Yep, Jimmy Stewart, the Actor, Has His Own Museum

My name is Cody Etu. I am 17. I am in my room now, writing this to you, because I want to tell somebody about it.

It started at the dinner table. Grandma and grandpa were over. Grandpa's got a wooden leg from his days in the Vietnam War. My mom and dad and grandpa and grandma were going over the old times, and I pretty much felt left out, but that was okay since I had my cell with me and I just went ahead and texted by buddies. I had to hide the phone in my lap because that is one of my mom's rules at the dinner table: No Texting. No Phone Calls!!!

I was paying attention to a new text coming in when I heard dad say we might just as well travel over to Pennsylvania and see the Jimmy Stewart museum. Why not this coming Saturday?

I came to.

"Hey, I got a hockey game on Saturday."

Dad looked a mom for an answer.

"Cody, your game is at 9 o'clock in the morning." She paused while she looked around at the others at the dinner table. "Why don't we just pick you up after your game and drive over to the museum? We will have plenty of time."

I grumbled something.

"Cody," dad said, "this will be an education for you. You'll learn a lot about Jimmy Stewart."

I flipped the switch to the positive: "That's cool. I want to learn about him anyway."

Mom brought out dessert, dad poured coffee for everybody but me, and then after I wolfed down my cake I excused myself, kinda, and went upstairs to my room. I don't know about you, but I use Bing instead of Google. No good reason. I guess I just don't want to run with the pack.

So I Binged "Jimmy Stewart." I know he was in that Christmas movie we watch every year, but that is about all I know about him.

The first entry on Bing was Wikipedia, so I clicked on that. WOW! We're talking 14 print pages. This guy must be something big!

The biography box shows a picture of Jimmy Stewart wearing a cowboy getup. A pretty handsome guy.

It says he was born James Maitland Stewart on May 20, 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He died July 2, 1997 in Los Angeles. Hmm. I was five years old. No wonder I don't know anything about him. I don't know about you, but it bugs me when I feel stupid 'cause I don't know something I oughta know.

Just then I heard my mother call up the stairway: "Cody, what are you doing?"

"I'm studying," mom.

I heard her tell dad that I was studying, then it was quiet.

Back to Jimmy Stewart.

Wikipedia says his occupation is Actor. That he was active from 1935 to 1991. He married a lady named Gloria Hatrick McLean.

I went back to the Bing search results. Down the screen about seven entries is a link to the Jimmy Stewart Museum: www.jimmy.org.
I clicked on that.

It says the museum is open seven days a week. On Saturdays it's open from 12 noon to 5 pm. My dad's gonna have to pay seven bucks, but I can get in for five. I counting on my dad paying for me, 'cause my spending money is pretty tight.

Come Saturday the family picked me up at the ice rink and we headed to Indiana.

Indiana, Pennsylvania, that is.

Instead of just sitting in the back seat being bored, I brought along a notepad and a number two pencil and took some notes.

"Cody, you're awful quiet back there," dad said at one point.

"I'm just checking the route on my cell, dad."

I noticed in the rear view mirror a small smile creep into his face. Kind of unusual, 'cause it seems like he's always got something to yell at me about.

We came into Pennsylvania from Ohio on Route 422. That took us over hill and dale, through a bunch of country towns, across small mountains and into valleys, before we were deposited in the town of Indiana, about 55 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Right off the bat dad is mad because he doesn't know where the museum is.

"Cody," grandpa said, "read your dad the directions from that phone thing you got in your hand."

So I did.

"Dad, get off on this exit coming up for Indiana, then go left onto Oakland Avenue."

For once dad did as I said.

We went by Walmart on the left, and a whole long strip of shopping, plus the campus of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania on the right.

Then, kind of suddenly, we came to a jog in the road, and were facing the Indiana Free Library building downtown. We came to a stop at the light.

"Cody, where is this museum."

I use the MSN direction finder, and it told me it was at 835 Philadelphia St.

The light changed and dad got mad and turned right and we headed into the small town.

"Well," grandpa said. 'C'mon Cody. Where is it?"

I started looking for street addresses and right off the bat I realized we had passed it. I got onto the museum web site.

