President’s Blog – July 24, 2012

Greetings all, coming down from the post-convention “high.”  Great concerts in LA.  Never heard Scott Foppiano any better, and what an instrument he presented to us.
Caught Chris Elliot twice (Fullerton and Trousdale Castle); Tony Fenelon was splendid and gave us a chance to hear Lyn Larsen twice (with Tony at San Gabriel and also two tunes at Trousdale Castle).  The kids were sensational, as was the Barnum Hall Wurlitzer – thank you Gordon Belt and Henry Hunt.  And all who performed made it musically one of our best ever!!

And from my standpoint, a “glitch-free” convention.  Well done, Don, Ed, Bob et al because if there were problems, you solved them efficiently and quietly.

Congratulations to Mike Kinerk, Bucky Reddish, Mark Herman, the family of the late Stu Green, Paul Vandermolen, and all those who won awards, and most deservedly so.

BULLETIN!! (as they used to say in old time radio news!!)
Under the direction of board member Don Phipps, ATOS is going to canvas all chapters for updated information, status, and other details which will help us communicate better.

Part of this effort will be an “E-mail Blast” for those members who have provided us email contact information.

IMPORTANT NOTE!  We will NOT be distributing this email list to anyone.  It is our hope that as part of our move into the 21st Century, we might communicate with our members via 21st Century technology.  And of course, as we do our initial experiments, we will be mindful of those who might wish to not be included.  But I can’t think of a reason why our members wouldn’t want to hear from us once or twice a month on topics of importance.

And speaking of chapters, the Dickinson Theatre Organ Society has established itself as an ATOS chapter, and we welcome the Great Lakes Bay chapter (Saginaw and northern/northeastern Michigan) as our newest ATOS chapter.

We’ve got a special ballot initiative headed out to the members on definition of and  voting rights for certain board positions.  This is coming in the mail and is self-explanatory.

If you have not seen Jack Moelmann’s series of video interviews, they are fascinating informative, entertaining…and most importantly…they are now recorded for history and posterity…which will provide future generations with the background and history of so many ATOS significant individuals (and NOT just our concert artists!).
If you YouTube Jack Moelmann, you will find them.  The list is more than 20 and growing!

I am off to Wilmington, DE this Friday for the final days of the Summer Youth Adventure, and right after that, a few days in Norman, OK for a visit with those at the Technical Experience.

And before year’s end, we expect two significant announcements on fundraising efforts that will have long-range positive outcomes for ATOS.

Hope you are enjoying your summer.  And enjoying some good theatre organ music wherever you might be!  More soon.

Ken