A Treasured Piece of Cultural Heritage

Don Phipps, donor and curator of The Hanover Theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer Organ, is turning 90! Mark your calendar for a special silent film celebration to acknowledge his talent and immense generosity in donating this special instrument to the theatre. In addition to a silent film presentation, accompanied by the amazing organist Clark Wilson, the event includes some of Don’s favorite organ music, tributes, special guests and, don’t you worry... plenty of birthday cake! Phipps, an engineer and avid theatre fan, embarked on a passion project of restoring and assembling his own theatre organ which came to be The Mighty Wurlitzer. Phipps assembled it out of thousands of parts rescued from Wurlitzer organs that were abandoned when movie palaces were razed starting in the mid20th century. It is estimated that the project took 10,000 hours of work over a period of six and a half years. The organ made its debut in March 2009 and performs as the “orchestra” for the theatre’s annual production of A Christmas Carol. Since then, it has been used during silent film showings as well. Phipps calls the instrument his “magnum opus,” noting that it is the largest of its kind in New England. Phipps and his passion for restoring the Wurlitzer Organ follows in the footsteps of our theatre’s founders, with their vision of restoring a treasured piece of history and celebrating our cultural heritage.

Celebrate Don Phipps’ 90th birthday! • October 9 Silent Film Shorts accompanied by Clark Wilson on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ

Join us for an upcoming Wurlitzer Organ Concert led by resident organist Dr. Jonathan Kleefield (free to

members and subscribers!) See page 5 for dates.