ORANGE CITY, IA -
The annual tulip festival kicked off in Orange City today, and one of the stars of the show is the Tulip Time Street Organ, whose owner has spent the last year restoring the antique instrument to its former glory.
The organ has been a staple of the Tulip Festival since 1950, and for the last twenty years Stan Vandersall has played it. He spent the last year restoring this antique organ, and says that now, there are pipes playing that he'd never heard before.
"It was not playing very well, it broke down regularly. I can't remember a tulip time, when it wasn't breaking down for some reason, that something would break. And of course it's a very old machine, and I'm hoping it doesn't break down this tulip time after we restored it!" he said.
The organ works a lot like an old player piano. The organ player inserts "books" of music, with punch holes on each page of the book. The punch holes will force air to go through to a particular pipe, which then plays a particular note. Once the book is situated, the player flips the switch, and voila!
Stan lost his wife last year, and he says the organ kept him busy.
"I would say it was a time when I had plenty of time to put to work."
Needless to say, this year he is very proud; because the organ is making its grand debut, shiny and new for the 2012 Tulip Festival.
"We're just thrilled to have it back and in good working order."
