Museum gets boost from Three Arts Club

Published 4:05 pm Friday, February 5, 2016

The Hank Williams Boyhood Home and Museum got a much-needed boost on Tuesday.

The Three Arts Club of Georgiana presented Georgiana Mayor Jerome Antone with a check for $1,000 at the Georgiana City Council meeting.

Museum curator Margaret Gaston said the donation will be used to purchase merchandise to be sold at the museum and for the general upkeep of the museum.

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The museum is a popular tourist attraction drawing visitors from across the nation, and even the occasional global traveler.

“The Three Arts Club has supported the Hank Williams Museum since it was opened,” said Patricia Ray, club president. “The club was founded to encourage the love of music, art and literature. Helping the museum is one way of encouraging the love of music as well as telling the history of how music inspired Hank Williams in his life.”

Hank Williams Sr., who passed away in 1953 at the age of 29, recorded 35 singles, five of which were released posthumously, that would place in the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked No. 1.

Williams’ music continues to draw fans to Georgiana each June, when the city hosts the annual Hank Williams Festival.

The Hank Williams Boyhood Home and Museum serves as a popular stop for many festivalgoers and provides a glimpse at the man behind the legend.

“(Hank Williams) was 7-years-old when he moved here,” Gaston said. “He got his first guitar when he lived here. And he shined shoes and sold peanuts at the depot, which was a block south. He attended school a block north (from the house). I like to tell people that this is where it all began. It started right here.”

The Three Arts Club presents four $1,000 scholarships each year to students from Georgiana School and Fort Dale Academy, while also helping provide monetary support for Alabama Girls’ State, The Butler County Children Advocacy Center, Family Christmas at the Butler County Department of Human Resources, and the Hank Williams Festival.