Organ Rally Will Bring ‘The Happiest Music On Earth’ To Connecticut

 MIDDLEBURY — Taking a step back into yesteryear will be as easy as a walk in the park Saturday and Sunday, June 30 and July 1. The Carousel Organ Association of America (COAA) will stage a Band Organ Rally at Quassy Amusement Park, playing “The Happiest Music On Earth” during the two-day event. More than a dozen organs will be placed along the walkways at Quassy, creating a nostalgic festival atmosphere at virtually every turn.

These magical musical machines will be coming from as far away as Texas and consist of both large trailer-mounted units and smaller hand-cracked “street corner” organs. The event is open to the public with only a $5 parking fee charged. Rides, food, and attractions in the park are available at additional cost.

The organs will play from 11 am until 6 pm on Saturday and from noon to 5 pm on Sunday. COAA stages only a handful of rallies each summer and the Quassy event has been in the planning stages for two years.

Among the organs to be on hand at the event include a 98-key concert organ built and owned by COAA President David Wasson of Eric, Penn.; a 97-key trailer-mounted Pell-Yorburg organ owned by Robert and Laura Yorburg of Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; Bruder Model 167 organ owned by Wilfred Markey of Dallastown, Penn.; a Wurlitzer 146A organ owned by David A. Rohe of Franklinville, N.J.; a Raffin 20/40 reed organ owned by Dan and Anne Wilke of Buffalo, N.Y.; a Stinson Ambassador organ owned by Larry A. Kern of El Paso, Texas; and a Bruder fairground organ owned by Peter and Jill Hallock of Agawam, Mass.

The Hallockses’ Bruder organ was built in the early 20th Century in Waldkrich, Germany. Many companies manufactured hand-cranked and fairground organs in the Black Forest community during that era. In 1965 the organ was purchased by the Hallocks and shipped to Massachusetts where the couple restored it, and named the organ “Katie-Sue” after their two daughters.

There are fewer than 1,000 band organs in the United States, according to Mr Wasson, with most of the larger ones fairly well known to those on the rally circuit.

“We know who owns the large organs and where they are located,” he said. “Smaller ones are apt to show up anywhere.”

The band organ business really boomed in the early 1900s when American carousel manufacturers were in need of music for their amusement rides. With the advent of amplified music in the 1930s, band organs and other mechanical music-makers started to fall out of favor.

Many of the classic band organs were hauled away to the junkyards for the next 20 years and by the 1960s the machines had become collectables. Most of the early band organ manufacturing in the United States took place in the Buffalo suburb of North Tonawanda, N.Y., supplying machines for carousels and merry-go-rounds produced by North Tonawanda’s Allan Herschell Co. Numerous Herschell amusement rides operate at Quassy Amusement Park to this day and have entertained generations of parkgoers.

All-day ride/water wristbands are available, as are individual ride tickets at Quassy. While admission to the park is free, parking is $5, except for $7 on July 4. Everyone going into the beach/waterpark must have an all-day wristband or pay a $9 beach admission. For more Quassy information, visit Quassy.com or call 203-758-2913.