, museums, exhibits, and more, but now the state of Atlanta is letting the cat out of the bag and promoting these places to which GWTW Fans and “Windies” have always enjoyed going. They have started a “Gone With The Wind Trail” advertising campaign which will be added to as they go along. Recently Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and the Georgia Legislature granted official designation to the nation’s only “Gone With The Wind Trail”.
Fans of Gone With The Wind lost a special lady as Ann Rutherford passed away this month. A memorial service is in the works in Marietta, GA. She played such a big part in the 70th Anniversary of the movie but did not make it to the 75th which will be in 2014.
An exhibit in the Los Angeles area is being planned for the 75th Anniversary. Did you know GWTW fans and movie buffs have been holding these types of events for a very long time. In the 1970′s there were a series of Film events around the country, and St. Louis events featured at least four actors who were in Gone With The Wind.
Rand Brooks who played Charles Hamilton in Gone With The Wind posed with Bob Frischman. (Photo courtesy Bob Frischman)
Events Featuring The Stars Are not New
Bob Frischman of St. Louis has always loved old movies, especially the old Westerns, but when he helped put on a film event focussing on Westerns in St. Louis in the late 1970’s he was surprised at how many of the attendees had ties to Gone With the Wind. After he got to meet them, he zeroed in on that movie and got to talk to several who are no longer with us about their time with one of the most famous movies ever.
Some of those he talked to were Butterfly McQueen who played Prissy and Rand Brooks who played Charles Hamilton. There were also famous actors from old Westerns who had minor parts in Gone With The Wind: Victor Jory and Yakima Canutt.
“I was on the committee and got to escort Victor Jory around,” he said recently displaying some of the pictures he took back then. Victor Jory played Jonas Wilkerson, who was fired as the O’Hara’s overseer after Ellen O’Hara found out he had fathered a baby (“who has mercifully died”) with “the white trash Slattery girl.” He later ended up marrying Emmie Slattery, who he said had a hankerin’ to live at Tara.
“I got to pick him up at the airport and drive him around,” Frischman said. ”He was as nice as anything. They were different in those days. They signed autographs and didn’t charge for them.”
Frischman, formerly the Sports Information Director for St. Louis Community College at Meramec and currently a Mass Communications teacher at Lindenwood University, also got to interview Rand Brooks.
“Rand Brooks is from St. Louis,” said Frischman. “I have his obituary from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.”
He also interviewed Butterfly McQueen when she was in St. Louis.
“She was appearing at the American Theater in Show Boat,” he said. I was interviewing her for a free-lance print story. When I got to the theater, no one stopped me and I just walked right in, and found my way backstage. There she was in her dressing room with the door open.”
He has the interview on tape and we will share more of it at a later time, but he did talk to her about her time on Gone With The Wind.
“She talked about how poorly the blacks were treated on the set in general,” he said. “Now keep in mind this was 1938. The one person she said really stood up for the blacks was Clark Gable. She also said how proud she was that she was in Gone With The Wind.”
Gone With The Wind Trail
The Gone With The Wind Trail is an official state designated trail established as a marketing partnership between the communities of Marietta, Atlanta and Jonesboro.
Through the trail, visitors will discover the history and legacy behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, uncover the complex life of author and native Georgian, Margaret Mitchell, and explore the road to freedom from Georgia’s Antebellum ideals to modern day’s progressive, urban environment. At present, featured sites include Marietta Gone With The Wind Museum, Atlanta’s Margaret Mitchell House, Atlanta Fulton County Public Library and Oakland Cemetery and Jonesboro’s Road To Tara Museum.
Founded in 2011, the Gone With The Wind Trail is a marketing partnership between the Marietta Visitors Bureau, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and Clayton County Convention & Visitors Bureau. The official designation of the Gone With the Wind Trail is the first step towards a more comprehensive tourism campaign meant to include an expanded Web site, way finding signage program, marketing collateral and advertising campaign.
For additional information, please visit www.gwtwtrail.com.
