Congratulations on your keyboard news website I have just spent the past 30 minutes catching up on some gossip - all very entertaining.

  

  Concerts at Rye go from strength to strength now that we have moved the organ from its galleried location to the centre stage where rises on a lift from the pit. The total cost of the move was £22,000 - we were lucky to secure Lottery Funding from Awards for All of £10k and the rest from the proceeds of the concerts and generous donations from our worthy supporters and friends who travel from all over the South East on concert days to hear the Rye Wurlitzer.

  

  Not wishing to upset anyone but the Beer Wurlitzer and the Rye Wurlitzer both came into the UK at the same time in 1925.  However Rye has got all its percussion and effects where as Beer remains a straight organ for the secular environment it's in.

  

  The Rye Wurlitzer is undergoing some serious improvements over the summer , for years we relied on support from a distance i.e Len & Les Rawle and a local engineer on a paid for time spent arrangement.  However we now have three of the best as our technical team David Wattenbach ( Margate, Dreamland) together with Frank Cornish & Bob Hercock who are not only putting together the National Wurlitzer at Uckfield, but also Singing Hills and Portslade venues.  They have a lot to do in a short space of time but are setting about the work in hand with great enthusiasm and is sincerely appreciated by all concerned.

  

  Our next concert features Phil Kelsall who will be playing a solo concert on the Wurlitzer, its his third appearance and a full house of 300 plus is expected as we have parties travelling from Chatham and Deal to see him.  Tickets are £5.50 on the door to include interval refreshments.

  

  The fun activities at the concerts started some five years ago, now people expect it but it makes each of the eight concerts we have each year very special and undoubtedly memorable - yesterday was no exception when I dressed in a ball gown and danced with a six foot cardboard Canadian Mountie around the audience. One of my favourites is when the artiste of the day performs "The Storm", it gives me the opportunity of dressing as a yokel fisherman complete with rocking boat ( with the assistance of my youngest son Elliot).  I did it as an ad lib at our Wurlitzer Weekend in 2005 with Nick Martin.  Len Rawle was in the audience and thought it was so funny that we adapted it more and worked  it again at Woking that year for his Christmas Show.

  

  The only thing is, with a large nucleus of supporters I can never do the same thing twice at Rye, but each organist usually comes up with something that inspires me.

  

  Our website www.geocities.com/ryewurlitzer/ has details of all that we get up to.

  

  Wishing your website every success, you have certainly got another reader, and anything newsworthy I will pass on.

   

  Best Wishes,

  

  Richard Moore

  Friends of Rye Wurlitzer

23.4.08