Marker Unveiling Tops Annual Trek For Cline

Marker Unveiling Tops Annual Trek For Cline

By: Charlie Jackson
The Winchester Star

Joanie Evans, a representative with the regional office of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, stands by a portrait of Patsy Cline during a presentation at the new Patsy Cline Museum. She said her organization is helping to get 608 S. Kent St. — onetime home to Winchester’s most famous singer — onto the National Register of Historic Places. A historical marker was unveiled over the weekend, too. “This represents a significant milestone for the city of Winchester,” said Mayor Elizabeth A. Minor. “It’s long overdue.”
(Photo by Rick Foster)

Many make the trek annually.

But this year the trip was just a little more special.

Country music icon and Winchester native Patsy Cline was unveiled for all to see in two separate events Saturday.

The day began with roughly 60 people crowded around an unassuming home on a quiet Winchester street.

Cline’s husband, Charlie Dick, and daughter Julie Fudge were greeted by adoring fans requesting photographs and autographs.

Dick and Fudge obliged and a ceremony to unveil a historic highway marker at Cline’s childhood home began.

“I remember a lot of things about this house,” Fudge said from the front porch. “It feels like home.”

Fudge and Dick reached up and pulled the protective drape off the sign as fans clamored to take snapshots at 608 S. Kent St.

“This represents a significant milestone for the city of Winchester,” said Mayor Elizabeth A. Minor. “It’s long overdue.”

The sign received the blessing of the Board of Historic Resources and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in June.

Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc., which organized the event, paid for the marker.

After the sign was displayed, Cline’s fans and family went to another unveiling of sorts.

A museum dedicated to the life and work of Cline will open in March 2006 at 48 S. Loudoun St.

Charlie Dick, Patsy Cline’s husband, and their daughter, Julie Fudge, stand beneath the new highway marker dedicated to Cline. The marker was unveiled Saturday at 608 S. Kent St. where the country music star once lived.
(Photo by Rick Foster)

While architects and designers haven’t begun work, and the museum’s collection is far from complete, organizers gave the public a sneak peak at the future home of Cline memorabilia.

Fans and donors were able to view the collection of Theresa Shalaby of Nashville, Tenn.

The walls were lined with newspaper articles and advertisements, chronicling the life of Cline.

Also on display was a program from Cline’s last concert before she died tragically in a plane crash in 1963 in Camden, Tenn.

“This is a huge day,” said Phillip Martin, president of Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc., the group responsible for the museum.

Martin said the group is working to acquire Cline’s childhood home and to advance its collection of Cline memorabilia.

He said Celebrating Patsy Cline is working to acquire several of Cline’s outfits and other collectibles.

The effort and hard work of Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc. and other fan clubs weren’t lost on Cline’s relatives.

Charlie Dick and Julie Fudge, Patsy Cline’s husband and daughter, look up at the new highway marker about Cline they unveiled Saturday. The crowd for the event filled a blocked off S. Kent Street in front of one of the houses Cline had lived in.
(Photo by Rick Foster)

“We feel like we are just riding the wave and you all are making it go,” Fudge said.

Originally Published In The Winchester Star On September 6, 2005