A museum devoted to the culture and kitsch of L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and the 1939 MGM film based on the book recently opened in Wamego, a small town about 85 miles west of Kansas City, Kan.
In the works for eight years, the Oz Museum, in a remodeled 19th Century building downtown, shows off most of the 2,000-piece collection of former Wamego native Tod Machin.
Highlights include a first edition of Baum’s 1900 book; a munchkin costume from the “Wizard of Oz” movie; a dress worn by Diana Ross in “The Wiz,” the 1978 film version of the Broadway musical inspired by the book; masks and dolls of Oz characters; and an array of toys, posters, clothing and other memorabilia.
The museum, 511 Lincoln Ave., is open Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for ages 4 to 12, free under 4. For more details, call 866-458-TOTO (8686).
Cuban cigars nabbed
While some officers of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security work overtime to thwart terrorists intent on using planes as weapons of mass destruction, their colleagues have been intensely monitoring Americans suspected of attempting to vacation in Cuba.
Under an Oct. 10 directive from President Bush, the department began devoting extra resources to more intensively inspect passengers who travel to Cuba on daily charter flights from Miami, New York and San Francisco.
“Homeland Security and the Department of Foreign Assets Control officers are interrogating–or interviewing, depending on your point of view–everyone both on the way out and on return,” says Bob Guild of Marazul Charters, a travel agency that arranges trips for those with legal exemptions to the travel ban. The “net results” of the enhanced enforcement so far, as reported by Homeland Security:
– 215 of 45,461 travelers were suspected of attempting to vacation, rather than taking a legal exemption.
– 283 alcohol and tobacco violations were uncovered. Were those major seizures? No, said Homeland Security spokeswoman Christiana Halsey. Each violation involved a small amount of rum or cigars “found on a person.”
China closes in Florida
After struggling for nearly a decade, Florida Splendid China, a theme park in Kissimmee showcasing Chinese art and culture, shut down at the end of the year. Its demise was blamed by park officials on low attendance, which had dropped to fewer than 200 people a day, and a lack of aggressive national advertising.
A spokesman for the 76-acre theme park, Al Riley, said the owner, China Travel Services HK, an agency of the Chinese government, hoped to find a new owner.
Splendid China was the second theme park in the area to close in 2003, after Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. Both faced stiff competition from Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld.
