Town #42 Winsted (visit #2)

Saturday, July 25, 2009
Organ Crawl at Church of Christ

This second visit to the Organ Centennial Celebration at the Church of Christ, Baptist-Congrega-tional, consisted of an informative lecture and tour of the George Sherburne Hutchings pipe organ. We had heard about the tour at the March concert but it was announced for church members only. We mentioned we were disappointed that we, as non-members, couldn't enjoy the tour, so Martha Rein, chariman of the music committee, asked for our names. On Juy 12, we got an email "written invitation" to the event.

We were greeted in the church parking lot by Chris King, the organist, who said, before we could say a word, "You must be the Bittners." There were nine of us for the tour, which started in the choir loft with an excellent, basic talk about organs and the pipes that make them work, given by Choir Director Willard Minton. He provided a handout and showed us actual pipes so we could see and hear the open flue pipe and the reed pipe. We learned that it takes about four inches of pressure for their organ pipes to speak, but Mr. Minton said there are some pipes that take over 100 inches of pressure in other organs. Those 64-foot pipes are rare, with about two organs in the world having them, ine in Sydney, Australia. Imagine the deep rumble of a 64-foot organ pipe!

We were shown the organ and console and had an opportunity to get partially inside. The view was limited but interesting. We had seen much more of Mike Foley's Mighty Wurlitzer.

Chris King finished the event with an informal selection of music emphasizing different divisions and ranks of pipes. Refreshments followed. We love all the stained glass windows, especially the Tiffany one. It doesn't have a religious theme but is a lovely garden scene with a waterfall. (Bob)