Pipe Organ Foundation
Sends Many Organ Parts to the Philippines
4/13/23
Since the Pipe Organ Foundation began in
November of 2000, it has acquired part or all of more than 25 pipe
organs. A wide variety of
parts from those organs has permitted the Foundation to send four
complete organs abroad and to custom rebuild and place 11 pipe organs
with each organ being tailor-made for a particular setting.
However, many organ components have remained, and it has been the
desire of the Foundation to have them placed where they can be used.
Given the above, the Foundation has for the last
year worked with Cealwyn Tagle of
Diego Cera Organbuilders in the
Philippines to see if that firm could use the excess inventory.
Diego Cera is a company well known to the Foundation since in the
last 10 years it has received three pipe organs from the
Foundation, it has assembled each one of them, and it has gotten them
playing very well in church-related settings.
The Board of Directors of the Pipe Organ Foundation therefore
agreed to send to Diego Cera as many useful pipe organ components as
possible in a high cube 40-foot container.
This was intended as a gift to Diego Cera with the intention that
all associated costs would be covered.
In the summer of 2022, a series
of work parties were organized by the Foundation, and they brought to
the Foundation workshop the full inventory of organ parts from storage
areas. Organ pipes were
especially needed in the Philippines and a total of 70 complete ranks of
organ pipes were found, brought to the shop, counted, and carefully
boxed. There were also 14
partial ranks and together with many spare treble pipes, a total of
about 5,000 pipes were packed. More than 100 wood pipe trays and boxes were required to accommodate
these pipes, and they ultimately filled up more than half the container.
Beyond the pipes, a variety of other organ parts
were packed. They included
windchests upon which the pipes sit in an organ, blowers, regulators,
tremulants, electrical cables, sets of chimes, and sets of swell shades.
There were also three consoles, each of which was packed
carefully and each of which was sent to the Philippines on its own
dolly.
A total of 21 people contributed 500 hours of
volunteer time to the packing effort. The
first nine photographs focus on this pivotal activity. (Note that each photograph can be enlarged by clicking on it)
The container arrived at the Foundation shop on
January 23, 2023, and it was backed into the 100-foot-long driveway.
The day before, a rented forklift had been delivered.
A portable dock had also been prepared in advance, and this dock
was put in place. It
permitted the forklift to deliver the multitude of items to the
container, all of which were on moving dollies.
Once on the dock, those dollies
could be rolled into the container and unloaded wherever needed.
On the morning of January 24, the loading of the
container began, and nearly all of it was accomplished on that day (see
photos 10-19). Foundation
Vice President Carl Presley was responsible for the packing in the
container, and he directed a crew which all day did exactly that.
Load after load was brought on the forklift and the container was
nearly loaded by nightfall with a total of 15,000 pounds.
Some additional items were added the next morning, and then the
container was on its way to the Philippines where it was received on
about March 29.
On March 31, an email was received from Cealwyn
Tagle, the head of the Diego Cera organ building firm.
In part, it said as follows:
The unloading of the organ went well two nights ago. Thank you very much. The whole staff of the company helped with the unloading and had a great time. We got excited seeing all the pipes and parts. The two rooms we had prepared were actually not enough. But we are expanding our shop and especially the pipe making area with a large storage area for the pipes. We will definitely have good projects with all these pipes and parts that you have sent. A few stops are already planned for the two upcoming projects that we have.
The last 11 photos were taken at the Diego Cera organ shop. It is clear that the staff had a “great time” unloading all that had been sent to them, and it is also clear that they will make good use of what was sent. The Pipe Organ Foundation is delighted to have gifted all these organ components to the people at Diego Cera, and the Foundation is especially gratified to know that what has been given will be well used for many years to come.