ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
From: R Joseph, February 1999
WurliTzer organ from Latonia Theatre , Oil City, PA was never in Cavalier
Theatre, Suffolk, VA.
George Shaw, Franklin, PA, purchased the Latonia
Theatre organ and personally removed it to his residence for storage and
then in 1988, donated this organ to the Venango Museum of Art, Science, and
Industry, Oil City, PA.
It is in the process of being restored by local
volunteers. It debuted August 17, 1997. Premiere organist was Taylor
Carpenter, 16 year-old concert organist from Townville, PA and
Winston-Salem, NC.
From: Terry Kleven, October 2010
There is a Wurlitzer in the Venango Museum in Oil City, PA which is used with some regularity.
It was removed from a theatre in Oil City and donated to the Museum by Mr. George Shaw, a local philanthropist.
It has a very attractive French-style 3-manual console which was restored at Organ Supply Industries.
I do not know when it was removed from the theatre, but it had been in rather poor storage for several years
prior to its installation at the museum.
The fellow who oversaw much of Mr. Shaw’s collection (which was sizeable) said that when they attempted to
move the console to take it to OSI, it literally fell apart due to the poor storage.
The crew at OSI, under Dennis Unks’ watchful eye, did a magnificent job in its restoration.
The Museum has a website, (http://www.venangomuseum.org/default.htm), but unfortunately, the organ is only mentioned in passing.