"Dad, it's in the library. We already passed it."

Everybody was okay with it because they enjoyed looking at the stores. There was a parking sign and I told dad to turn left and he did and then we saw the parking garage on the left and the Salvation Army building kitty-corner. Dad parked.

"Grandpa," he said, "Can you make it a couple of blocks?"

It was grandpa's wooden leg.

"Oh, I'm sure I can make it, just don't get too far ahead of me."

So we walked into town. There were all kinds of stores from antique to musical instruments to restaurants to banks. Pretty much you name it you got it.

Walking toward the museum, grandma cried out: "There he is! He came out to greet us."

That kinda jolted me for a minute, and I started thinking the actor was on the street waiting to say hi to us. But it was only his statue, in front of the courthouse. He has his left hand out.

We all got close to take a look.

"Look how thin he was," mom said.

"The guy always dressed nice," grandpa said.

All I know is he was pretty tall, and he is standing on a concrete pedestal, so he really looked tall. I took a picture with my cell.

Right next door is the Indiana Free Library with a separate entrance to the museum. An elevator took us to the third floor.

A very nice lady took our money, gave us brochures, and showed us where to start our tour. First, a movie showing Jimmy Stewart's life.

Turns out he was born here in Indiana, and his father owned the town hardware. Jimmy went to Princeton and got a degree in Architecture, but chose the theater instead. When he won his Oscar in 1940 he brought it home and displayed it in the family hardware. In 1983 he was back in town for the dedication of the statue we saw in front of the courthouse.

I could spend the next week telling you all the things we saw in the museum. But, did you know that Jimmy Stewart was in 81 movies?

He won the academy award in 1940 for the Philadelphia Story, but said his best friend Henry Fonda should have won it for the Grapes of Wrath.

I was getting kinda moody because I really felt stupid. Dad noticed.

"Cody, come here a minute. Listen. Take all this in as an education. You can't help it if you don't know a lot about an actor who was around long before you."

I noticed grandpa nod my way. They pretty much knew I want to be Mr. Know-it-all and when I'm not, well, I get mad and moody.

But I came out of it.

Jimmy Stewart was also in the military in World War II, in combat yet.

Then there were all the movie posters. Wow! I didn't say nothing, but hey, this guy got to hug and kiss some great looking females.

There are all kinds of photos of famous people, and awards that Jimmy Stewart got, and some history of this town called Indiana. Plus his office, and military history, and even a table from his favorite restaurant in Hollywood.

We spent an hour and a half walking the museum, then went into the gift shop where I bought a couple of pencils (actually grandpa bought them for me) and mom and dad picked up a couple of the actor's movies on DVD.

I noticed a really cool painting of a very nice house with an old car in the drive.

"That is the house Jimmy Stewart grew up in," the lady behind the counter said.

"You can buy that painting. But you also can go see the house."

She gave us directions, and we hightailed it out of there. Well, not really, especially when grandpa walks slow 'cause of his wooden leg. I mapped it out. With me in the lead, we walked right back to the parking garage and continued up the street past the Salvation Army where it turns into a hill, called Vinegar Hill.

A man was walking by and grandpa blurted out, "Hey, sir, can you tell us where Jimmy Stewart grew up?"

The man paused, then said, "You're looking for his childhood home, it's right over there."

And there it was. At the end of a dead-end street, perched on Vinegar Hill, overlooking the town of Indiana. We kind of marveled at it.

"I guess if you are one of the top families in town you need one of the top homes," grandma said.

I took a picture of the house.

Just so you know, people live in the house, so you can't like walk into it or anything.

We headed back to the car. On the way out of town dad said, "The only thing I missed was seeing Mr. Stewart's hardware."

It was torn down in 1969. A bank stands on that spot now.

But there is a Jimmy Stewart Blvd., and the airport is also named after him.

I picked up a booklet on Indiana County. Just so you know this area is famous for Christmas trees and hunting.

The museum is showing "It's A Wonderful Life" every Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm through Jan. 3.

"We'll have to come back for it," dad said.

I thought about it: I would like that.

Jimmy Stewart's a pretty cool guy.

www.visitindianacountypa.org