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75th GWTW Anniversary Event being planned…
Artist Joseph Yakovetic seated with Marie Clinton Bruno and Morgan Brittany at a Cherry Blossom event in Marshfield, Mo. earlier this year. Yakovetic is spearheading a big GWTW event for the 75th Anniversary. (Cherry Blossom Photo)
Plans are already in the works for a big 75th Anniversary Gone With The Wind Exhibit in Annaheim, California at the Muzeo, and in order to make it the best exhibit possible, the coordinators are reaching out to GWTW collectors and fans.
“GONE WITH THE WIND
From Book, to Film and Beyond”
Tentative: MUZEO in Anaheim, California
Oct. 2013 – Feb. 2014
This is in it’s planning stages and they need your help.
This is a legitimate show with approx 3500 – 4000 sft to fill.
Looking for spectacular collectors exhibits.
If you have something to exhibit pertaining to someone associated with the film, coat, hat, etc… or any items you would like to include in our display please contact Joseph Yakovetic.
They have to fill the space before moving forward with even confirming the exhibition. He would like to get this figured out ASAP.
CONTACT: JOSEPH YAKOVETIC, YAKOVETIC PRODUCTIONS
www.yakovetic.com 16221 Flallon Avenue Norwalk, CA 90650 cell: 909.241.6088
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Ann Rutherford at an event in Marietta, Georgia. (Rains photo)
Memorial Service for Ann Rutherford:
The Marietta Gone With the Wind Museum
will host a remembrance service for
Ann Rutherford Dozier
Sunday, July 29 11:00 a.m.
Murray Arts Center 1275 Stanley Road, Kennesaw
A post-service reception and special tribute to Ann
will be held at the Marietta GWTW Museum –18 Whitlock Avenue – Marietta
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Connie Sutherland, Director Marietta Gone With the Wind Museum
PH: 770-794-5145 FAX: 770-794-5139
csutherland@mariettaga.gov 18 Whitlock Avenue; Marietta, GA 30064 www.gwtwmarietta.com
They would appreciate an RSVP if you plan to go. Email: csutherland@mariettaga.gov
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Sally Tippett Rains is the author of The Making of a Masterpiece, The True Story of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind (www.GWTWbook.com)
Ann Rutherford was one of a kind
Ann Rutherford at an event in Marietta, Georgia. (Rains photo)
Ann Rutherford’s death on Monday night reminds us how precious our time on this earth is. In fact, she once remarked to a friend that one special part of Gone With The Wind she liked was the sundial because of it’s saying: “Don’t squander time, for time is the thing that life is made of.”
She also liked that her character Carreen got to comment on her hands after they had all been working in the fields. SuEllen was complaining about picking cotton and she said: “I guess things like hands and ladies don’t matter so much anymore.”
Ann Rutherford said she was proud she was able to say that line. She was more than a movie star; she was a deep person who cared about people and about nature.
This writer interviewed Rutherford, both for a book and also with a camera crew for a documentary. While calling her back for fact checking she formed a friendship with her and they talked occasionally on the telephone. The best conversations were in person. Once on a trip to Marietta, Georgia for an appearance Ann Rutherford let the conversation stray from Gone With The Wind and it was evident how educated and up to date she was about the current situations in Atlanta, Marietta, and even nearby Athens where the University of Georgia was.
She was always learning and in turn she liked to impart that knowledge on others.
Our most recent conversation, which was in Sept. 2011 was a friendly, ‘how are you doing’ conversation. Rutherford said she stayed busy, but that she got tired more easily. At the time she said she was trying to put more time between her travels so she could rest up for the next one.
She had wanted to travel to Marshfield, Missouri last spring for the Cherry Blossom Festival, an event her step-daughter Deborah Dozier Potter attended, but was unable to make it due to other travels and needing to rest and re-group.
One of her last trips was in 2010 when she traveled to Kent State University and appeared with Turner Classic Movies’ (TCM) Robert Osborne, meeting up with Dr. Christopher Sullivan for a fund-raiser benefitting the university.
Ann Rutherford played Scarlett O’Hara’s little sister Carreen (left).
