Volunteers prepare for Ypsi PRIDE Day
May. 13, 2010 · 7:09 a.m.
Each year, residents in and around the city of Ypsilanti carry on a tradition started by a group of community members enrolled in a city leadership program, a sort...read more
Bicycles zoom as flowers bloom
Apr. 30, 2010 · 2:11 p.m.
The weather has turned, the trees are budding and the flowers are popping out of the ground; time for a cruise through town. But don’t be so quick to hop in the...read more
Sheriff Clayton visits Ypsilanti Township
Apr. 29, 2010 · 12:59 p.m.
About 50 Ypsilanti Township residents gave the Washtenaw County Sheriff Office their input about law enforcement in the community Tuesday evening.
The information...read more
Local photographer raising funds for Ypsi Project exhibit
Apr. 20, 2010 · 2:20 a.m.
Ypsilanti has many faces, and Erica Hampton wants to share a few of them with you.
Over the past year, Hampton created the The Ypsi Project, a series of portraits...read more
Savoy taking shape as live music venue
Apr. 17, 2010 · 2:38 p.m.
Ypsilanti's newest concert venue is preparing for its grand opening weekend April 23, more than a month after its soft opening March 13.
Formerly Club Divine,...read more
Dozens of turn-of-the-century band and street organs will be playing throughout the park and Depot Town today and Saturday. The entertainment comes as members of the Midwest chapter of the Musical Box Society meet for their 34th annual Band Organ Rally.
Classic organ music plays in Ypsilanti
Jul. 31, 2009 · 2:15 a.m.
Ladies, grab your fox furs. Gentlemen, put on your homburgs.
Pedestrians walking or cycling through Riverside Park this weekend will be reminded of stick candy and penny-farthings when they hear the mechanical organs playing for the public.
Dozens of turn-of-the-century band and street organs will be playing throughout the park and Depot Town today and Saturday. The entertainment comes as members of the Midwest chapter of the Musical Box Society meet for their 34th annual Band Organ Rally.
Dubbed the “happiest music on earth” by the group, mechanical organs were popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Event organizer Dale Dohler said street organs are typically associated with organ-grinders cranking the instrument with the help of a talented and earnest monkey.
Dohler said band organs often include more percussion instruments, such as drums and symbols, and usually provided the tunes for carousel-riders. He said these larger instruments were often marketed to replace full bands because of the multiple instruments they could operate mechanically.
He said there would be 14 band organs, ranging in size from 10 feet to 20 feet long. There will be approximately 30 of the smaller street organs around the park and Depot Town.
The mechanical musicians will be performing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. The event is free and open to the public.
Dohler said the 84 people turning the cranks and operating the machines hail from all over the Midwest. He said the enthusiasts are attracted to their craft by the music, machinery and history.
“They love music, but can’t play,” he said. “Some people are mechanics.
“It’s a wide range of interests.”
Dohler, an Ann Arbor resident who owns a street organ, has been a member of the group since 1977.
He said the organs crank out music through a variety of methods, from rolls of sheet music to a large-scale version of the rotating cylinders in a music box. Unfortunately, he said there isn’t going to be any monkeys at the event.
He said the group tends to visit different cities each year with its event, so it could be a while before the organs play in Ypsilanti again.
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