Snow Doesn't Stop Steinway Supporters

Blair Penney of Schmitt Music in Overland Park

 tickles the ivories with everything from ragtime 

to the classics at the Butler Presbyterian

Church yesterday

Music lovers gathered yesterday afternoon at Butler Presbyterian Church for a SOS: Save Our Steinway event hosted by the Bates County Museum. Although snow kept the crowd smaller than expected, the warmth and enthusiasm of those in attendance was undeniable.

Peggy Buhr, Museum Director, welcomed everyone and gave an update on the progress of the fundraising campaign. $17,235 had been raised thus far and donations received at the event brought the total to over $18,000. Buhr delivered a personal commentary on the recent passing of C. A. Moore, who was a member of Butler Presbyterian Church, and stated she knew C. A. would be thrilled with the day’s program. The church and the 1877 Steinway have strong connections. Miss Eunice Pyle donated the piano to the museum in 1979 and she was a member of Butler Presbyterian Church her whole life.

Buhr also announced that an article in “Rural Missouri,” the electric co-op’s state wide publication, will be forthcoming and is scheduled to be published in December. The article is a direct result of the earlier article in the Kansas City Star that ran in October. “It seems people everywhere are excited and supportive of this enormous endeavor,” Buhr stated. She believes people are eager to be a part of something big, something that can be beautiful and enrich the lives of all involved.

Progress is being made to raise funds
necessary to refurbish the museum's
historic Steinway piano

Mr. Blair Penney of Schmitt Music in Overland Park, Kansas presented a program that included music and a PowerPoint presentation. Playing on the church’s beautiful Steinway, he opened with a Billy Joel’s Root Beer Rag and proceeded to include works of Clair de lune by Dubussy, Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, and George Gershwin’s ‘S Wonderful, I’ve Got Rhythm and ended with Rhapsody in Blue. The visual presentation was incorporated throughout the program as Blair told the history of Steinway & Sons followed by raising awareness of how special the museum’s 1877 Steinway Model B Grand Piano truly is. According to Penney, the effort to raise the funds necessary to restore the old piano are more than justifiable and would provide Bates County with an extraordinary instrument to be enjoyed by citizens for many decades to come. The $50,000 investment will result in a piano valued at approximately $100,000.

The afternoon program concluded with a drawing for an award winning DVD, “Note by Note,” that follows the year-long journey in the creation of a new Steinway. Elizabeth Ogg, Bates County Economic Development Director and concert pianist, was the lucky winner.

Following the program, guests mingled and enjoyed an elegant dessert buffet provided by Sally Hatten, Donna Talbott and Dotty Esher. On display was a unique piano keyboard graph poster that can now be used to track the progress of fundraising efforts. Kenna Bartz, Bartz Photography, designed the poster and donated it to the cause. Many thanks are extended to Butler Presbyterian Church for their hospitality and use of their lovely church and piano. Future fundraising events are now being planned and several people volunteered their service at Sunday’s program. If you are interested in becoming involved in this project you may contact Peggy Buhr at the Museum by calling 660-679-0134.