Might get some interesting thoughts on this one...  My father was
maintenance manager at Hersheypark, so I sort of grew up there.
Along about 1975 this guy, a dentist, started running the carrousel
on weekends.  "This guy" was Dr. Bill Black.  He (and Mike Kitner)
proceeded to show me everything there was to know about our organ,
a Wurlitzer 153.  Bill taught me tuning and a little bit of what makes
them work.

About the same time, my mom started buying phono albums from Paul &
Laura Eakins and struck up a correspondence with Laura.  So you might
say there was quite a pile of mechanical music dumped on me at one
time.  Then a few years later, we purchased a beat-up old player
piano which I had playing later that day.  We were also friends with
the Knoebels and once again, through the friendship with Dave Wynn,
I learned a little more about mechanical music.

This love has never left me, and in 2000 I was able to return to
the park as a maintenance electrical tech.  I once again have the
opportunity to work on the 153, and along with Bill's help, keep it
running and (hopefully) tuned.  It's a challenge sometimes, since the
old girl plays 12+ hours a day from June to September, and, actually
weekends to January 1st... outdoors!

I'd love to hear others' stories on this.  Thanks for bringing it up!

Rich Sitler