A Legend Returns Home

“Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” is not Patti Page’s song.

Patti Page will return to her hometown to headline ­Destination Claremore Week, April 23 through May 1, with an appearance at the “Evening Gala” at Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs and a concert at the Robson PAC.

“Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” is not Patti Page’s song; she knows you can go home. Ms. Page was born in Claremore and always claims Claremore as her hometown wherever she lives or travels. The “Singing Rage,” whose introduction to fame was on a Tulsa radio station sponsored by Page Milk Company, will be back in Claremore for her first public appearance since a street was named for her in 1969.

She will headline Destination Claremore Week, April 23 through May 1, with an appearance at the “Evening Gala” at Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs on Wednesday, April 28, and a concert on Thursday night at the Robson Performing Arts Center.

Forty-one years ago on November 4, Page was in Claremore for a short visit, the naming of Patti Page Boulevard, a luncheon in her honor, and a special guest appearance for Will Rogers Days at the Will Rogers Memorial. In an interview with John Wooley, Rogers Countian and retired Tulsa World reporter, she said naming of the street was one of her “biggest thrills” – and she has had many. Ms. Page was in Claremore in 2001 for a private reception at the Claremore Expo Center.

Born Clara Ann Fowler in 1927 in Claremore, Patti Page was the youngest of 11 children. In 1945 she turned down a University of Tulsa art scholarship to become the singing hostess of the Page Milk-sponsored radio show on KTUL Tulsa. That led to a move to Chicago, a record contract and her first hit, “Confess.” She broke ground in pop-country crossover and has several gold records. “Tennessee Waltz” was the flip side of a seasonal record, but became the second bestselling single in American pop-music history, selling more than 20 million copies.

Another highlight of her career was an appearance at Carnegie Hall, a performance that won her her first Grammy. She has never quit singing or winning awards and in 2003 released “Child of Mine.” She has also written a memoir, “This is My Song.” Page's husband, Jerry Filiciotto, passed away in April of 2009; they had made their home in California and had a maple syrup business and home in New Hampshire.

Destination Claremore is a combined effort of Claremore’s tourist attractions sponsored by Claremore Convention & Visitors Bureau, and presented by RCB Bank and Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs. Additional sponsors are Robson Performing Arts Center, RCIDA, ONG, 1st Bank Oklahoma, Grand Bank, GRDA, AT&T, Value News and Comfort Inn.

Tanya Andrews, Convention & Visitors Bureau executive director, said events are designed to highlight and celebrate some of the many attractions of Claremore and the surrounding area, focusing on “Claremore! Oklahoma’s Cast of Legends.”

Tickets for the Evening Gala at Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs and for the “Patti Page Returns” performance at the Robson PAC are on sale now. For more information about Destination Claremore, call the Claremore Convention & Visitors Bureau at (918) 341-8688 or visit www.visitclaremore.org. 

For more information, contact

Destination ­Claremore

(918) 341-8688

www.visitclaremore.org