Read the current issue of our monthly newsletter
The Windline.

Welcome to the website of the Sooner State Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society. We are headquartered
in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and have our monthly meetings at the Broken Arrow Campus of Tulsa Tech, 4000 W Florence St.
(111th St) in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Our meetings are at 7:00 on the third Friday of the month
(unless circumstances dictate another date).

In partnership with the non-profit Circle Cinema of Tulsa, our Chapter is sponsoring 'Second Saturday Silents'
each month at 11:00 in the morning. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for kids 16 and under. We are showing silent movies
accompanied by their original 1928 theatre pipe organ. For program information and what is going to be featured on the
next Second Saturday, please see below, visit the Circle Cinema page here, or call 918.592.3456 (592.FILM)

Here is a page devoted to the first home of our theatre organ!

In 2007 Videographer James Plumlee of the Tulsa World made a nine-minute video tour of our organ. You can view it here.

Click here to visit the national website for the American Theatre Organ Society.

In December 2022 we elected our officers for the next two years. They are:
   Rudy Geissler, President
   Phil Judkins, Vice President
   Hervey Barbour, Vice President
   Janice Barbour, Secretary
   Phil Gray, Treasurer
   Lynda Ramsey, Program Chairman
   Carolyn Craft, Program Chairman Emeritus
   Joyce Hatchett, Editor/Publisher of the  Windline and Membership Chair

 (L to R: Judkins, Craft, Ramsey, Gray, Geissler, Hackler, Rowland, Hatchett, Barbour)
Our chapter owns a 1927 Robert-Morton 3-manual theatre pipe organ (see picture top of page) that we use for our programs. It was originally installed in the Capitol Theatre in Steubenville, Ohio, then by a circuitous route found its way to Tulsa, where we acquired it and got it installed in the new campus at TTC in the 1980s.

We also have a rebuilt 1900 Kimball grand piano, donated to us by Don and Dee Miller, that used to preside in the Mayo Hotel in downtown Tulsa.
Our members have also restored the 1927 four manual, forty-five rank Kilgen pipe organ at the Performing Arts Center of Tulsa Central High School. At right is the Central High School console.

And our Chapter sponsors the
"Second Saturday Silents at the
Circle Cinema" in Tulsa each month

.

Our programs feature some artists from out of the Tulsa area as well as local organists and usually give time for "Open Console" where members and non-members alike can try out the organ.

Please feel free to come and enjoy our programs, there is no admission charge but donations for organ maintenance and program expenses are appreciated! And, if you would like to subscribe our monthly e-mailed newsletter, the Windline just drop us an email at sscwindline@gmail.com. Or, you can Email us at SoonerStateATOS@gmail.com and we will be happy to add your email address to our monthly program reminder list if you request it as well.

2024 Sooner State ATOS Events
On January 13th our "Second Saturday Silents at the Circle Cinema" featured a silent drama
from 1928, "The Wind" starring Lillian Gish, accompanied by the original pipe organ
installed in the theatre in that same year!
And in February we screened a silent film honoring Black History month,
"Ten Nights in a Barroom" from 1926, with an all-black cast. It is based on the temperance novel
of the same name by Timothy Shay Arthur from 1854. This story is the same one as told
in the melodrama "The Drunkard," played out every Saturday night for the last seventy years
at the Spotlight Theatre on Riverside Drive in Tulsa, where it is played for laughs, but this
film plays it straight as a serious preachment against alcoholism. The silent movie was
accompanied by Bill Rowland on the Circle Cinema's original 1928 pipe organ
with "walk-in" music by Circle Staff Organist Michael Huffman.
Saturday morning March 9th, the great cowboy star Tom Mix starred in this classic film from 1922,
"Sky High." This silent film was accompanied by Bill Rowland on the Circle's original 1928
theatre pipe organ, along with a funny short-short comic from 1909, plus "walk-in" music by
Staff Organist Michael Huffman. AND, the Tom Mix Museum in Dewey, OK provided
memorabilia and artifacts for the public to view and enjoy!
And, this Saturday ALL TICKETS WERE FREE!! courtesy of HUGHES LUMBER COMPANY
of Tulsa and Dewey!
Saturday morning April 13th, the great Buster Keaton starred in this classic film from 1923,
"3 Ages." This silent film was accompanied by Bill Rowland on the Circle's original 1928
theatre pipe organ, along with a funny cartoon from the same year, plus "walk-in" music by
Staff Organist Michael Huffman.
And on Saturday morning May 11th, the great silent Western Star William S. Hart was featured
in a classic silent feature from 1919, "Wagon Tracks." This silent film was accompanied by Bill Rowland on the Circle's original 1928 theatre pipe organ, along with a funny cartoon.
Our featured silent movie Saturday morning June 8th, was "Intolerance," directed by D. W. Griffith from 1916, known for its vast sets and complex plot, a long and classic film.
We had a good crowd for our featured silent movie July 13th, "Girl Shy," starring Harold Lloyd,
from 1924, plus a silent cartoon from the same year, truly funny films, accompanied by
Bill Rowland on the Circle's original 1928 theatre pipe organ plus "walk-in" music by
Staff Organist Michael Huffman.  
One of the signature roles for Lon Chaney was our featured silent movie Saturday morning August 10th,  "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" from 1923, as always accompanied on the vintage theatre pipe organ by Bill Rowland and "walk-in" music by Circle Staff Organist Michael Huffman.  
Our featured silent movie Saturday morning September 14th, was the 1928 silent film
"The Last Command," starring Emil Jannings, which won for him the very first Academy Award
for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1929.  
Our featured movie Saturday morning October 12th, was the 1921 silent film "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," starring Rudolph Valentino, for which appearance Valentino was recognized as a potential star. It was directed by Rex Ingram, and based on the 1916 Spanish novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, and will be accompanied by Bill Rowland on the Circle's original 1928 theatre pipe organ plus "walk-in" music by Circle Staff Organist Michael Huffman.  

Our featured movie Saturday morning November 9th, was the 1921 silent film "Flesh and The Devil," starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, one of her first American movies and the one that established
her as a star. The movie  was be accompanied by Bill Rowland on the Circle's original 1928 theatre pipe organ plus "walk-in" music by Circle Staff Organist Michael Huffman. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for kids under 16.  

Our featured movie Saturday morning December 14th, is the 1927 silent film "The Yankee Clipper," starring William Boyd, (Hopalong Cassidy) and Elinor Fair. It will be accompanied by Bill Rowland on the Circle's original 1928 theatre pipe organ plus "walk-in" music by Circle Staff Organist Michael Huffman. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for kids under 16.

Our featured movies Saturday morning January 11th, will be a trio of silent comedy shorts from the 1920s. The movies  will be accompanied by Bill Rowland on the Circle's original 1928 theatre pipe organ plus "walk-in" music by Circle Staff Organist Michael Huffman. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for kids under 16.  

Main Chamber 1 Main Chamber 2 Solo Chamber 3Main Chamber 3 Solo Chamber 1 Solo Chamber 2  

Contents Copyright 2024 by Sooner State Chapter ATOS

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