12 The News-Review, Roseburg, Ore. Thur.. Dte. 21, 1950
PIPE ORGAN: HOW MUCH?
Fulton Lewis Jr., Choir
Boys Construct One That
Glorifies Christmas Eve
By LEN LeSOURD .
Reprinted by courtesy of Guideposti magazine, a non-profit
inspirational monthly published at Pawling, N.Y.
Copyright, 1950, Guideposts Associates, Inc.
Dinner was over, Fulton Lcis, Jr. arose from the table and
started to, his study for e long evening of work on a ipeciel
broadcast a task already postponed too many times.
"Tonight," the broadcaster announced with that determined
look his family knew so well . . . "Tonight I'm not to be disturbed
for anything not even for St. Peter himself."
Once in his study, he closed the door firmly and settled
himself at his desk. But his mind till rang with the shouts of
some thirty hrfum-scarum youngsters whom, as their choir-master,
he had gathered together that afternoon and conducted on a
60-mile trip to Washington D.C., for special singing instruction.
Outside he heard the aoorDou
ring. Rigidly he tried to concen
trate on the papers before him,
but the sound of youthful voices
talking to his wife filtered through.
"Say, we've got something really
important to ask Mr. Lewis."
"I'm very sorry, but he just can't
be disturbed."
Fulton Lewis sighed, laid down
his pen and went out.
"Okcy, kids," the broadcaster
said dryly, "what's so important?"
15-year-old Bobby Adams, son of
a local bricklayer, spoke up.
"None of us ever heard any
thing as beautiful as that pipe or
gan today. We decided to chip in
and buy one for our church. J low
do we go about it?"
"Do you know how much a pipe
organ costs?" Lewis asked quizzi
cally. "As much as $JO0?"
"About $25,0U0 for a small
one."
The youngsters looked stunned.
"Colly, aren't there any sood
second-hand ones for less?"
wistfully queried 16-year-old
Sumpy Rcadmond, who aspired to
be a mechanic. "I'd be glad to help
repair it." , ,
Lewis shook his head. "If you
want a pipe organ bad enough,
you'll have to so out and build one
yourselves. Goodnight, kids."
Puitling Question Possd
Back at his desk, Lewis squirmed
uncomfortably In his chair. "How
did I get myself in for all this'"
"All this" referred to the local
children and their choir project
which music-lover Lewis had taken
on months before. It started when
many of his neighbors, disturbed
by the spiritual drought through
out St. Mary's county, banded to
ether and built a Methodist church
outside of the little town of Holly
wood, Maryland. Fulton Lewis Jr.,
who lived with his family two miles
away at Placid Harbor, helped ded
icate the sanctuary on his 1947
Christmas Eve broadcast. An a last
minute idea, he gathered together
a small group of kids for a junior
choir. , , ,
This new church was a healthy
spot in an area peppered with more
bars than grocery stores, more
gamblin? joints than churches and
many more pour than well lo.do.
Youngsters from these families
were in the group that approached
Fulton Lewis Jr. several days after
the broadcast to ask him to be
regular choirmaster for their plan
ned junior choir.
Something in their faces grabbed
his heart as they came timidly be
fore him with their proposition.
His own youngsters, Betsy, 17, and
Buddy, 14, had also been working
on him. Sure he'd be glad to
train them, but they would have to
work harder than ever before.
Who would have imagined that
these untrained and olten iinial
entcd youngsters, ranging from 9
to 17 years, would through per
sistence, patience and practice,
quickly learn some 200 hymns by
heart, take to four-part harmony
and become a disciplined, imagina
tive singing body?
Second Appeal Win)
But now for his broadcast. . .
As he picked up his pen and bent
over his papers, the doorbell rang
Benin
"Mrs. Lewis, could we see Mr.
Lew 15 again for jut a minute?" Kvcry voungster pitched in.
The broadcaster threw down his j Nothing glamorous about sandpa
pen. "What can you do with a pcring the same pipes over and
bunch like that?" But there was a over awn. . . or cutting leather
twinkle in his eye hy the time he diaphragms for the hundreds of
reached the front door. i needed pneumatics until hands
i:
1
I'
I
f
e i
"Mr. Lewis," blurted Bobby Ad
ams, "we decided we can build
a pipe organ. But we need your
help just like with the choir."
