PIPE ORGAN UPDATES
Our Austin Pipe Organ at Zion is truly a wonderful instrument. I thank the congregation for continuing to have it tuned and serviced regularly. My thanks also to Mark Pichowicz, a friend who works in moving and installing organs and maintaining them and Mark Valentine who helps me at Zion when there is a cipher and who showed Mark P. where everything is for our organ.
A little history, thanks to Mark P.’s organ archive ability. Zion had a Moeller Organ installed in the early 1900’s. In the early 1920’s an Austin Organ was installed in Christ Church, Warren, Ohio. In the late 1950’s a group of men from Zion brought the organ from Ohio to Zion. At that time, it was a three manual organ. In 1965, the organ console was reworked as the two manual console that we have now. In 2002, our current organ tuners re-leathered all the pipe work. Several years ago, we had two single pipes re-leathered because of water damage.
While I can play the notes and use the stops for the different sounds, I have little knowledge of the mechanics of the instrument. At this time, I felt the organ needed an extensive examination. There are six notes that didn’t sound at all (more about that later), some rattles, and other concerns that I felt needed to be addressed with more than simple tuning and service. Mark P. came from Winchester, VA, to look over everything and give me advice about the more challenging repairs that are needed.
The positive news is Mark P. feels our organ is in particularly good condition. He serviced the rattles and other notes while he was here. He explained that cold weather should not affect the instrument. Example, look at the cathedrals and churches in Europe that are centuries old, and are not heated. Their organs do fine. The leather work that was done in 2002 is still in decent shape and should last a long time. The organ is well in tune and will not need more than the usual twice-yearly check-up. The few flukes, like ciphers, happen to all organs because of the reaction of wood to humidity, heat, dirt, etc. Also, the few occasional console stops that stick are usually happening in the summer and are because of humidity. Those are normal organ problems.
The unwelcomed news is there are six pedal pipes that do not sound because of water damage. I have known about this since 2023, but the tuners we currently have were leery to fix them until we know that the water leaks have been permanently fixed. The leaks were coming from the roof, and that was fixed when the flashing was fixed. Since then, Mark Valentine has crawled up to the pipes after every heavy rain, and there has been no further water damage or evidence of a leak.
Mark P’s. advice to us was simple. He first contacted the Austin Organ Company and inquired about our current tuners. They are still affiliated with Austin, and they were highly recommended. He asked that we contact our tuners, Crossan-Savage, and get an estimate for the fixing of the pipes. Those damaged pads need to be removed, taken to the shop, re-done and re-installed. Mark P. would do it if Crossan-Savage does not, but he travels from VA, which would be two trips. I did call Crossan-Savage, and they are willing to do it. If they can get to it now, there is a chance it will be completed before Christmas.
Now, the cost, Crossan-Savage feels the re-leather work can be done for under $1,000.00. That price seemed fair to Mark P. when I asked him. That price, however, does not include the regularly scheduled tuning and service that Zion budgets for every year.
We have money in the choir fund that they will contribute and there are gifts that have been given to Zion for organ maintenance. My recommendation is that we do this project at this time.
Thank-you,
Sandy Mehalko
