Is it hot yet?   We don’t know because the Strand is COOL.   Yippee!!   Please keep your fingers crossed that our 1954 era equipment keeps giving us good service.   This is not the type of weather to send Bob S. to the roof, but we will if we have to!

ShelbyIdol was a success.   Did you catch the very nice front page article in the Shelbyville News?   For those of you who live out of town, you can view it on-line at www.shelbynews.com    They have been great supporters of the Strand and have written numerous articles highlighting the great things that take place in the theatre.   In addition we publish an ad every Wednesday for upcoming events.   We find it is very worthwhile.  We know that this may be hard to believe, but there are those of you who are not on Facebook (are you a Strand Fan?), don’t have email or don’t have web access (in which case you are not reading this).   You can still find our events by reading the newspaper.   It might seem old fashioned, but to us it is still cutting edge.  Please support them.    If you look on our web site and keep going back, you will find newspaper articles from 1916 posted.   Some things never change.

ShelbyIdol is one of those shows that utilizes the Strand very well.   We had over 600 audience members visit during the course of the competition.   Energy2Action, LLC produces this event.  Gretchen Morgan usually organizes running and athletic events.   This foray into the Arts has been worthwhile and appreciated.   ShelbyIdol has proved to be an effective and enjoyable format.   We look forward to ShelbyIdol 2011.

This week the Shelby County Players will be rehearsing their show “And Then There Were None” at the theatre.   This play opens on August 5th for a total of 4 performances.   The director, Tiffany Wilson, is no stranger to the Strand stage.  She has performed and directed productions in the Strand many times.   We look forward to an exciting opening for the first production of the Shelby County Players 2010-2011 Season.   Get your tickets early, this is something you will not want to miss.

Between now and next week, we would like to send you on a little scavenger hunt.   We have a major announcement to make, but before we do, we would like to give all of you a hint:   Check out John Calvert (imdb will be a good start).   We’ll say more later.   Good luck.

Thanks for the support the Strand is FUN.   We hope you think so too.

ShelbyIdol FINALS!!   This Saturday night July 17, 2010, the finals of SHELBYIDOL will be held at the Strand Theatre.   The performance starts at 7:00pm.  This is an entertaining and uplifting event for all that attend.  We hope to see you there.   Good luck contestants!

Electricity, plumbing, heating and A/C….the list goes on.    Work continues at the Strand.   The big push is to complete our electrical work.  The carrot at the end of the stick will be the ability to finish our marquee.  Unfortunately we have to do things in order.  We wish we could pass GO and collect $200, but that is not the case.   We have located the path where our new wire will go.  This is to get the electrical feed from the west wall to the east wall…not an easy job.  
Our A/C units have been working overtime in the heat.   We have had a theatre full of people our last two performances.   Everyone remained cool, but our electrical meter worked overtime.   We have 25 tons of cooling, and according to Bob S. we need 30.   The only time you notice is on very hot days will lots of people…like the summer of 2010.

We are pleased to announce that the Blue River Community Foundation has awarded the Strand a grant for roof repair.   There are some jobs that are just not suited for volunteers.  The roof is one of them.   It is too high and too old.   The contractor doing the work (at an outstanding price) has put us on his schedule.  We anticipate starting in the fall when it is not so hot.   One way or the other, it will be completed by the time winter sets in.    The grant covered just under half the cost.  We have been saving our pennies, and we have enough funds to complete the project.    It will not be a permanent fix, but should buy us another 10 years.

So much to do, so little time.  Ever suffer from that?  We do, however slowly but surely we work our plan and continue our efforts.  The Strand is 94 years old.  If it takes us a few months to accomplish things, so be it.  Remember, we opened the doors for renovation just over 3 years ago.   In that time we have re-opened and now we are waiting for our 20,000 audience member to walk through the theatre doors.    That day is coming very soon!

A quick mention that our friends at Indiana Downs have a concert coming up.   There will be a Rock Concert to benefit Ronald’s House on July 16th (today!) at 7:00pm.   One of the bands is a former Strand performer with musicians that volunteered during our renovation.   We don’t have anything scheduled, so go out and support a great cause at Indiana Downs!

Thanks for the support.

Need we say more…

The theater pipe organ being installed in the Strand Theatre was built by the Louisville Pipe Organ Company.   This instrument, endowed by the Shelby County Historical Society, is a very rare instrument.   Louisville Pipe Organ Company (LPO) built very few organs.   Many instruments were installed in Northern Kentucky and South-Central Indiana.

The Strand project will require as much original LPO equipment to maintain its historical accuracy.   In keeping with this goal, any remaining LPO organs or pieces have been located and acquired for the project.

The most recent acquisition was from Mr. Tim Pietrosky.   He had the LPO that was installed at the old Trinity Lutheran Church located on the near east-side of Indianapolis.   When the church relocated to farther east, the organ was sold and removed.   The organ was a 9 rank LPO.   The original location of the organ is still unknown.   It could have been built for the church, or moved to the church from a theatre.    These are details that will take research to find the answer.

The Strand has the Opus List (build list) of LPO for theatre organs only, we do not have a copy of the complete Opus List.   Mr. Jeff Weiller of Chicago is assisting the Strand in located the complete list.

On Sunday July 11, 2010, the Strand Organ crew traveled to Indianapolis to move the remaining pieces of the Trinity Lutheran Organ.   Strand Volunteers Steve Frazee, Don Clapp, Jim Hawkins, Bob Schlick, Elizabeth Finkel and David Finkel loaded, transported and palletized the items for storage in Shelbyville.