Lewis looked over the young
sters' eager faces and aiain that
same twinge. "Okey, kids." he
said, "you win." And fled to his
study.
The choir was scheduled for a
program at nearby Cedai Point
the next evening. At afternoon
practice Lewis was jovial. 'You
kids tried to put one over on me
last night, didn't you.' Build j pipe
organ! Why, it would take years.
What'll you think of next?"
None of their usual banter
greeted this. Lewis went on with
rehearsal, uncomfortable at their
silence.
That night, for the first time,
their spark was missing. While
driving home, Lewis reflected. All
over the country people worried be
cause many youngsters thought
only ol pleasure and excitement
the kind that led to crime. How
often did youth pitch their dreams
and hopes in the stars, then have
realistic grown-ups dash 'em to the
ground?
Manual Task Launched
After the ride home, he gathered
them together. "When we started
this choir, I said that if you had
faith in yourselves, you could work
miracles," he began. "You have
with the choir. I tried to discouiage
you about the pine organ, but it
didn't work. If you'll work twice
as narn, we it tackle the organ.
Would thcyl
"Remember this, thouoh Vn
outside professional help. We do
the job ourselves cr it doesn't
get done. Okcy?"
"Ukey!"
On the morning of May 17. 1948,
villagers alon? Maryland Highway
235 witnessed an unusual sight. A
truck hove into view, piled high
with an amazing assortment o f
pipes. Skeptical townspeople, who
wen Knew mat Lewis and several
of the choir kids had gone to New
York to purchase organ parts,
poKcn a nine inn.
"They're stove pipes!"
"Naw. . . 'flub gum' traps,"
cracKea anotner, rfie'Ting to a
certain type of rabbit trap com
mon to local huntsmen.
Lewis pulled up the truck in
front of the community church and
700 pipes were quickly disgorged
over the cluirch lawn. Kids soon
swarmed in from every direction,
armed with brushes, buckets of
water and glass wax Overhead
the warm rays of a May sun poured
down on the scrubbing party as
the youngsters bathed and polished
pipes, handling delicate parts with
a tenderness usually reserved for
a precious possession. Local people
had never seen anything like it.
Late in the day, grunting, sweat
ing youths reloaded the pipes into
basement. Mrs. Lewis saw at once
that her days of orderly house
keeping were over. Her home soon
resembled a tool shop as boxes of
parts, wires, connections and lum
ber began to pile up. And pipes
everywhere!
Meanwhile, every spare minute,
Fulton Lewis pored over a little
volume on the technique .of organ
I construction.
I w r pi . r i a i-
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were cramped and aching. . . or
twisting wires around contact pins
until fingers were raw The total
of 15,000 needed electrical connec
tions seemed staggering. '
Mrs. Lewis, TeiQHat Woes
Mrs. Lewis, resigned to her
home becoming a recreational hall,
set up her own school lor man
ners. It wasn't unusual to hear
her kind but firm voice lining tnem
up in fives and sixes and ins, met
ing them in the art of meeting
new people, and introducing each
other to strangers. Dedication to
their choir and pipe organ pro
jects gave the youngsters a sense
of purpose and belonging, some
thing they never had before.
Sumpy Readmond suddenly as
sumed a mantle of responsibility
and leadership. His mechanical
billty stood out for the first
time he excelled at something. In
his case it was the beginning of a
career now underway. Teddy
Adams, for another, taught him
self to play the organ. Buddy
Lewis, the broadcaster's spirited
son, was already a skilled organist.
wnen expenses soared, Choir
master Lewis became Lecturer
Lewis to raise funds. Then, the
seemingly insurmountable problem
oi me "slop list" reared up. The
"stop list" is the selection of pipes
fur various ranks, of which every
pipe organ has many, including the
flute, trumpet, oboe, chimes, vox
humana, reed and diapason. Every
rank contains a whole range of
pipes, each with a different tone
in much the same manner as a
piano has a whole range of keys.
Keen sensitivity is needed in the
selection or the organ tones will
be flat.
