by Charlotte J. Eller

[Originally published March 6, 2003, on page A10 of the Northern Virginia Daily (NVD)]
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Plans to honor country music superstar Patsy Cline with her own museum went into high gear in Winchester on Wednesday. On the 40th anniversary of her death, the nonprofit group planning the museum announced a national campaign to raise funds for the facility.

If the fund drive is successful, the museum is expected to open within two years, James Stutzman Jr., president of Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., said at a press conference at the Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center.

The fund drive was one of a series of announcements by the group. It also disclosed the acquisition of three Cline dresses donated by a joint venture of anonymous business people who do not live in the area.

They include a gold dress with black overlay that Cline wore at Carnegie Hall in 1961 and a maternity dress, said Judy Sue Huyett-Kempf, Celebrating Patsy Cline's treasurer.

Two blouses have been donated by fans Theresa Shalaby of Pittsburgh, who attended the announcement, and Lisa Flood of Ohio. The latter founded the Web site "Patsified."

The clothing most made by Cline's mother, Hilda Hensley, was bought at an auction held by the firm Profiles in History, Stutzman said. They are being added to the special acquisitions fund managed by Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc.

Stutzman also said by this year's end, the group should have raised the last $40,000 needed to allow it to act on a letter of intent signed in late 2002 to buy Clines' childhood home at 608 S. Kent St., where the museum will be located.

The funds could come from a donation by Route 11 Potato Chips, a local firm that will produce a limited edition tin bearing five Cline photos for its potato chips. Stutzman said the firm's president, Sarah Cohen, expects the tin to be available this summer. Net proceeds from its sale will be donated to the nonprofit group. Cohen, who did not attend the press conference, has estimated the project could raise up to $45,000, Stutzman said.

A donation also has been pledged by The Sweetwater Saloon in Marin, Calif. Its owners said they will give funds raised at a 40th anniversary memorial tribute to Cline on Tuesday night at which the Valerie Jay Band performed Cline's music, organizers said.

Celebrating Patsy Cline is buying the home from Sweet Dreams, LLC, set up the late Kevin Adams, a Cline fan and businessman who set up the corporation to buy the home. The firm is now run by his brother-in-law, Richard Bell, a strong museum backer.

Nearly $40,000 already has been put aside for the house, where the museum will be located, through generous gifts and donations. They include $18,500 late last year that Preservation of Historic Winchester raised in its 2002 Blues House Festival.

Another $10,000 was contributed to the museum over a two-year period by the local Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 824.

In discussing the national fund-raising campaign, Stutzman said final cost estimated to restore the building and plan a museum exhibit aren't available yet. That won't come until "we put a real pencil to budget figures and get expert help" with estimates from Cultural Communications, a Berryville consultant, he said.

But, Stutzman said, "we're looking for a lot of money. It's easily going to take hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate the house" and install climated-control systems to preserve museum pieces. "My hope is that we can raise a half-million dollars," he said. "With that, we can go a long way toward putting a museum in place" at the house. The word is spreading and "people are contacting us," he said.

Organizers are hoping for some foundation grants along with donations from Cline fans of both money and memorabilia and contributions from the country music industry, he said. "I'll be putting a lot of my effort into Nashville and the record companies," he said. "We'll take the support of anybody who wants to help commemorate the memory of Patsy Cline. That's what we are looking to do."