St. Paul's Presbyterian Church will hold a special service to re-dedicate in newly renovated organ on May 25 at 10:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in the ceremony.
The road to the refurbished organ was not an easy one, but thanks to the generosity of two parishioners, the church will continue to resound with the sound of organ music.
Early in January, Marion Willis, our church organist, asked her acquaintance, Dieter Geissler of Keates-Geissler Pipe Organ Ltd; Guelph, to have a look at our organ. Dieter gave us a written report of its immediate and long range needs. The Board of Managers weighed this costly venture and a presentation was made to the congregation.
This organ is an old friend with a long history.
Built in 1875 in Woodstock by the Karn-Warren Pipe Organ Co., it was first installed in a church in Barrie. But when that church outgrew its facilities, the organ was purchased and installed in St. Paul's Church, Thornbury, about 1909. Such longevity makes the organ the oldest member in St. Paul's.
Dieter evaluated it at a quarter million dollars, but since it cannot be replaced, it is priceless.
Geissler learned his trade as organ builder in Germany, and came to Canada to work for the Keates Organ Co. in 1957. He later became the owner of the company which services organs in Canada, United States and the Caribbean Islands.
Loyal to an old friend, the congregation elected to work on the organ, a bit at a time, over several years.
Donations to the Organ Fund began, with even the children contributing, and several thousand dollars were raised.
One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, made an overwhelming offer if we did all the work at once. Such encouragement inspired the Board of Managers to enter into a contractual agreement with the Keates-Geissler Pipe Organ Ltd. to do all the work on the organ.
Work began April 1, and was divided into three stages. Stage One was assembling the hundreds of parts required for the electronic conversion of the organ which would eliminate the mechanical contacts to the pipes, so all switching would be done electronically, making the organ more responsive to the organist.
Stage Two was the cleaning of the organ. All the large pipes were removed and laid along the centre aisle of the sanctuary. Other pipes, both large and small, about 700 in all, were dismantled and laid in orderly fashion in large wooden boxes called trays. These pipes were cleaned and then the hundreds of pipes were reassembled inside the organ. The task required 50 hours labour.
The third task was installing electronic connections to all the pipes followed by fine tuning. The task was completed in time for the Mother's Day special service.
The real drama, however, is local in nature, involving people you know well. The Bell sisters, Mary and Marjorie, as teenagers sang in St. Paul's choir. Upon finishing high school, the sisters left town to follow their vocation as nurses. At retirement, they returned to their roots and resumed attending St. Paul's.
Only lately it was revealed that the bequest was intended for the care of the organ. This revelation was like a call from Heaven. As well, Marjorie Bell was our anonymous benefactor.
So at the Dedication Service, Sunday, May 25, a plaque will be unveiled that reads: "The Electronic Conversion of this organ was done in the year of our Lord 2008, and is dedicated in loving memory of Mary Bell."