Rutherford, who never charged for her autograph and appearance only agreed to charge for her autograph because it was benefitting Kent State.
“They wanted me to charge for my autograph,” she said by phone shortly after she returned. “I wasn’t going to do that, but then Chris Sullivan said all the money would go straight to Kent State for their museum. If one of my autographs can bring in money to help, I’ll sign all day.”
Rutherford, who starred as Polly Benedict in the Andy Hardy films with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney and many old Westerns, as well as many television shows and movies including Gone With The Wind, had a special relationship with Sullivan.
Sullivan, a GWTW collector corresponded with her and when they met something clicked.
She had an affection for him—she loved him as a son– and it was obvious, when she talked about him to this writer who was working on a book, “you must talk to Dr. Sullivan.”
“You have to talk to him,” she said, “And you have to travel to Marietta to see his museum.”
“His museum” is the Marietta Gone With The Wind Museum: Scarlett on the Square, which is a facility owned by the city of Marietta and displays Sullivan’s collection.
Sullivan, who is from Ohio– thus the Kent State connection—got Rutherford to travel to Marietta several times for Gone With The Wind events put on by the museum, coordinated by Connie Sutherland. Ann Rutherford was always the highlight of the events.
She was splendid in her bright pant suits with matching chiffon scarves. She always wore a type of pony tail with the scarf tied around it—and glitzy diamond glasses.
Even as she got older, she attended the events.
“As I get older I need help, so I bought my walking cane,” she said once. “It’s great, I can use it for balance and walking and then when I get tired, I just turn it around and pull out the seat and voila, it’s a chair.”
Rutherford, who lived her last 20 years as a widow, had such great memories of her married life with television producer and actor Bill Dozier. They loved to travel.
Dozier was executive producer and a voice on the old Batman television programs. Because of Rutherford’s own successful career and then with Dozier’s money, she lived the life of an “Old Hollywood” star.
She enjoyed playing cards with her friends who were also stars, including Betty Lynn (who played Thelma Lou, the love interest for Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.) She was also very good friends with Rosemary Clooney.
She has an interesting situation regarding her step-daughter Deborah Dozier Potter, who she helped raise. Potter is the niece of Olivia de Havilland, Melanie in Gone With The Wind.
Deborah’s mother is Joan Fontaine, de Havilland’s sister, and it has been documented that the two sisters have not had a relationship for years.
Rutherford, however had a good relationship with all three of them—the daugher, the mother, and the aunt. Rutherford’s character in Gone With The Wind, Careen O’Hara ended up living in the same house with de Havilland’s character, Melanie when Melanie and Ashley moved into Tara, so they were connected both on-screen and off-screen in the family way.
Here’s how it happened in real life: Dozier was married to Joan Fontaine, Olivia de Havilland’s sister from 1946-51 and they had a daughter, Deborah Leslie Dozier. Rutherford and Dozier married in 1953 and that marriage was a solid and happy marriage and they stayed married for almost 40 years until his death in 1991 at age 83.
“We did so many fun things,” said Rutherford. “We traveled to Europe. In fact one time, after Gone With the Wind, we met up with David Selznick on a trip.”
Rutherford still lived in the same Hollywood style house she shared with Dozier and his then five-year-old-daughter. Deborah. Deborah Dozier Potter is the author of the book Let Buster Lead, which tells of her struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome after falling off a horse.
Even though she spent her last years celebrating Gone With The Wind, Rutherford was such a big star that the role was really just a blip on the radar screen of her movie and television career.
In fact she liked to remember how her boss Louis B. Mayer did not even want her to take the part. He called it a “nothing” part, but she had cried until he let her be lent to Selznick Studios for the movie.
In 1939 when Gone With The Wind premiered in Atlanta, Ann Rutherford was the first star to arrive. She came with her mother.
“I was still young and living with my mother at the time,” Rutherford told this writer earlier in an interview. “My family lived in Kentucky so we took the train to Atlanta and then went on to Kentucky.”
