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The Westonka Historical Society’s
Andrews Sisters Memorabilia
Exhibit displayed in the Minnesota Historical Society’s
next exhibit, “The Greatest Generation”Goes to St. Paul by Tom Rockvam, Member of WHS The Westonka Historical Society will be
furnishing (on loan) Andrews Sisters memorabilia for the Minnesota Historical
Society’s next exhibit “The Greatest Generation.” These items are part of
a collection donated to WHS by Frank Bivins, Moultrie, GA.
The exhibit will begin on May 9, 2009 and will run for five years and consist of 8000 square feet. Besides the memorabilia, the Minnesota Historical Society will also have on display the Andrews Sisters 1890’s Harvard piano and bench, which will also be on loan from the Westonka Historical Society. The amount of time that the MHS will use our
memorabilia will differ. For 9 - 12 months, the piano will be the focus attraction
in the main lobby of the exhibit so everyone will have to pass by it as they
enter the viewing room. The main attractions in the lobby change periodically. The rest of the memorabilia will more than
likely be there for the duration of the exhibit. They may move the piano from
the lobby to the viewing room when the lobby display changes. At the request of the MHS, Tom Rockvam has
written a revised and very colorful (over 70 pictures) Andrews Sisters book
that will be sold during the exhibit titled, “The Andrews Sisters and their
100 year connection to Lake Minnetonka and Mound, Minnesota.” The book has the complete story of the Andrews
Sisters growing up in Mound, plus Tom’s year long endeavor to get the City
of Mound to name the walking trail from Commerce Blvd. to the Little League
field “The Andrews Sisters Trail.” The book then continues on to tell about the
trail dedication, the Andrews Sisters Revival, the Andrews Sisters Cabaret
as well as the full story of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) coming
to Mound to film and interview Rockvam at the trail, the Gillespie Center,
the Sollie Grocery store (Pete and Ed Sollie were the Andrews Sisters’s uncles)
and at the Mound beach. The BBC spent a week in the United States interviewing
and filming people and places in CA, MD, NY, and Mound to collect all of
the information they needed to make a documentary film of the lives and careers
of the Andrews Sisters. The film is finished and will be released in the
near future. To order a copy of the new book, contact the
Westonka Historical Society at 472-9800 or Tom Rockvam at Hurl2rock@aol.com or 952-472-0759.
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