Chippewa Park Carousel Band Organ
special outdoor concert at Waverly Park
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THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO - May 26, 2019 (LSN) Last heard in the 1970’s the historic Chippewa Park Carousel Band Organ returns to entertain the community at a special outdoor concert at Waverly Park on Sunday, June 2.
“The Artizan/WurlitZer organ has been silent for nearly 40 years as it waited for a major restoration. Thanks to the generosity of Joan Miller and Family and the expertise of the Nickel Odeon Company of Mount Forest Ontario, the Band Organ has been fully restored and is just waiting to entertain riders and their families at Chippewa Park” said Carousel Project Manager, Iain Angus.
“We decided that we needed to celebrate the return of the Band Organ with a special concert at Waverly Park as its rarity and specialness deserves a stand-alone feature reveal.” he noted.
“This Band Organ started out life as an Artizan product but was converted to use the mechanisms developed by WurtlitZer” stated Thunder Bay Museum Curator, Michael DeJong who chairs the Carousel Restoration Heritage Committee, “the musical elements and therefore the sounds remain Artizan, while the paper roll mechanisms and control valves are that of Wurlitzer.”
“As a family we are so excited that our contribution to the Carousel restoration has resulted in bringing back to life this amazing musical instrument” stated Joan Miller “like all residents we look forward to hearing the sounds of the organ resonate through Waverly Park and then at Chippewa Park for the rest of the summer.”
“This is an exciting time for the restoration team and the community” said Angus “to hear the beauty of the Band Organ after 40 years of silence is a wonder. I have had the opportunity to hear it in its restored condition and it brought me back to my childhood where the Band Organ music permeated the grounds at Chippewa Park and was a lure that brought children and their families to the Merry Go Round.”
The Concert will be MC’d by noted local music conductor Ted Valliant and will feature commentary on the history of the Band Organ, information on the music to be played and an opportunity for the audience to choose some of the songs to be played and as well, help design the play list for the summer at Chippewa Park. Also performing will be the Thunder Bay Brass Quintet.
The Concert starts at 2 PM and will run until 4 at Waverly Park and is being offered jointly by The Friends of Chippewa Park and the Friends of Waverly Park.
Friends of Waverly Park President Keith Nymark stated that “we are delighted to partner with our friends from Chippewa to host the Band Organ Concert at Waverly, showcasing a key historical feature of our community.
Note:
This is a picture of the Carousel Organ as it looked like before it was sent off for restoration. Please note the façade which you see here has not been restored as of yet but everything behind it that makes the music has
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