The Mayor of Atlanta met her at the train station, as well as a representative from the Governor’s Office. She came in a day earlier than most of the stars so she got the royal treatment.
Rutherford’s famous quote of “Gone With The Wind has made our golden years platinum” described how much she enjoyed attending the Gone With The Wind events and being with all the GWTW fans. No one who asked for an autograph was turned down, and she spent hours posing for pictures with fans. Those pictures will be treasured by those lucky enough to have known her.
Rest in peace beautiful lady.
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Sally Tippett Rains is the author of The Making of a Masterpiece, The True Story of Margaret Mitchell’s Classic Novel, Gone With The Wind. (www.GWTWBook.com)
The long-anticipated Cherry Blossom Festival in Marshfield, Missouri delivered everything that was promised and more.
For Gone With The Wind fans it was a haven of memories as they were treated to an art show by artist Joseph Yakovetic featuring many GWTW pictures and others by the famous artist who has Disney pictures and Wizard of Oz in his collection. Two actors who played Beau Wilkes at different ages– Mickey Kuhn the older Beau, and Greg Giese, the infant Beau– were on hand and guest got to talk to them and get their autographs.
The special dinner where the GWTW surviving cast was to receive their Hubble Medals was opened up with a Power Point presentation featuring a touching acceptance speech and greeting from Olivia de Havilland.
De Havilland prepared the audio speech from her home in Paris just for the event and mentioned the name of the church and several people in attendance.
In her greeting, she also remembered her fellow castmates who have gone to that “great plantation in the sky.”
This writer was proud to be able to introduce and give a short speech about Greg Giese and also Joseph Yakovetic, both of whom were honored that evening. GWTW collector Dr. Christopher Sullivan introduced and spoke about Mickey Kuhn.
Artist Joseph Yakovetic, Sally Rains, the two “Beaus” Greg Giese and Mickey Kuhn, and GWTW collector Dr. Christopher Sullivan at the 2012 Cherry Blossom Festival in Marshfield, Missouri.
On Sunday Alicia Rhett sent a picture of herself holding her Hubble Medal at her home in South Carolina which capped off the weekend. The Reverend Nicholas Inman, the founder and executive director of the Cherry Blossom Festival which has been going on more than 10 years worked diligently to secure the photos of Olivia de Havilland and Alicia Rhett.
“The awarding of the Hubble medal was very special to her and she received it as if she was receiving the Oscar, though sitting down,” said her friend author W. Thomas McQueeney who presented it to her. “She was genuinely elated and said she would wear it to lunch and dinner that day.”
Amy Morrissey Kleppner, the niece of Amelia Earhart accepted her “Star on the Walk of Fame” on behalf of Earhart.
This writer assisted Inman in the Rhett and de Havilland efforts and was please to receive several letters from Miss deHavilland with her appreciation for the efforts made on her behalf with the winning the award.
“A candle has been burning all day long for the success of this evening’s celebration” she wrote in a personal message the day of the event. ”You may be sure that later today I will be raising a flute of champagne in the very same toast that my fellow cast members, now residing in the Great Plantation in the Sky, will be saluting the remarkable guests at the Dinner, the members of the Cherry Blossom Festival Committee, and the Reverend Nicolas Inman!”
Inman also had an additional impressive cast of characters and award winners appearing at the festival including Jean McFadden, the Director of the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade (for 25 years), Dawn Wells who played Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island, and Amelia Earhart’s niece along with the largest annual assembly of presidential and Founding Fathers descendants in the country.
Ginger or Mary Ann? This is Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on the classic television show Gilligan’s Island holding her star for the Walk of Fame in Marshfield, Missouri at the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Dawn Wells seemed excited to receive the award asking fans who took her picture on their cell-phone to email some to her. She also enjoyed appearing with the Presley Family who came in their red performing jackets that they wear in their long-running Branson show.
Former first daughter Jenna Bush gave a talk at the festival and there was even a Brigadeer General, Lucian Truscott IV.
