“Marceline: A Love Story" at the Mockingbird on Main -- September 25.

Saturday, September 25, 8 p.m.

The Mockingbird on Main, 320 North Main Street, Davenport IA

The early Midwestern life of American icon Walt Disney, and the globe-spanning empire he inspired, will be explored on September 25 in the Mockingbird on Main presentation Marceline: A Love Story, the Davenport venue's evening with Peter Whitehead, Creative Director of Missouri's Walt Disney Hometown Museum.

Located in the restored Santa Fe Railroad Depot in Marceline, Missouri, the Walt Disney Hometown Museum opened in 2001, and houses a collection of memorabilia from the Disney family's farm where they lived from 1905 to 1909. Many of the items were donated by the family of Walt's sister Ruth Flora Disney Beecher, and artifacts include personal family letters and photos, Disney's wooden school desk, and a recording of him asking his parents about their lives. The museum houses the only remaining components of a Disneyland ride to be operated outside of Disneyland, the Autopia, as well as artifacts from the town's railroad history – among them the ATSF 5008, an EMD SD40 built in 1966.

In 2015, the museum launched a project to recreate the Autopia attraction that had operated in the Walt Disney Municipal Park south of town. The miniature car ride was donated by Disney when the attraction was dismantled at Disneyland, and the town operated the ride from 1966 until rising insurance costs and a lack of replacement parts forced its closure in 1977. A single restored car is on display at the museum and was the centerpiece of a Kickstarter project, launched in July of 2015, to finance a $500,000 reconstruction of the ride.

Other items on display in Marceline's Walt Disney Hometown Museum include photographs of Walt and Roy Disney during their visits to Marceline in the 1950s and 60s; Mickey Mouse dolls and phonographic record Walt had produced for his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary; and a track panel from Walt’s Carolwood Pacific Railroad that looped around his estate in Holmby Hills. Located on the venue's first floor, the expanded Collectors Gallery gives Disney fans a rare opportunity to showcase their favorite Disney collectibles alongside items donated by the Disney family, and its blend of permanent installations surrounded by items on temporary loan to the museum gives guests fresh injections of Disney fun every year. Dotted among the treasures, meanwhile, are "Story Stations" that help tell Disney’s Marceline tale. These video monitors share heartwarming stories of the Disney family told by locals who knew them well, and each story was produced internally and runs between two and five minutes.

Peter Whitehead's Marceline: A Love Story program will be presented in Davenport on September 25 at 8 p.m., admission to the limited-seating event is $25, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheMockingbirdOnMain.com.

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