January 12, 2012
Because of the generosity of so many people in the Organ World and in the Our Lady of Refuge Parish we are making quick progress with the console. This work is being paid for by all of those people who sponsored pipes in the organ and purchased the Resurrectio CD. It is truly magnificent what is being accomplished. I hope this serves as a model for other churches that don’t have people who can write large checks to repair, restore or purchase a pipe organ for their church.
As you can see in the photos in the gallery below, the console was recently stripped, repaired and beautifully refinished. The pedalboard was taken apart and fully rebushed because the felts were all worn out. The pedalboard got new sharps and the naturals received new tops. The keyboards are being worked on right now. They will receive the same thorough treatment. Currently we are working to match the Kilgen Stop Keys. Michael Quimby believes he found something that looks almost identical to the originals, and I am waiting to receive the samples to give my approval. They will be engraved in the same font as the originals. Some of the pistons (78 year old plastic) fell apart while they were being worked on and they were replaced with identical reproductions.
Michael Quimby’s and my end goal is when you sit at this console that it looks and feels just like it did when it was brand new.
We need your help. Would you sponsor a pipe? or buying our benefit CD? Would you tell your fellow organ friends about this project and ask for their help? Your name will be added to the list of donors.
Our Lady of Refuge Church is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All gifts are tax-deductible within the limits of the law.
Currently we just need another $56,800 to carry out the final stage of the contract with Quimby Pipe Organs – reinstallation.
Click here to sponsor a pipe that fits your budget
The benefit recital that Stephen Tharp played was a great success. Stephen said it set a record for the longest organ recital he has played. The good news is the recital made about $5200, so we are that much closer to our goal.
The OLR console has made a return trip to Missouri, not to St. Louis where it was originally built, but to Warrensburg. Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc. (QPO) is rebuilding the console to meet required electrical codes. The console will look the same with no modern equipment visible. The keyboards and pedalboard will be entirely rebuilt. All of the key bushings will be replaced and the ivories repaired. The console shell will be refinished and the chrome all re-plated. The console will come back as good as the day it left the Kilgen Factory in January of 1934.
All of the work to date has been made possible with hundreds of small donations from people from around the organ world. Currently we just need another $59,000 to carry out the final stage of the contract with QPO – reinstallation.
We need your help. Would you sponsor a Swell Open Diapason Pipe or a Choir Rohr Nazard pipe? Every donation will receive a written confirmation of your gift and your name will be added to the list of donors.
Our Lady of Refuge Church is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All gifts are tax-deductible within the limits of the law. Any gifts made before December 31, 2011 will be acknowledged for the 2011 tax year.
Please help us make sure there is one more pipe organ to spark the interest of organists of the future by sponsoring a pipe today. Just click the below link.
Sponsor a pipe that fits your budget
If you have already made a gift to the fund, thank you so much!
December 23 – Traditional Haitian Christmas Reveillon. From 9pm to 2am in the School Hall.
December 24 – 9am Mass in the Chapel, 5pm Family Mass, 12 Midnight Mass (Doors open at 10pm)
December 25 – 11am English/Spanish Mass (Doors open at 10pm)
On Sunday, December 10 our Mexican brothers will be celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a Vigil, beginning with Mass at 7:00PM. Music will be provided by Los Mariachis. A cultural presentation will be held in the school hall after the Mass.
Come out and have a great evening, enjoying excellent food and music, with parishioners and friends at Our Lady of Refuge 100th Anniversary Dinner Dance, which will be held on Saturday, December 10 from 7:30PM to 12:30AM at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston. Tickets are $100 for adults amd $60 for youth upt to 18 years old. Bus transportation is available to and from the church at $15 roundtrip per person. Please call (718)434-2-090 for tickets.