Television actress Morgan Brittany was also an award participant and mingled with the crowd. Brittany is famous for her role as Pamela Ewing’s half-sister Katherine Wentworth on Dallas but she has also starred in many other television shows and movies, including “LBJ, the Early Years” with Randy Quaid.
Marie Clinton Bruno (first cousin to former President Bill Clinton), Joe Yakovetic, and Morgan Brittany.
Lynne Jackson, the executive director of the Dred and Harriet Scott Foundation, and great-granddaughter of Dred Scott– famous for the Dred Scott Decision which came down on the St. Louis Old Courthouse steps– put together an excellent panel. Can you imagine the great-grandson of Confederate president Jefferson Davis sitting next to the great granddaughter of Dred Scott? The program was entertaining and interesting.
Dred Scott Reconciliation Forum featuring in the center, descendants of Dred Scott and Jefferson Davis.
Shortly after the Dred Scott Reconcilliation event at the Cherry Blossom, Jackson and the foundation received word that Dred Scott would be inducted in the Hall of Famous Missourians in Jefferson City on May 6. For information: http://www.house.mo.gov/famous.aspx
More good news for Dred Scott Foundation and you are invited!
Check out their website to learn more and find out about all of the honorees (there were more than mentioned here.)– www.CherryBlossomFest.com
Each year we like to promote the Cherry Blossom Festival and it gets better with each event. For those who have not attended but think the guest list is amazing, make plans to attend next year’s festival. Nicholas Inman and his crew are already working on it and they aim to make it even better than this year. This year’s is a hard act to follow and will be hard to top.
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Sally Tippett Rains is the author of The Making of A Masterpiece, the True Story of Margaret Mitchell’s Classic Novel Gone With The Wind (www.GWTWbook.com) and is the content manager/ producer of StLSportsPage.com and The Sports Zone Radio Show with Rob Rains and B.J. Rains.
Printable Schedule for Marshfield Cherry Blossom Festival
The Cherry Blossom Festival honors Gone With The Wind. Greg Giese (infant Bonnie and Beau), Mickey Kuhn (seven year old Beau), Joseph Yacovetic (artist), Dr. Christopher Sullivan (GWTW collector)
The Marshfield Cherry Blossom Festival begins Wed. April 25th. Please refer to the previous article (scroll down if at the blog) to see all of the interesting people who will be attending and especially the Gone With The Wind connection.
Schedule of Events
Click here for “PRINTABLE PDF Schedule of Events” Cherry Blossom Tri-fold 2012
(All events are FREE unless noted)
Wednesday, April 25
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7 PM Hidden Waters Park – Concert in the Park –
Featuring Potters Wheel - hosted by Elkland
Independent Methodist Church
Thursday, April 26
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
8:30 AM – Hubble Elementary – Tree planting in
honor of Charles Moody, former principal
9:30 AM – Cherry Blossom Festival Quilt Show
official start at Masonic Lodge – sponsored by the
Order of the Eastern Star Webster Chapter 439
(Open from 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM on Thr, Fri & Sat)
10:30 AM – Kennedy White House Secret Service
Agent, Gerald Blaine – The Crossing
2:30 PM – English Tea – Holy Trinity Catholic
Church (donations accepted)
4:15 PM – Ella Dickey Literacy Award – The
Crossing (includes author book signing)
7:30 PM – Free Concert with Keith Steward & Chaz
Knapp at the Jays Nest on the square
On the Historic Marshfield Square
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
Live Bluegrass Music & Vendors
Lots of great crafts, products, and area attractions
are represented by the vendors this year
9 AM – 7 PM on both Fri & Sat
Friday, April 27
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9 AM – Jenna (Bush) Hager – Carl & Glessie Young
Auditorium at the High School – Open to public
10 AM – 4 PM Open House with refreshments at
the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce
11:15 AM –Dr. Richard Harding – “Medical Care of
the Ultimate VIP” – The Crossing
1 PM – Annual Missouri Walk of Fame Ceremony –
The Crossing
2:30 PM – Dred & Harriet Scott Reconciliation
