Arts

Estey Organ Museum welcomes Farrington, salutes Carnahan

BRATTLEBORO — At its annual meeting on Sept. 25, members of Estey Organ Museum (EOM) in Brattleboro welcomed its newest trustee, Carol Farrington.

Farrington has served as a volunteer with the Brattleboro Historical Society for the past several years, and her mother, Marguerite Douglas, was one of the first members of Estey Organ Museum.

Farrington's paternal grandfather, William Bixby Douglas, worked at Estey Organ Company in the early 1900s.

Other trustees include Dennis Waring, Leslie Nicholas, Karen Rosen, and Valerie Abrahamsen. Officers will be elected at its next board meeting.

Also at the annual meeting (timed around the late September birthday of company founder Jacob Estey), attendees expressed their great thanks to retiring Trustee Emeritus John Carnahan with moving words, a card, and an Estey organ reed in the note of C.

John and his wife, Mary, are leaving Brattleboro after decades of service to the community to be closer to their son.

Following the meeting, attendees were treated to a recital on several organs by Gavin Klein of Bolton, Mass. Klein, a high school senior, is artist-in-residence at the Harvard (Mass.) Historical Society and holds professional organ positions at several churches.

The museum continues to be open on Saturdays from 2 to 4 p.m. through Oct. 16 and by appointment through late October. Check for details at esteyorganmuseum.org.

Visitors this season have greatly enjoyed a new orientation video, created by Waring and project consultant Sally Seymour, as well as a large collection of playable reed and pipe organs.

Docents routinely hear from visitors that their family owned an Estey organ or that a family member worked at Estey Organ Company.

Museum members visit free; other adults are asked to contribute $5.

“Allow at least 30 minutes for your visit - there is a lot to see,” the museum advises in a news release.

The museum is at 108 Birge St., off Canal Street, in the company's former engine house. Free parking is available during weekend open hours, and the museum is accessible.

For more information, email info@esteyorganmuseum.org.

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