Project Updates

On Saturday, we interviewed Stan Cadwallader. Stan lives on Maui, along the famous, twisty and mountainous Hana Highway, on a ranch that he and his husband, the late, beloved actor and singer Jim Nabors, purchased in the 1970s. Nestled in the hills of northeastern Maui, the climate is subtropical-rain forest or subtropical-wet forest, depending on…

Yesterday we interviewed Mark Reed at his farm in the forested countryside near the foothills of Mt. hood. Mark was the technician chiefly responsible for the maintenance of the Organ Grinder instrument in Portland. Mark provided a great a mount of technical detail, and told the history of the development of the theatre pipe organ…

Today we had the privilege of interviewing Sam Battle, who has two very popular YouTube channels, “Look Mum No Computer” and “This Museum is Not Obsolete“. Sam participated in a remote interview conducted in his museum in Ramsgate, Kent, UK, which he describes as “the museum home for experimental and obsolete scientific and musical technology.”…

On Friday, we again visited the home of Organ Grinder co-founder Dennis Hedberg, where he demonstrated his incredible audio system. The system can recreate a number of listening environments, including simulating the experience of being in a large movie palace while listening to a gigantic pipe organ. There are transducers under the floor that really…

Last week, we filmed multiple events at the American Theatre Organ Society’s annual Summer Youth Adventure: “The Summer Youth Adventure (SYA) is a week-long event designed for young theatre organ enthusiasts who are interested in learning, developing, or refining their skills with the theatre organ. During the week, students will attend a variety of instructional…

Working on this project, I’ve learned that you never expect where a lead might take you or who you might bump into. Case in point: After seeing an article about the Organ Grinder documentary project in Willamette Week, Tres Shannon, probably most famous for co-founding Voodoo Doughnut, reached out to us. Tres loved going to…

It was Sunday evening, February 4, 1996. The last time the Organ Grinder would be open to the public. People had heard the news, and were showing up to experience it one last time. Ironically, like the early days, there were once again people queued up on the ramp behind the console, waiting their turn…

This morning we were joined by Bret Goss in front of an abandoned Walmart at an undisclosed location. (Why? Read on…) Bret had a harrowing “Home Alone” story to tell, when, at the age of six, he was accidentally left behind at the Organ Grinder after a large family celebration (each group leaving thought that…

Today’s interviewee was Ron Buel. Ron is a journalist, author and activist who was involved in the “Freeway Revolt” movement in the 1970s. He also was a founder of the Willamette Week newspaper. Ron spoke to us about the fight to stop the Mt. Hood Freeway, which would have destroyed the neighborhoods along SE Clinton…

Today we interviewed Brad and Debbie Avakian. Brad and Debbie were high-school sweethearts who would often gather up a car load of friends to drive all the way across town to enjoy the Organ Grinder together. They are also the parents of Nathan Avakian, who was thrilled as a child to experience the Organ Grinder…

Behind-the-Scenes photo from yesterday’s interview with Jonas Nordwall, one of the original Organ Grinder performers. Not only did Jonas expound on a wide array of topics, he also gave us a demo of the Mary L. Collins organ at First United Methodist Church in Portland. Jonas and his son Christopher with Rose City Organ Builders,…

The project now has an IMDB Listing! For the occasion, we worked up a teaser poster based on the original Organ Grinder poster of the console “walking on water” on a lake in front of Mt. Hood.

The Organ Grinder experience wouldn’t have been possible without the talented performers who worked there. We’ve been in touch with several, and now the first of them has been filmed. Here’s a behind-the-scenes photo from our interview on Saturday of Organ Grinder performer Don Feely. Regular patrons may recognize the percussions & traps that Don…

I had a great time yesterday filming our third interview, this time with Vicki Buck. Vicki was engaging and energetic and had wonderful stories to share, from raising and working with monkeys, being the “World’s Only Female Organ Grinder”, TV game show appearances, and close friendships with Organ Grinder founders and staff. She’s also shared…

Well, hello, little fella! Thanks to a tip from our Facebook group member, Jason Pittman (who also took the photo), we know that the original Organ Grinder sign’s monkey (which is likely about 8-10ft tall – not a little fella) still exists! We are not disclosing the exact location at this time, as we are…

The vintage videotape rig has been activated! Time to digitize some precious memories with the highest-possible quality. A number of people have provided us with videotapes from back-in-the-day. If you have something Organ-Grinder related, please reach out to us, we can digitize most consumer (and some pro) formats and provide you with a digital copy…