Forum – The Crossing
5 – 7 PM Live Bluegrass Music on Marshfield Square
6:30 PM Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative Dinner
Saturday, April 28
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8:30 AM – Kami Cotler (Elizabeth Walton) speaker
at the 2nd Annual Prayer Breakfast – hosted by
Elkland Independent Methodist Church – White
Stone Wedding Chapel (Donations Accepted)
10 AM – 4 PM Live Bluegrass Music on Marshfield
Square (see web-site for band schedule)
10:30 AM – Founding Fathers Forum – Marshfield
Assembly of God
1:30 PM – Presidential Family Forum – Marshfield
Assembly of God — Presidential Descendant Signing
follows forum
4 PM – 8 PM Artwalk – Marshfield Square
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2nd Annual State Dinner
5:30 PM – Doors open at Blackberry Creek Retreat
6:00 PM – Dinner Tickets – $50 (sold out)
Special guest speaker Clifton Truman Daniel
(President Truman’s Grandson)
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Check web-site for more information & updates: www.cherryblossomfest.com
Marshfield Cherry Blossom Festival schedule announced
Just three hours west from St. Louis on highway 44, a group of U.S. presidential descendants gather every year and are joined by celebrities, heroes, and an eclectic group of award honorees–which usually includes Gone With The Wind people.
The Marshfield Cherry Blossom Festival—the last week in April– is an annual four-day event that celebrates the city of Marshfield and the state of Missouri. It was started by Nicholas Inman, who had spent time in Washington, D.C. as an intern and wanted to bring some of the beauty and excitement of Cherry Blossom Festival to Missouri. There are always a group of interesting people who are featured.
Activities are varied and scheduled throughout the event. Vendors sell and customers buy crafts, food, books and many other wonderful things. There are fun activities for the entire family and special speakers are brought in that are both entertaining and educational. People and events that have impacted Marshfield, the state, and the nation are honored and remembered at luncheons, dinners or special ceremonies held during the four-day event.
Each year descendants of U.S. Presidents gather in Marshfield, Mo. for their annual Cherry Blossom Festival.
Descendants of Presidents are invited to come and share their stories. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Cleveland, Ford– these are just a few of the Presidents that have been represented at the Cherry Blossom Festivities, and this year Jenna Bush Hager will be there. Besides her father and grandfather who were presidents, she is also a descendant of Franklin Pierce.
Celebrities with ties to Missouri are also invited, and in the past few years there has been a Gone With The Wind presence and television element.
Timmy from Lassie (Jon Provost), Charlene Darling from The Andy Griffith Show (Maggie Peterson), Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island (Dawn Wells, and Katherine from Dallas (Morgan Brittany)-- Former TV stars coming to the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Scheduled to attend this year’s festival:
Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island)
Morgan Brittany (Katherine from Dallas)
John Provost (Timmy from Lassie)
Maggie Peterson (Charlene Darling from Andy Griffith Show)
The Pressley’s from Branson
Mickey Kuhn (Actor, “Beau Wilkes” in Gone With the Wind)
Greg Giese (“Baby Beau Wilkes” “Baby Bonnie Blue Butler” in Gone With The Wind)
Dr. Christopher Sullivan (Gone With the Wind collector & 2011 Hubble Honoree)
Joseph Yacovetic (Artist, award-winning costume designer, painted Gone With The Wind, Wizard of Oz and is a Disney artist)
Greg Giese (infant Bonnie and Beau), Mickey Kuhn (seven year old Beau), Joseph Yacovetic (artist), Dr. Christopher Sullivan (GWTW collector)
Gerald Blaine (Secret Service Agent in Kennedy White House)
Amy Morrisey Kleppner (niece of Amelia Earhart)
Jennifer Harville (Great-granddaughter of Coolidge)
Tom Washington & family (Washington)
Richard Gatchell & family (Monroe)
Marie Clinton Bruno (Clinton)
Bertram Hayes-Davis & family (Jefferson Davis and Rutherford B. Hayes)
Jenna (Bush) Hager (Pierce and Bush Family)
John Truman (Truman)
Lucian and Chris Truscott (Jefferson)
Rett Adams (Adams)
