Half the Kentwood (La.) Historical and Cultural Arts Museum is dedicated to local men and women who served in the U.S. armed forces.
The rest is devoted to Britney Spears.
You can see Spears' awards, the jacket she wore on "The Mickey Mouse Club," painstakingly crafted re-creations of her childhood bedroom, and the stage she once performed on in an HBO concert special.
Many make the 5-mile drive off I-55 to the museum, where Britney T-shirts, buttons and tote bags sell so fast they're hard to keep in stock.
Signs of enduring love in Kentwood (pop. 2,200) for a hometown girl.
Lately, an extremely sad, deeply troubled hometown girl.
"I cry every time I see another story about her on television," said Pam Wright, 44, who works at a convenience store along Kentwood's main drag, U.S. 51.
"I think she needs to come home to Kentwood and we'll get her right again. Everybody here loves her. We all believe in her."
As the 26-year-old singer's meltdown - broken marriages, hospitalization, sons Jayden James and Sean Preston removed from her custody, and bizarre behavior - worsens, residents of Kentwood stand by their marquee native.
Amid abandoned buildings and a dying dairy industry, Kentwood is known for Kentwood Springs - a local brand of bottled water - and Britney Spears.
The girl who would become a superstar and sex symbol grew up in a ranch-style house near town - close to the Mississippi line - where she grew up with her parents, Lynne Spears and Jamie Spears, and where Jamie still resides.
About 90 miles north of New Orleans, drivers can't miss the hot-pink sign that welcomes visitors to "The home of Britney Spears."
The town's support also extends to 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney's younger sister and star of the Nickelodeon hit series Zoey 101.
Young Jamie Lynn made many headlines recently by getting pregnant.
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1 Comment
January 26th, 2008 9:14 AM
jamie lynn rules