_edited.png)
_edited.png)
Greetings from Spokane's Bing Crosby Advocates!
- Bing Crosby Advocates
- Oct 10
- 5 min read
It's time to be updated on what's going on with all things Bing in January 2025! (Turns out Bing is more relevant today than most people realize)
In This Edition:
|
Trivia questions How many singles did Bing Crosby release during his recording career? Of those, how many made it to #1? (Answers at bottom of this page) |
Bing Crosby Advocates in the News:The Inlander's Madison Pearson wrote this story about Bing Crosby Advocates and our annual Bing Crosby Holiday Film Festival.December 5, 2024: Spokane's Bing Crosby Advocates spread the good word of the city's famous former resident (Inlander)
Brie Stimson, daughter of BCA's founding president and retired EWU professor of journalism Bill Stimson, interviewed Bing's nephew Howard Crosby for this Fox News feature. December 21, 2024: Bing Crosby struggled to sing 'White Christmas' to troops, ‘most difficult thing’ in his career (Fox News) |
Bing in The News:Bing Hits the Billboard Charts in 2024!
December 8, 2024: Fans Select V of BTS & Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ as This Week’s Top New Music in All-Genre Poll (Billboard)
December 9, 2024: Bing Crosby Returns to Billboard 200 Top 10 for First Time in 64 Years With ‘Ultimate Christmas’ Album (Billboard)
December 24, 2024: Michael Bublé would rather hear Bing Crosby than his own music Christmas morning (Cover media)
December 15, 2024: Bing Crosby's 7 Children: All About the 'White Christmas' Singer's Family (People)
December 30, 2024: Bing Crosby’s Former California Estate Lists For $13.5 Million (Forbes) |
Bing Crosby House Museum Bing's childhood home, at 508 E. Sharp in Spokane, is adjusting to winter hours. The museum is always open Saturday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:00. Trained docents from Bing Crosby Advocates are on hand to show you around and answer your questions. Beginning March 18, Gonzaga University students will also staff the museum on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Here is the museum's webpage: |
On Sunday, October 27, just in time for Halloween, kids of all ages gathered in the living room of the Bing Crosby House Museum to view the 1949 animated Walt Disney classic "Ichabod – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Bing narrated this Washington Irving short story and sang a couple ditties. The Museum and Bing Crosby Advocates provided this entertainment free of charge and threw in some hot cocoa, cider, and treats. Lots of treats. We would like to make this an annual event for community kids!
Below: Bing's sons Lindsay, Gary, Dennis and Phil joined him in the studio during the production of "Ichabod – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". |
The Bing Crosby House Museum hosted its annual Holiday Open House on Sunday, December 1. We counted 144 visitors, the first 50 of which were treated to their pick of an autographed copy of Kathryn Crosby's 1967 book "Bing and Other Things", a signed copy of Nathaniel Crosby's book "18 Holes with Bing: Golf, Life, and Lessons from Dad", one of a variety of Bing Crosby music CDs, or a green vinyl 45 rpm record of Bing's reading of "The Night Before Christmas". All of these were donated to BCA by Robert Bader of Bing Crosby Enterprises. Several local news outlets covered the event. |
Bing Crosby Holiday Film Festival
The biggest thing that happened in Spokane on December 7 was our 17th Annual Bing Crosby Holiday Film Festival at (drum roll, please) the Bing Crosby Theater! Several hundred fans of all ages attended the 2024 event. On this 83rd anniversary of the beginning of WWII, Tom McArthur, host of Northwest Profiles on KSPS, introduced "White Christmas", and tied both the film and its title song to how Bing's delivery of the song helped soldiers, sailors, marines and their families during that war. Paul Manoguerra, director and curator of Gonzaga University's Jundt Art Museum, introduced "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," and spoke about a Norman Rockwell painting of Bing, based on a still photo from that film, which is now on display at the Bing Crosby House Museum. And BCA's own Carol Capra introduced "Here Comes the Groom", which was directed by her former father-in-law, Frank Capra.
Mark your calendars! We have already scheduled the next Bing Crosby Holiday Festival for Saturday, December 6, 2025. Stay tuned to see what surprises we may have in store! |
Did you know? On April 29, 1927, only about 16 months after Bing launched his professional career from Spokane, he recorded several songs, including "I'm Coming Virginia," with fellow Spokanite Al Rinker for the Victor Recording Company. At that time, Bing and Al were featured performers with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra:
|
Bing Crosby Way? In the March 28, 2024 "Best of . . ." Edition of the Inlander, Bing was named the "Best Local Person Who Needs a Street Named After Them" (below). We agree. We are working toward naming a "Bing Crosby Way" in honor of Spokane's best known international megastar! |
What's next for Bing Crosby Advocates in 2025?
|
Wanna get involved?
|
Trivia answers Bing released 409 singles (Wikipedia). Of those, 41 hit #1 -- 43 if you count all three times "White Christmas" topped the charts (Primary Wave Music) |
SEE YOU NEXT TIME!
As the Bing Crosby Advocates, we celebrate Bing's life and legacy and showcase his connections to his hometown of Spokane. |
BCA is a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational non-profit organization. Want to support our work?
Comments