Free single Bing Crosby records up for grabs Saturday at Gonzaga museum

Nov. 28—Visitors to the Bing Crosby House Museum this Saturday could walk away with a limited-edition vinyl record of the crooner's take on a holiday tale.

From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, the historic home and museum will host its annual "White Christmas" open house. The public is invited to the free event to admire holiday decorations inside the house on the Gonzaga campus. This year, the first 50 people who show up will get a 45 rpm record of Crosby's reading of "The Night Before Christmas" pressed on festive green vinyl.

The 7-inch records were pressed in 2011 by Bing Crosby Enterprises Inc., owned by family of the late celebrity. The family donated them to the museum several years ago, said Stephanie Plowman, special collections librarian at Gonzaga. Along with the chance to score a free record, Plowman said the decorations alone are reason enough to stop by the museum.

Built in 1911, the house was Crosby's childhood home. The Gonzaga Alumni Association bought the house in 1980 and turned it into a free museum full of more than 200 Crosby-related items, including gold records, trophies and an Oscar for best actor.

"The house just looks great with its hardwood floors and its wood trim along the ceiling," Plowman said. "It just makes a great Christmas house."

The museum is located at 508 E. Sharp Ave. in Spokane. Parking is available behind the building.

Ellen Dennis' work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.