George Cleveland (Grandson of Cleveland)
John, Neita & Jill Campbell (Polk)
Mary Todd Lincoln family
Lynne Jackson (Dred & Harriet Scott)
Dr. Richard Harding (Harding)
Dr. Ken Hechler (aide to F.D. Roosevelt and Truman)
Maggie Peterson Mancuso (“Charlene Darling”/Andy Griffith Show)
Lyon Tyler (Grandson of Tyler)
Susan Tyler (Great-Granddaughter of Tyler)
Dr. Richard Harding (Grand-Nephew of Harding)
Devon & Donald Nixon (Nixon & Eisenhower Family)
Clifton Truman Daniel (Truman)
THE DRED AND HARRIET SCOTT RECONCILIATION FORUM
History comes alive once again at the 6th annual Cherry Blossom Festival with new event from last year which was so popular they are bringing it back for a second time. Noted for honoring famous Missourians, the festival will be the site of the first Dred and Harriet Scott Reconciliation Forum hosted by the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation. Descendants of civil rights leaders, abolitionists, and founding presidents will be on the panel. Marshfield honored Dred Scott with a star on its Walk of Fame in 2007 making him the first African American to be installed.
Lynne Jackson, great-great-granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott founded the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation with her family and works to keep his memory alive. She puts together the Dred and Harriet Scott Reconciliation Forum at the Cherry Blossom Festival. Missouri school children take field trips to the “Old Courthouse” in downtown St. Louis and learn about the case which was handed down on the steps of that courthouse. Scott was a slave and when the family he worked for moved from a “slave state” to a “free state” he began questioning his situation and eventually got a lawyer and the rest was history. The Foundation is working with school children to raise funds to build a statue of Dred and Harriet Scott. For information: thedredscottfoundation.org
2012 Marshfield, Mo. Cherry Blossom Festival Schedule
Thursday, April 26
10:30 AM – Kennedy White House Secret Service Agent, Gerald Blaine speaks – Cross Bridge Church
2:30 PM – English Tea – Holy Trinity Catholic Church
4:15 PM – Ella Dickey Literacy Award at The Crossing (across from CrossBridge Church)
7:30 PM – Free concert featuring Keith Steward & Chaz Knapp at The Jays Nest on the Marshfield Square
Friday, April 27
9 AM - Jenna (Bush) Hager (Carl & Glessie Young Auditorium at the High School) – Event is open to the public and free (as are all events except dinners)
11:15 AM – Dr. Richard Harding – “Medical Care of the Ultimate VIP” at the Crossing, across from CrossBridge Church
1 PM – Missouri Walk of Fame Ceremony at The Crossing (Across from CrossBridge Church)
2:30 – 4:30 PM – Dred & Harriet Scott Reconciliation Forum “Dred and Harriet Scott Reconciliation Forum is, The Courage of Their Convictions. Exploring the courageous convictions of ancestors regardless of their worldviews” at The Crossing (Across the street from CrossBridge Church)- Lynn Jackson, great-niece of Dred Scott
6:30 PM – Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative Dinner (Holy Trinity Catholic Church) tickets $20
* Annual Cherry Pie Contest & Auction will be held in conjunction with the annual Hubble Dinner
Saturday, April 28
8:30 AM – 2nd Annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast – hosted by the Elkland Independent Methodist Church at White Stone Wedding Chapel (donations accepted)
10:30 AM – Founding Fathers Forum at Marshfield Assembly of God- Included in the forum will be descendants of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Jay, & James Monroe
1:30 PM – Presidential Family Forum at Marshfield Assembly of God
2-3 PM, High Hopes Bluegrass concert at Marshfield Square
Saturday Evening 5:30 doors open 6 p.m. dinner: Third Annual State Dinner (Blackberry Creek Retreat) $50
Special Speaker:
Clifton Truman Daniel- Grandson of Harry S. Truman
*Presidential Descendant signing following annual Presidential Family Forum at Marshfield Assembly of God
2012 Cherry Blossom Awards
HUBBLE AWARD HONOREES
Surviving Credited Cast of Gone With The Wind
Mickey Kuhn
Greg Giese
Also honored but not attending: Olivia de Havilland, Alicia Rhett, Ann Rutherford
Jenna Bush Hager
Bunny Mellon
“Kids Need To Read” Denise Gary, Nathan Fillion & PJ Haarsma.
