Upcomings Events
To be announced.
Past Events
A Star-Spangled Scarlett Weekend
Question: What do you get when you combine Fourth of July festivities, five cast members from Gone With the Wind, a team trivia breakfast, swap-meet, a dinner dance and salute to the military, photographs and autographs, a live auction, costume contest, and the showing of the world's greatest movie?
Answer: Three days of non-stop fun that you remember forever!
That was the event called A Star Spangled Scarlett Weekend that was hosted by the Marietta Gone With the Wind Museum July 4-6, 2008. Cast members Fred Crane (Brent Tarleton), Ann Rutherford (Carreen O'Hara), Mickey Kuhn (Beau Wilkes), Cammie King Conlon (Bonnie Blue Butler), and Patrick Curtis (Baby Beau) were special guests of the museum and headlined the weekend festivities. Also joining the excitement were Rhett & Lynn Butler and Larry & Judy Weaver from Alabama. Rhett is the owner of the Rhett Butler Show Truck and Larry is the exclusive driver of the truck. It is a phenomenal sight to behold as the entire truck body is painted with incredible Gone With the Wind artwork by artist Wes Hardin. The festivities began Friday morning, July 4th as our guests rode on the new Historic Marietta Trolley in the city's annual Fourth of July Parade. After lunch, they signed autographs for hundreds of fans all afternoon before the fireworks began at dark. Door prizes were awarded at the end of the day.
Saturday morning, July 5th found our guests at the Marietta Country Club for Star Struck where the attendees answered a quiz about the celebrities and then learned how much they really knew about them when each cast member gave a first-hand account by answering the questions aloud. It was a fun and interesting morning spent with five terrific people. The breakfast was delicious and a great time was had by all. Following the trivia, everyone surprised Patrick Curtis for his 70th birthday. And boy, was it a surprise!!
Back at the museum that day, 13 tables were requested for a Gone With the Wind memorabilia swap-meet. Things were hopping as Gone With the Wind fans bought, traded and sold items relating to the book and movie. They had so much fun they could have stayed longer, but they had to go and get dressed in their 1940's attire for the most exciting portion of the weekend, Dancing with the Stars & Stripes. Held at the Hilton Marietta Conference Center Hotel ballroom, guests enjoyed a lovely reception and then took their seats at the elegantly dressed tables with red, white & blue floral arrangements and a delicious dinner. A program to salute our military followed with emcees Connie Sutherland, director for the museum and Dr. Chris Sullivan, owner of the museum collection at the podium. With the ballroom decorated with War World II posters and a giant American flag, the room was reminiscent of the Hollywood Canteen that opened in the 1940's for servicemen who were leaving for tours of duty. Famous Hollywood stars would work at the canteen (waiting tables, washing dishes, entertaining) to show their appreciation to those who were making sacrifices for their country. Bette Davis, Joan Leslie, Roy Rogers, and our own Ann Rutherford were among the 200 plus celebrities who gave of their time at the Hollywood Canteen. The evening was filled with applause and tears as members of each service branch, active and retired, were introduced and asked to take their places at the front of the room. Those represented were our own Gone With the Wind "Beaus" AE2 Michael "Mickey" Kuhn and Col. Patrick Curtis, along with Airman 2nd Class Don Wiant (Air Force), CMDCM Glen D. Thompson (Navy), AEM 2nd Class Jeffery Cahill (Navy), Cpl. Michael Focht (Marines), Staff Sgt. Alex Harris (Army), US 8th AF and Normandy veteran Mr. Richard Sadler, Col. Carl H. "Skip" Bell, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Horvath of the USO, and 1st Lt. (Cpt. Pending) Olen Gunnin. Mr. Gunnin has another connection that he spoke about that evening. In 1939 he was a 16 year-old student at Russell High School in Atlanta where he played a huge bass drum in the school band. The band was chosen to play at the airport the day Clark Gable's plane was to arrive to entertain the other celebrities who had already arrived in town. Gable's plane was quite late that day, so the band members were allowed to take a break and receive autographs from the Gone With the Wind cast members who were there waiting. The newspaper caught a shot of 16-year old Olen Gunnin getting his bass drum signed by the beautiful raven-haired Ann Rutherford. Mr. Gunnin's family kept that photograph and he brought it with him to the dinner dance that evening. As he spoke about the excitement of that day in 1939 and how Ms. Rutherford had "made his day" he touched everyone in the room. Seventy years later, Ms. Rutherford made his day again as she hopped up from her chair, made her way across the dance floor and hugged Mr. Gunnin's neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. It was a wonderful reunion and a night everyone in attendance will remember for many years to come. After that, Patrick Curtis gave a heartfelt introduction to guest speaker of the night, former Senator Max Cleland. Mr. Cleland received a standing ovation for his touching speech and the last hours of the night were spent dancing to the wonderful sounds of the Society Express Band led by singer and musician, Jeni Michelson. The band played tunes from the 1940's and everyone danced the night away, including our own Fred Crane (Brent Tarleton) who turned 90 in March.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, we found ourselves at the incredible Murray Arts Center, a state-of-the-art facility in nearby Kennesaw, GA. The first event of the day was I'm Ready for My Close-up where ticket-holders posed with the five cast members for a Promo-Photo picture that commemorated the weekend happenings. That was followed by a live auction where those lucky enough to win the bid took home some great one-of-a-kind Gone With the Wind items. Then everyone gathered in the grand lobby where our special guests were seated at the judging tables to view the costume contestants as they entered the room via the beautiful staircase. Winners that day were Karen Stewart (most like the original), Faye Sorrow (most unique), and Jimmie Munn (best all around costume). It must have been a difficult job for our judges, as every contestant looked authentic in their costumes, many of whom made their own. The day ended on the grandest note of all with the showing of Gone With the Wind in the 577 seat Christy Lynn Theatre, also part of the Murray Arts Center.
If any of these exciting festivities made you wish you had been there, please call or email to be added to our mailing list for future events. We host smaller events throughout the year and one large event each year, usually during the summer.