Tour weekend to offer Gone With The Wind exhibits

As an added attraction to this year's (2009) Spring Tour of Homes, the weekend will be filled with special Gone With The Wind exhibits, lectures, sales, and book signings. Washington's Retro Cinema will be showing the movie all day Saturday and will feature several books from Gone With The Wind expert and well-known author, Herb Bridges. Bridges once owned what was considered the country's largest Gone With The Wind collection. Christie's auctioned it off several years ago in New York for some $350,000. Bridges has published over a dozen books on GWTW and will be on hand Saturday, April 4, to autograph any purchased book. Also featured at the site will be a GWTW memorabilia exhibit from a private collector. On Saturday evening, there will be a cocktail party honoring Bridges in the Retro's wine bar from 5:30-6:30 p.m., immediately followed by his lecture on "The Atlanta Premier." From March through May, the Washington Historical Museum will feature a most exciting premier showing of Bridges' newest collection of original artwork, hand-painted poster boards from the Loew's Grand Theater from the 1930s and 1940s. This collection includes many favorite movies and Hollywood movie stars, including some of the original poster boards used for the Atlanta Premier in 1939. "Come see these rare and beautiful movie displays and hear the story of how Mr. Bridges acquired this one-of-a-kind collection," urges curator Stephanie Macchia. Throughout the Tour weekend there will be several Gone With The Wind-related artwork exhibits, gift items for purchase, and memorabilia for sale. "This will truly be a special event weekend so make your advance purchases and mark the date on your calendars," Macchia said. Also featured during this year's tour will be two stars from the movie, Mickey Kuhn and Patrick Curtis, who both portrayed Beau Wilkes, one as an infant and one as a toddler. These men went on to star in dozens of other movies and to lead rich, full lives. The pair will be regaling an audience on Friday night with their "Hollywood Revue" at the Washington Little Theater's Bolton Lunceford Playhouse.There will be stories about the movie, Gone With The Wind, and stories of some of their fascinating and hilarious experiences involved in Hollywood during its heyday. There will be a $10 fee charged with half of all proceeds going to the restoration of the Washington Historical Museum. No advance tickets will be available with the box office offering firstcome, first-served seating. Throughout the weekend there will be opportunities for autographed pictures to be purchased and Kuhn and Curtis will also attend the Saturday night cocktail party. Featured on The Square will be the renowned artist Trevor Erick Hawkins. The public is invited to view some of Trevor's colorful and dramatic paintings, including several depicting Gone With The Wind scenes and stars.