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World Golf Hall of Fame traveling exhibit featuring Bob Hope to open in Palm Springs

PALM SPRINGS - The World Golf Hall of Fame's traveling exhibit about Bob Hope will open at the Palm Springs Air Museum today.

''Bob Hope: An American Treasure'' will be at the museum through April. The museum at 745 N. Gene Autry Trail opens at 10 a.m.

The 2,500-square-foot exhibit was built with the support of the Bob & Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation and highlights aspects of Hope's life, including his 47 years as the face of the longstanding golf tournament held in the Coachella Valley. The Humana Challenge, formerly the Bob Hope Classic, will be held next month in La Quinta.

''Both my dad and mother would have loved to know that this exhibit would be housed just down the street from their much-loved home on Southridge Drive," said daughter Linda Hope. ''They would also find great pleasure in the fact that the exhibition would be held at the Palm Springs Air Museum, founded by their good friends Bob and Jo Rose Pond.

''To know that schoolchildren from the area will have the opportunity to visit and learn about them and their love of the Coachella Valley, of golf and their commitment to helping their fellow man, I'm sure would warm their hearts.''

The exhibit will include items from Hope's time in Palm Springs, including a golf cart shaped like Hope's face, more than 200 photos and seven videos. Other artifacts include Hope's Congressional Gold Medal, honorary Academy Award statuette, Honorary Veterans citation, and PGA of America money clip, according to the St. Augustine, Fla.-based World Golf Hall of Fame.

''The Palm Springs Air Museum is thrilled to have this exhibit on display, surrounded by our wonderful Warbirds,'' said Fred Bell, executive director of the Palm Springs Air Museum. ''We're looking forward to continuing, educating and expanding Bob Hope's legacy to area tourists and residents.''

The exhibit started its five-year tour in fall 2011 at the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, then the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the Greenwich Heritage Centre in London to coincide with the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

''It was a major priority for us to display this exhibition in Palm Springs," said Jack Peter, chief operating officer of the World Golf Hall of Fame. ''Bob Hope is synonymous with the area, and golf fans around the world know Palm Springs because of his incredible support of the golf tournament. It is an ideal place for the exhibition and we are thankful to the Bob & Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation for its support in bringing it here.''

For more information on the exhibit, go to http://www.worldgolfhalloffame.org or call the Palm Springs Air Museum at (760) 778-6262.

 

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