Auction Crimps Cline Supporters’ Plan To Buy Home By: Stephanie M. Mangino The Winchester Star Patsy Cline’s devotees have a simple wish, but they have not been able to make it come true by the end of this year. Celebrating Patsy Cline submitted the winning bids for three items of Cline’s clothing in a Christie’s auction last month, and the approximately $25,000 expense crimped the group’s plans to purchase the home at 608 S. Kent St., where the singer of “Crazy” and “Walkin’ After Midnight” lived as her career developed. “We ran into, I guess, a little detour with that auction,” CPC President Jim Stutzman said Monday. On the March 5 observance of the 40th anniversary of Cline’s death, Stutzman said he hoped the group would own the home by the end of the year. Fans want to “touch, feel, be, where she was,” said Judy Sue Huyett-Kempf, who conducts Cline-related tours around town and serves on the board of Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., an organization dedicated to bringing a Cline museum to Winchester. Though Cline died at 30 in a 1963 Tennessee airplane crash, her work remains popular and respected four decades later, and Cline’s name routinely appears on lists of the best artists in pop and country music. A tribute album featuring performances of Cline’s signature tunes by a variety of female singers ranging from Natalie Cole to k.d. lang appeared earlier this year. The Christie’s New York auction of 16 Cline clothing lots fetched more than $100,000. Cline supporters first talked about buying the house in January 2002. CPC signed a letter of intent to buy the home that year with the intention of turning it into a museum. A “vision” committee has discussed how to best use the home, Stutzman said, and earlier this month, CPC Secretary Karen Helm said the group will discuss options for the home at a February 2004 board meeting. Stutzman said the group has $30,000 of $70,000 needed to buy the home from Winchester’s Adams Family Limited Partnership limited liability corporation Sweet Dreams for Patsy LLC. In addition, the proceeds from the sale of a limited-edition Route 11 Potato Chips tin featuring Cline photographs haven’t been tallied yet, Stutzman said. In March, Route 11 Chips President Sarah Cohen estimated the tins could bring in $45,000.

Originally Published In The Winchester Star On December 30, 2003







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