Last night at Rustic Lodge, the Jimmy Stewart Museum kicked off a birthday weekend celebrating the 23rd year of the museum and the 110th anniversary of Jimmy’s birth by presenting Steelers Legend Rocky Bleier with the museum’s George Bailey award.
Prior to the awards ceremony, Bleier got the chance to tour the museum privately with members of the Jimmy Stewart Foundation’s board of directors, and he talked with us about his experience seeing the museum for the first time, saying he was interested in Jimmy’s family life along with some of the information on his movie career.
(From L to R, Carson Greene, Jr., a representation of “Harvey”, and Rocky Bleier. Photo provided by Anthony Frazier)
Bleier also talked with us about the award itself, saying that the character of George Bailey is comparable not just to him but to everyone, as everyone does go through life facing trials and tribulations, but with the help of the community, they are able to get back up and keep moving forward.
This event was the kickoff to a full weekend of events for the museum. Today, the museum will have a special screening of “It’s A Wonderful Life” at 1:00, and at 1:30, Randy Riggle will present his nostalgia show at the Indiana Theater. At 2:30, there will be a special program at the Jimmy Stewart Airport on the restoration of Jimmy’s personal airplane. Tomorrow, The Museum will hold a special birthday event, complete with an antique auto show, a birthday cake, and a free magic show from Master Magician Michaelangelo at the Jimmy Stewart Museum at 2:00 PM. Also here this weekend is one of Jimmy’s Daughters, Judy Stewart, who will make appearances at the Indiana Theater and the Airport today, and at the museum tomorrow.