This instrument has 9 ranks:

• Tibia
• Diapason
• Vox Humana
• Cello
• Celeste
• Oboe Horn
• Tuba
• Flute
• Dulciana

All the chest work is complete.   The organ had three tremulants (and three regulators).    The organ components and pipework will be completely inventoried in the weeks to come by Kurt Schakel.   Once the inventory is complete we will be able to try to locate any missing items.    The organ did not have a console, relay, shades or original blower.

On a side note, the LPO console from this instrument was removed when it was installed in the church.   A replacement Reisner console was put on the organ.   When the organ was removed from the church, the console was installed on the Sanborn organ at the Central United Methodist Church, now known as the Old Centrum.    Strand friends, Indiana Landmarks, have recently acquired this building, and the Sanborn is being refurbished by Goulding & Wood, Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Below are pictures of yet another LPO being moved to Shelbyville:

The semi-final round of ShelbyIdol 2010 was held at the Strand Theatre on Saturday July 10, 2010.   The all contestants performed music on stage to a large audience.

The finalists were chosen, and the Final Round will be held on Saturday July 17, 2010.

The Strand’s Gordon Hood and Energy2Action’s Gretchen Morgan making sure everything sounds great during the show.

Indiana Downs hosted an evening that included a race honoring Shelby County Arts groups as well as the memory of Ruth Roberts.

Many people involved with the Arts in our community were able to attend.   The evening capped by and exciting race that was close all the way to the finish.

The Strand is proud to call Indiana Downs our friends.  They have been a consistent supporter of all the arts in our County.    Go out and spend an evening at the Track.   It is a fun time, presented by true leaders in our community.

Work continues at the Strand. 

This week we did not schedule any events during the July 4th weekend.  It gave Gordon H. the chance to get in and paint part of the auditorium floor.   The type of concrete paint that is used needs to dry and cure for at least 2 days.   Ray Wetnight gave great advice when he specified the type of paint.   It takes a beating.   Too many Coke spills, too many cables taped and a couple of thousand people will cause the paint to need a little help.   We are fortunate that the major walkways lasted 6 months!   We repainted in January.    Next time you are in, hopefully you will NOT notice that new paint.   If we keep it looking good all the time, then the paint will always look fresh.

The electrical work continues.   Take a drive down the alley (Post Street) in back of the theatre.  Look up…you won’t see those old transformers much longer.   The day is getting closer to finishing what we started, a total electrical system upgrade for the theatre.   Steve Dennis and Darin McIntyre are working diligently on accomplishing the task.

Pipe organ work continues.   This past week Strand volunteers made a return trip to Richmond Kentucky to retrieve remaining parts of the Louisville Theatre Pipe Organ Company instrument originally installed in the Oak Theatre in Louisville.   After doing at thorough inventory, Strand board member Kurt S. discovered that we were missing 6 pieces that are vital to one set of pipes (warning, tech talk ahead).  These would be the tenor boots from the tuba.   Without the boot and reed, the pipe is useless.   The six pipes affected were in the most used section of the rank.   This tuba was built by Dennison and played at 16′, 8′ and 4′.   The 16′ octave has wood resonators, not metal.  It should sound glorious.   We aren’t quite sure if it will be included in the final tonal specification, but 16′ wood tubas installed in an LPO theatre organ just don’t grow on trees….so we are lucky to have it one way or another.

Pipe organ work still continues.   The Shelby County Historical Society endowed the funding for this instrument.   At this point in the project everything we have done has not depleted any funds.   All the acquisition and moving expense of these LPO organs has been somewhat anonymously donated to the project.   There is yet another organ with quite a story that is going to be moved this week (Sunday if anyone wants to help).   This Louisville Pipe Organ Company instrument was installed in a church on the near east side of Indianapolis.  When the church closed, the organ was sold.   Considering the age of the church (late 1800’s) the Louisville organ may have very well been a transplant from a theatre!   At some point a replacement console (the part with the keyboards) was put on the organ.   This console was built by the organ supply firm Reisner.   When the organ left the church, the console was reinstalled on the historic Sanborn organ in Central United Methodist Church.   The original Louisville bench went with the console to the new location.    We are getting what is remaining of the Louisville instrument.  It has several items that are crucial to the Strand project.    The story doesn’t stop there.   The Central United Methodist Church was renamed the Old Centrum and was almost doomed to a bad fate having been empty for many years.   One of the best friends of the Strand project has been Indiana Landmarks.   They acquired the Old Centrum for their new headquarters.   As part of the total rebuild of the facility, the organ too was included on the project list.   Bill Cook of Bloomington has been instrumental in this project, including the organ.   The organ was sent to our friends at Goulding and Wood Pipe Organs in Indianapolis.   So here is this historic Sanborn organ that is getting refurbished, while at the same time the Strand is getting the organ that used to be played from the console later placed on the Sanborn.   What a coincidence.  Unfortunately the LPO bench did not survive.

The fun continues.   SHELBY IDOL this Saturday at 7:00pm.  Get there early, we anticipate a capacity audience.   Come out and support our local talent.

Thank you for all your kind words and gracious support.   Our friends at Shelbyville Paint and Wallpaper, Steve Dennis Electric, Indiana Landmarks and many more are making a difference in our ability to bring you a variety of entertainment in a facility in which to be proud.   Thank you.