It is an exciting time at First Presbyterian Church, here in Dillon.
As April came to an end, a new era for the church’s pipe organ began.
This year the church celebrates the one hundred year anniversary of the organ’s installation into the sanctuary, and what better way to celebrate this centennial milestone with restoring the organ to a new grandeur?
To the Session of the church, there was no better way. Therefore, with the help of the congregation’s organist, they contracted Lincoln Pipe Organs out of Charlotte, NC to begin the restoration project.
There are some neat features about the organ itself. For example, the organ was built to fit into the chamber. This is unusual as the chamber is usually built to fit the organ. However, since the sanctuary was already built at the time of the installation, the organ company had to change their method. In fact, it was such an unusual process, especially for the times, that the wind chest could had to be weighed down for the organ to perform to the best of its ability. Therefore, as the installers searched for weight, the found themselves at the train station asking the maintenance men to cut them a three foot section of spare railway. That rail still sits on top of the organ’s wind chest today, and will even be kept in the organ chamber after the restoration for the sake of church and local history.
John Law, the organist at First Presbyterian, gave a few great comments, “When this organ was installed in 1919, it was a simple and practical organ. Simple and practical are great, but it limits the elegance of a true pipe organ. A complete pipe organ is an orchestra within itself – containing flutes, reeds, and strings. However, this organ only had flutes and strings Therefore, especially since we were going to have to do maintenance work in the near future, it was a great time to restore and complete this beautiful instrument.”
First Presbyterian is planning on having an organ concert later in the year to celebrate the restoration and anniversary, and would love for you to attend.
They will release details when they are set.
