Always Patsy Weekend in Winchester

Tickets for the dinner include an update on placing Patsy Cline’s home on Kent Street on the historic registry, four entertainers, and a silent auction. Dick said tickets are $18 and reservations should be made through the fan club by Thursday.

Dick encourages the community to attend the open dinner. “This dinner really kicks off our weekend,” he said. “It’s a way for local people to recognize Patsy. Everyone who has ever attended one of our kick-off dinners has always enjoyed the event. They also become more appreciative of her when they find out all the trouble other people have gone through to get here.”

Dick said the silent auction at the dinner gives the community a way to give back to the fan club. “While the auction items are not all Patsy memorabilia, the CDs from country artists, tickets to places and events in Winchester, and other items give local people and the fan club members a chance to donate to the fan club and get something back in return,” Dick said.

The second event open to the public is the premier of the ringing of the Bell Tower chimes at the Shenandoah Memorial Park cemetery on Front Royal Pike, where Patsy Cline is buried.

From 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday, the bells will chime for the first time with Patsy Cline’s religious music as well as some of her well-known hits.

“After that, they will only play 10 minutes a day,” said Dick.

The ringing of the chimes will take the place of a memorial service which is usually held over the weekend, said J.D. Thompson, treasurer of the fan club.

“This is the first year we are not having a memorial service,” Thompson said. “I’m sure though many of her fans will stop by her grave to pay their respects.”

Another event held independently of the club will be a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday at Sweet Caroline’s in Winchester.

Singer Danielle Westphal with Ken Giese and his band, Idle Time, will debut a song “Channeling Patsy” that Westphal wrote.

A cover charge of $5 is the price of admission. Proceeds will benefit the Celebrating Patsy Cline organization in Winchester. The group has several projects under way, including a establishing a Patsy Cline museum.

Patsy Cline fans will travel to Winchester this weekend for special events in honor of the Winchester native. Laura Panning (above) of Napoleon, Ohio, holds a replica of Patsy’s famous cowgirl outfit at last year’s festivities. Below, Patsy’s daughter, Julie Fudge of Nashville, Tenn. places flowers on her mother’s grave in Shenandoah Memorial Park.

Photos by Rick Foster

Thompson said that Cline’s husband, Charlie Dick, will attend all the fan club events.

“It is like a family reunion,” said Charlie Dick. “The biggest part of the people attending are regulars.”

The club members “come for Patsy and for the people,” said Dick. They bring pictures, compare notes, and share memorabilia.

The club, which boasts 850-1000 members each year, has faithful participants that travel from as far away as Canada, Missouri, Connecticut, and Indiana to be at this weekend.

Jimmy Walker of Lexington, Ky., bills himself as Central Kentucky's biggest Patsy Cline fan. Even his e-mail address advertises his favorite country singer. For the 10th year, Walker will make the eight hour drive from Lexington to Winchester to be a part of the Patsy Cline Weekend celebration. . “I have been a part of Patsy's fan club for nearly 20 years,” he said. “I was always reading about the fans getting together in the newsletter. The weekends sounded like so much fun but, work prevented me from coming. But in 1994 I was finally able to attend a weekend.”

Walker, 37, said that he met several people that first year and formed lasting friendships. So he has been attending the annual Labor Day Patsy Cline Weekend ever since. “That first year may have been more about seeing where Patsy was from, but seeing friends is now my favorite part of the weekend. I also like the Friday night dinner auction.”

This it the 16th year that the fan club has gathered in Winchester over the Labor Day Weekend. But this year Dick said fans will be slightly disappointed by the fact that there is no longer anywhere for them to view Patsy Cline memorabilia. Without a local museum honoring Pasty Cline, fans used to visit small displays of Patsy memorabilia at the Kurtz Building on Cameron Street as well as the Winchester–Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau on Pleasant Valley Road. But changes in ownership at the Kurtz Building and changes in focus at the Visitors Center have shut down both sites said Dick. “When the Kurtz building closed and the (Winchester-Frederick County) Visitors Center decided to put less emphasis on Patsy Cline, that really hurt the Patsy effort,” Dick said. “Other than the newspapers, there is no way for people to know about Patsy. There is no where for them to go and that bothers me a bit.”

Not dissuaded, the fan club keeps coming back year after year to continue celebrating Patsy Cline and her contribution to country music. “It’s our way of paying respect and remembering Patsy Cline,” Thompson said. “It’s also a nice four day weekend that affords us time to get together and builds up everyone’s spirits.”

For information. contact Always Patsy Cline @ alwayspc@visuallink.com.