Andrew bought an organ. Not just any organ. Not a body organ. Not a little organ. Andrew bought a full sized, bona fide church organ. Today, that organ came home. The rain even let up long enough for them to get it off the moving truck.
A group of teenage boys showed up at my house and we waited for the moving truck to show up (driven by Mr. Tanner Ledford).
Andrew Sansom and Cameron Rollwitz at the back of the truck unhooking the foot pedal board from the organ so they can move organ out of the truck with less “breakage.” They are going to have to take it apart to get it through the front door of the house anyway.
Lest you think that they got a moving truck just to move this organ for Andrew, do not. They moved the organ from Klein Oak High School after they moved all the Orchestra instruments and other required things to the Cypress Creek Community Center’s The Centrum where they will be performing a huge community concert tomorrow night. It was just convenient for them to move the organ after the rehearsal. I am truly grateful for Mr. Ledford for giving the kids this opportunity to play an organ piece and also for letting the kids take on the responsibility of the piece.
Cameron Rollwitz (left) and Andrew Sansom moving the now disconnected pedal board off the truck. Lance Sansom (right) was given the task as the trucks lift operator. He was happy to be able to help with something.
Riding the lift down with the pedal board. Left to right – Cameron Rollwitz (blue shirt with back to us), Andrew Sansom, Ben Sansom (black shirt with back to us), Mr. Tanner Ledford, and Kyle Sansom.
Up close of the disconnected pedal board.
Off comes the organ itself. The organ was sitting on a timpani cart to move it around easily at the school and to the various performance venues they used it at. You see the guys moving the timpani cart and positioning it on the truck’s lift so they can lower it off the truck onto the ground.
Left to right – Mr. Tanner Ledford, Ben Sansom, Andrew Sansom, Cameron Rollwitz, David Casagrande, Lance Sansom (the short one), and Kyle Sansom.
Off comes the organ – without tipping it over! That almost happened and there was a slight panic. Left to right – Mr. Tanner Ledford, Ben Sansom, Andrew Sansom, Cameron Rollwitz, David Casagrande, and Kyle Sansom.
Lance lowering the truck’s lift slowly so they can get the timpani cart with the organ all the way down without any further incidents of possible tipping. Lance is behind the organ on the truck. Left to right – Mr. Tanner Ledford, Ben Sansom, Andrew Sansom, Cameron Rollwitz, David Casagrande, and Kyle Sansom.
Now that they had it on the ground, there was some happiness released and there was also some concerns as to how they were going to get it through the door. There was some measurements made. There was some discussion as to taking the front door off the house. That was decided that it was not a possibility so it was going to have to go through the opening that was provided without any further modifications being made to the house. We had taken the door off the hinges to the room it was going into. It was decided that they would take as many of the panels off the organ as possible and make it as “skinny” as possible and they would just have to manipulate it as much as possible to trick it around the corners if possible.
Yes, it takes 5-6 people to carry this thing. It is heavy. It is big and heavy. They have to get it to the door and get it across the threshold where we have furniture sliders for them to set it down on to help them move it the rest of the way, but they have to get it that far first. Andrew is the head that sticking up behind the organ. Left to right – Mr. Tanner Ledford, Cameron Rollwitz, David Casagrande, and Michael Casagrande.
Here they are resting just a second while they position the furniture sliders under the side they got through the door and over the threshold already. It was a tight fit, but it did fit through the door opening.
Here they were trying to manipulate it through the door. Sometimes the blurred pictures show struggle. It was just that. It was heavy and they had to really work to get it through the door even with the furniture sliders under the one side. They had to make sure not to drag the organ on either side of the door frame. Like I said, it was a tight fit.
That final push in through the door and getting the final set of furniture sliders under the other side of the organ as they got it over the threshold. They were almost in!
The furniture gliders made it much easier to move.
They did have to readjust the furniture sliders once they hit the carpeted area, but it was still easier to move than trying to carry it the entire way. We were using the furniture sliders in case of any future needs to move it – servicing the organ, etc.
There was a slight problem once we discovered that there was not enough room where we were going to put the organ. We measured the organ in the location it was bought from but those measurements could have been off due to the over crowded nature of the place (and the fact that it was Andrew measuring them crawling over stuff). We measured the location in the room we were putting the organ in accordingly. We remeasured and moved the piano down and it still would not fit. We returned the piano back to its original location. The organ would fit, the problem was with the organ’s speakers. The original plan for their location was going to have to be modified.
Putting the organ back together so they can put it in place where it belongs in the room. This requires positioning cables and putting the heavy wood panel back on it.
Positioning the top panel back on the organ. These kids look very happy with themselves because they have managed to put it all back together correctly. Michael Casagrande’s (right in the orange shirt) face is priceless in my opinion. I love these kids. They are wonderful kids with amazing music potential.
Positioning the foot pedal board and the organ into their final positions after getting all of the organ’s big speakers stacked behind the organ itself. Yes, the speaker tower goes almost all the way to the ceiling, but it just has to work for now.
I did not notice this when I took the picture originally, but looking at it now, it makes me smile that it is Lance’s hands on those organ keys with all the older boys looking on admiring their handy work. What a wonderful picture and memory they will all have together.
Turning it on and making sure it works. I guess this was pretty crucial. The speakers are not hooked up as of right now. They rewired the organ to work with the mixer board and band speakers so that it had (1) smaller speakers to move around for performances and (2) bigger sound. This means that the speakers do not work with the organ in its current configuration.
We have an old stereo amplifier with high quality Bose speakers that we are going to donate to Andrew’s Church Organ cause, but in order to make it work we have to buy another mixer board and get it all configured correctly. So his organ will sit silent until that is done. I cannot wait to hear it play in the house to be honest with you, but for a short while it will sit silent.
The good news is that these boys did a good job and everything turned on and it works. It turns on and everything that was working before works now. There are a few things that still need to be fixed on the organ, but in time that probably will happen. He bought a $300 organ that was made in 1974 or 1976 if I remember correctly. We did not expect to be able to get off completely without some investment in repairs.
I think these faces say it all. Cameron’s face (right) says it all. It is pure delight! Andrew (center) appears to be tickled pink. I am happy to see the joy in their faces.
These three have organ lessons ahead of them. That was a part of the deal. Andrew might have bought the organ, but the organ being in the house came with a hard bargain.
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