Museum to Throw 99th Birthday Gala for Les Paul

The town that Les Paul called home will be throwing a party this June to celebrate what would have been the musical investor’s 99th birthday.

The Mahwah Museum announced this week that it will host a birthday gala in Paul’s honor at the Trustee’s Pavilion of Ramapo College in the township on June 14. According to a release from the museum, the event will feature a live auction of autographed guitars, including a Hofner “Beatle Bass” guitar autographed by Paul McCartney.

The Gala will include live music with Bucky Pizzarelli, Ed Laub and Lou Pallo, a silent auction of Les Paul memorabilia, wine, hors d’oeuvres, light fare and birthday cake. 

Paul lived in Mahwah from the early 1950s through his death in 2009. In addition to a birthday party thrown for the past three years in his honor, the Mahwah Museum also pays tribute to the performer and inventor in a permanent exhibit about his life.

“The Museum is proud to celebrate [Paul’s] creative and musical genius,” the Museum wrote in a release about the birthday gala.

“He was first a performer and virtuoso musician. He was also an inventor and even a record producer.”

Tickets to the gala are on sale now. Raffle tickets are $25, Gala tickets are $25 and can be purchased at www.mahwahmuseum.org , and at the Mahwah Museum on Franklin Turnpike, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays between 1 and 4 pm.