Friend In Need Appears
One day a visitor stood outside
file Lewis door.
"Joe Whitefield!" Fulton Lewis
cried as he spied his lawyer friend
from Washington, II. C, "You're
an answer to prayer."
Joe was an ardent and exper
ienced amateur organist. He ha) dly
had his coat off before he was
down in the basement, listening to
problems involving the "stop list."
Snatched up by the fervor of this
project, he forgot his mission, his
job, everything, for days of con
tinuous work. Together with kids
and two grownups "voiced" over
one thousand pipes, separating
them inio various ranks, testing
them again and again for just the
right sound.
Days later Joe Whitefield left,
his eyes newly lighted from a
labor of love. He went back to
Washington, quit his career as law
yer and several weeks later phoned
Lewis long distance.
"I never did like being a lawyer.'
he said. "I just needed to rub
against some of. the fervor of your
kids to set me off on the right
track. A man's a fool not to work
at what he loves." Joe took a job
with the Aelian Skinner Organ Co.
of Boston.
Church Has To Be Alf.r.d
Deadline for completion of the
pipe organ was set for Christmas
in lime for a Chritsmas Eve
broadcast. Schedules were stepped
up, and heads threatened to split
over the confused jumble of wires,
pipes, magnets, bellows, and con
nections. In November the process
of moving all these from the Lewis
basement to the church began.
Then it was discovered that part
of the church would have to be
redesigned before the organ would
fit. Walls were knocked down and
choir pews respaced. The organ
chest was found to be the wrong
size and would have to be rebuilt!
Lewis came lme that night con
vinced he'd have to cancel the
special broadcast. It was a grim
household with little conversation
and edgy nerves. After dinner, as
both he and son Buddy often did
when upset, Lewis sat down at his
small electronic organ. He started
to play jerkily, belligerent and
bitter. Then the music softened.
At the end, the powerful yet simple
strains of "The Lord's Prayer"
cust a hush over the whole house.
It would be hard to imagine a more
eloquent prayer for God's help and
guidance.
The planned Christmas Eve
broadcast was not cycled. In
stead, activity redoubled.
December i:.trd was ma, . Thurs
day. The organ, though installed,
needed endless adjustments. Choir
members, drained of energy, beset
with doubts, were completely list
less. After dismissing them all with
an optimism he didn't feel, Lewis
worked far into the night and all
the next day with the organ tuner.
Hours before the service was to
start that December 24lh, 1948, the
little church hy the side of the road
began to fill. There was leathery
v'3
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You'll be glad
NOW
Johnny Green, oysterman and
blacksmith; old Doc Greenwell,
still country doctor at 88; and some
200 others all that could jam
inside the small church. They came
to hear a 35,000 pipe organ built
by faith and tenacity yet, would
it play
Lewis took his place at the organ
and nodded to Mervill Dean, local
merchant, who was stationed inside
the organ loft to manipulate the
swell shades that regulated the
organ sounds. There hadn't been
time to fix the automatic control.
Triumph Of Endeavor
At 7 p.m. the N. Y. radio tech
nician nodded to Lewis. Then the
soft strains of Adcste Fideles
floated through the church. Garbed
in maroon and white gowns, big
black collars and white Windsor
tics, the junior choir marched down
the aisle, their exultant voices join
ing the triumphant organ strains.
Lewis, feeling the surging tones of
the organ respond to his slightest
tow h, was lifted by the pride and
devotion in the faces of his 30
"choir brats "
They had called these voices
immature. If so, then the pipe or-
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PORTLAND UP) Oregon's
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was "activated" eight days ago.
That means, he said, it is on call
gan was immature. Yet how could
any voice or piece of craftsman
ship be immature when created
through long hours of work, dis
couragement, tears and grinding
determination? Tonight their sing
ing was reaching out across the
country victoriously hecause this
was music with love and heart and
soul.
Organ builder sk 'ptics were con
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never forget that broadcast. And
parents looked upon thjr young-
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mas Eve a little bit of heavef? it-1
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He said he had no comment on
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But all telephones are installed,
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The goal, he added, is to have
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Once the system is alerted, Starr
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