2012 WALK OF FAME HONOREES
Jean McFaddin
Amelia Earhart- Accepting the star will be Amelia Earhart’s niece, Amy Morrissey Kleppner
The Presley’s
Dawn Wells
Rhonda Vincent
2012 CHERRY BLOSSOM MEDAL HONOREES
Morgan Brittany
2012 ELLA DICKEY LITERACY AWARD HONOREES
2012 Ella Dickey Literacy Award Winner
Gerald Blaine- Secret Service agent in Kennedy White House
Amanda Smith
Maxine Brown
Christina Haag Writer of Come to the Edge “a book which chronicles her childhood friendship and 5 year romance with John Kennedy, Jr.”
Vendors & Bluegrass Music
on the
Downtown Historic Marshfield Square
Friday, April 27 & Saturday, April 28
BACKGROUND of CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL – From their website
The project of planting cherry blossom trees in the city of Marshfield, Missouri came about from a dream of local resident, Nicholas W. Inman. Following an internship in Washington, D.C. he returned home, for he had become a little homesick. However, due to his love of our nation’s capital he decided that it would be nice to bring just a small touch of Washington to his hometown. Thus, allowing everyone a chance to enjoy both worlds.
The cherry blossom project was began in 2003, although the first official planting did not occur until 2004. The first tree was planted at the Webster County Museum by Missouri First Lady Lori Houser Holden. It was decided on by the local Tree City USA advisory committee that each Missouri First Lady would be asked to plant a tree. This occurred due to the fact that the nations First Ladies had planted the trees in the nation’s capital. In fact, First Lady Helen Taft planted the first tree in Washington, D.C
Soon the cherry blossom project spread throughout the city. Numerous dignitaries have visited to plant trees including; Jerry Jones (Owner of the Dallas Cowboys), Jean Carnahan (Former Missouri First Lady and United States Senator), Pat Wilson (Former Missouri First Lady), Betty Hearnes (Former Missouri First Lady), John and Hilda Lane (nephew of Dr. Edwin P. Hubble), Lesley Kays (Webster County Sesquicentennial Queen) along with several group plantings.
Not long after the tree was adopted amongst residents, the local school board named a street on their local campus “Cherry Blossom Way.” This came at the urging of Inman, Neva Shroder and the tree committee, who fostered the idea of lining the way with cherry blossom trees.
Following the decision, the Marshfield United Methodist Church and the Marshfield High School Alumni Association became part of the project and they began encouraging their members to purchase clumps of trees along the way. Today, the way is lined with numerous clumps that, once they mature, shall exhibit a breathtaking view during the blooming season.
In the beginning the Marshfield Rotary club purchased a large amount of small cherry blossom starts. Volunteers planted several cherry blossom trees on public property and a series of promotions encouraged citizens to plant cherry blossoms on private property. They have quite a few trees planted throughout Marshfield, but would love to see more planted every year.
At the urging of local residents, Inman formed the first “cherry blossom festival committee” for the 2006 blooming season. A dedicated and faithful group to the project was appointed and they have begun work on an exciting opportunity for everyone who visits the city in April of 2006.
Although many of the trees are still young, the view and anticipation will one day be great. The city of Marshfield shall forever profit, due to the dream of a young man, who dared to dream a little outside of the box.
For more information about Cherry Blossom Festival call 417-859-2460 or check out their website: http://www.cherryblossomfest.com/
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Sally Tippett Rains is the author of “The Making of a Masterpiece, the True Story of Margaret Mitchell and Gone With The Wind”. You can subscribe to this blog and also follow Sally on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/GWTWbookcom/394926172974
