One-Tank Trip: Johnston County, N.C. "Where a Star was Born"

photo from:http://www.listal.com
From ajc Evening Edge
Hollywood legend Ava Gardner sprang from tobacco region.

By Blake Guthrie

For the AJC

Johnston County in eastern North Carolina is historically an agricultural area, known for its tobacco farms. There’s a museum depicting life on a turn-of-the-century tobacco farm. There’s yet another museum dedicated to film star Ava Gardner, likewise a coveted export from the county.
Born in a crossroads farming community near the county seat of Smithfield in 1922, Gardner, with her exotic good looks and natural acting ability, escaped her hardscrabble Carolina farm girl roots and achieved worldwide fame in the mid-20th century. She returned to her birthplace for extended visits, and her final resting place is beside her parents and siblings in Sunset Memorial Park in Smithfield.

The community is so proud of its deep connection to Gardner that it hosts a festival each year to honor her. The Ava Gardner Museum in downtown Smithfield will be the focal point in early October of the Ava Gardner Festival, which coincides with the unveiling of the museum’s latest exhibit -- “Frank & Ava: Their Lives, Love and Friendship.”

Mention the names Frank and Ava together in any conversation about celebrity romances and most people of a certain age will know who that is. The passionate and rocky 1950s relationship between Frank Sinatra and Gardner has been pop culture fodder for decades. This year marks the first time the Ava Gardner Festival will pay tribute to Sinatra, whom Gardner once described as the love of her life.

Even after their 1957 divorce, the two remained friends until Gardner’s death in 1990. The new exhibit will feature plenty of artifacts from Sinatra’s and Gardner’s life together. Movie buffs will want to explore the entire museum with its extensive collection of Hollywood memorabilia related to Gardner’s film career. It covers the time she was an unknown B-movie vixen to leading lady, one said to be “the most photographed woman in the world” at the peak of her success.

The festival kicks off on Oct. 7 with a cake and champagne reception in the new exhibit gallery at the museum. The cake will be provided by Carlo’s Bakery from Sinatra’s hometown of Hoboken, N.J.; reception tickets are $25. The Smithfield Cinema 10 multiplex will screen Gardner and Sinatra movies all weekend, giving festival goers the rare opportunity to see classic films on the big screen. Another festival highlight will be the Heritage Tour that inspects notable sites in the area, including Gardner’s birthplace and burial site. Heritage Tour tickets are $12.

2011 Ava Gardner Festival, October 7-9. Ava Gardner Museum. 325 E. Market St., Smithfield. 919-934-5830, www.avagardner.org.