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For the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, the annual festival means showtime, and this year was one of their biggest shows in the event’s 50-year history. Not only was the festival celebrating five decades of the event honoring the Minnesota entertainer's legacy, but organizers were also attempting to break a world record.  

Festival organizers partnered with nonprofit accessibility advocacy group, Mobility Mania — Accessibility for All. 

They attempted to set a new world record for most people dancing in wheelchairs in one place to a loop of “Over the Rainbow,” the iconic Garland song performed in the movie musical “The Wizard of Oz.”

Myrna Peterson is the co-founder of Mobility Mania, and on Saturday — the day of the world record attempt — she was dressed as the Scarecrow. She’d worn the costume during a previous world record attempt in 2014. 

During that previous attempt, Judy Garland Museum organizers invited the public to set a new Guinness World Book of Records for the most costumed Wizard of Oz characters in one place. More than a thousand dedicated fans — 1,093 to be specific — did indeed break the record. A framed certificate from Guinness hangs at the museum.

This year, they are trying to break the record for most amount of people in wheelchairs dancing in one place at one time

“We decided we’d see how many Wizard of Oz characters could be dancing in wheelchairs on the yellow brick road to Emerald City with music played from Wizard of Oz by our own Itasca orchestra,” Peterson said. 

The road she refers to is a yellow brick road on the floor of the pavilion at Yanmar Arena in town. She said to break the record, 251 people need to dance for 15 minutes to “Over the Rainbow.” 

One of the biggest challenges dancers and organizers faced on Saturday was the state’s oppressive heat and humidity. 

“It’s so hot that the thermometer says, you know, close to 90 degrees,” she said. “Some of the nursing homes and assisted living are concerned about that, the heat index being too high for their residents.”

Peterson remained hopeful despite the weather. 

Grand Rapids resident Carol Leber explained why she came while she waited for the dancing to begin.

“Because Myrna Peterson twisted my arm,” she said, pausing before she let out three hearty laughs. “No, this was something for those who are in wheelchairs or differently abled, and I thought it sounded like fun.”

Emcee Stella Alpina Leone addressed the gathered crowd from the stage inside the pavilion.

“We’re going to dance with our partners or without our partners. If you’re able to use your wings, please do. If you’re able to twirl, please do. And the name of the game is really to have fun, and we’re just grateful you’re here,” she said. “This is a courageous crew here. Thank you.”

The moment they’d all been waiting for finally arrived. The dancers followed Peterson down around the yellow brick road. Some dressed up in Wizard of Oz characters. Others waved to those watching. There was spinning and twirling. Almost all the dancers had smiles on their faces.

They didn’t break the record, but Peterson said she’s fine with what did happen.  

“It brought tears to my eyes to see so many people enjoying, just having fun,” she said. “You know, the record, it wasn’t about the record it was about quality of life, opportunities for people with different abilities and to see the smile on people’s faces. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Garland fans have said that about attending the festival. A smallish contingent of fervent Judy fans gather year in, year out, much like a family.

“It’s kind of like going to Oz,” said Lexington resident Joe Malinovsky.

He went to his first festival in 1978 and has been a regular every year since 1997.

“There’s people that come from all over, and we meet up here once a year,” Malinovsky said. “And we’ve formed ourselves. We’ve named ourselves the Judy Family and we have, like, a family reunion every year up here.”

Over the years at the festival, Malinovsky said he has met a bevy of performers from Hollywood’s Golden Age: Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch in the “Wizard of Oz,” many of Garland’s co-stars including Mickey Rooney and Jerry Maren. The actor played a munchkin in the Lollipop Guild who hands Garland, as Dorothy, a lollipop in a scene.

Malinovsky, 69, said he comes each year because there’s usually a program or author offering something different.

“And the big attraction, of course, is the greatest entertainer of the world, Judy Garland,” he said. 

Garland historian and author John Fricke couldn’t agree more. 

He held a talk on Garland’s influence on entertainment, entertainers and pop culture during her career and since her death in 1969. 

Fricke says Garland’s connection to Grand Rapids was profound. The star tried to write her autobiography a few times, but ultimately never did, he said. There are tapes she made where she reminisced about her life in Minnesota.  

“She loved Grand Rapids … there’s like a half hour, 40 minutes of her on tape remembering Grand Rapids and Lake Pokegama or Pokegama Lake,” Fricke said. “And Thompson's malted milk.”

In 1938, Garland, then 15, was on a vaudeville tour that took her to the Twin Cities. Fricke said she was able to get two days off from her tour. Garland traveled by train to Grand Rapids. She visited the house she had grown up in and the high school she would have attended. 

He said the tapes revealed her love of playing in the snow and making snow angels.

“She loved Minnesota, and was, I think, very happy to be from Minnesota,” Fricke said. “She said later … I lived in California for decades. She said, I hate the sun. Every morning I woke up and there it was, the sun.”

Next year, the Judy Family will meet again.

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Regina Medina

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Not only was the Judy Garland Festival celebrating five decades of the event honoring the Minnesota entertainer's legacy, but organizers were also attempting to break a world record.  

Judy Garland Festival attendees attempt to break world record, celebrate iconic Minnesotan

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