The crew rebuilt the entire Pascack organ and had started installing the solo chamber, when in September of 1999, with most of the organ stored onstage, Hurricane Floyd caused severe flooding in Bound Brook. The unloading was quicker and made easier with the help of four more members who waited at the Brook Theatre. A caravan of the truck, followed by a packed van, cars with trailers, and cars with filled car racks drove to Bound Brook. It was quite a sight! The loading of the truck took over three hours. While waiting for the truck, everyone lined all the parts, console, and relay on the sidewalk. On moving day, Saturday June 28, 1997, 15 members and helpers arrived and waited for the truck. This at times required great physical strength, acrobatic balancing on ladders, and surviving in 90 degree temperatures. This left little time to plan and arrange not only the dismantling and removal from the chambers, but also the transportation to, and preparation of the new home at the Brook Theatre.ДЄ dedicated group of GSTOS members worked for two weeks, often well into the night removing the tremendous number of parts, placing them on the stage, and packaging them. GSTOS was asked to have the Pascack organ removed from the theatre by June 30, 1997. This original organ was removed around 1985. It was a 2/4 instrument in a single (house right) chamber installation. The Brook is a 1312 seat 1926 vaudeville house that originally housed a Wurlitzer Style вЂњBвЂќ, Opus # 1519. Garden State found a new home for the instrument in the Brook Theatre, Bound Brook, N.J, a theatre of similar size and shape. New Home 1997 вЂ“ Brook Arts Center, Bound Brook, NJД«y this time the organ had little of the original Wurlitzer pipework remaining, having been refitted with mostly non-Wurlitzer pipes from various sources. In December of 1996 the new owner donated the instrument to the Garden State Theatre Organ Society and asked us to remove it, since he was going to utilize the original stage area for two additional small theatres. The Pascack Theatre fell into the small category and was sold. But by the 1990вЂ™s a change in United ArtistsвЂ™ policy was to only maintain large multi-screened theatres and they were selling their smaller ones. We were most fortunate to have Austin Gordon, who loved organ music, as manager of the venue. Through the years United Artists Inc., the owners of the theatre and organ, were very cooperative. The organ music played in Theatre #1 and was simultaneously piped into the other three theatres. The solo chamber was moved and placed in a new pipe chamber on the stage to rejoin the console and the main chamber in the same room. Since that debut, the Wurlitzer was played for Saturday night intermissions with many organists volunteering their talents. The organist was GSTOS founder Jinny Vanore. The first intermission was celebrated July 4th 1976.

It took 2 years before the organ was playable and to be able to be featured. In 1973 a group of GSTOS members joined forces to restore the organ, Crew members were Warren Brown, Russ Fewell, Roy Frenzke, Richard Seigle, Dick Orr, Bob Quinn, Ed Unis, and Joe Vanore.

Ranks of pipes were removed or destroyed. Unfortunately, as time passed the organ music was discontinued, and the instrument fell into disrepair. A pipe organ concert was performed by Jessie Piercy, a well known organist in the area.ДЄ short period of time followed when vaudeville and movies were offered to the public. The gala program on opening night Augfeatured William Boyd, Sue Carol and Alan Hale starring in вЂњSkyscraper. The Pascack 2/8 Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ, Opus # 1914 was installed in the newly built Pascack Theatre Westwood, NJ in 1928. Click here for a History of the Theatre HISTORY OF THE ORGAN вЂ“ A True Saga! First Home 1928 вЂ“ Pascack Theatre, Westwood, NJ

Wurlitzer organ models catalog