Very "Organ" Ized - KWQC-TV6 News and Weather For The Quad Cities -

Very "Organ" Ized

Updated: Oct 25, 2012 04:59 PM CDT
  • Most Popular StoriesMost Popular Stories

  • Friday, May 17 2013 5:58 PM EDT2013-05-17 21:58:46 GMT
    The Geneseo Police Department is looking for information from anyone who may have witnessed a fake traffic stop. On Thursday, May 16, 2013 at around 5:50 a.m. a dark colored passenger care made a traffic
    The Geneseo Police Department is looking for information from anyone who may have witnessed a fake traffic stop. On Thursday, May 16, 2013 at around 5:50 a.m. a dark colored passenger care made a traffic
  • Friday, May 17 2013 2:23 PM EDT2013-05-17 18:23:07 GMT
    You're eyes aren't seeing things. Gas prices are headed higher in the Quad Cities and other parts of the country. "I spent 50 bucks on 11 and half gallons of gas", laughs Carine Iverson. She had another
    You're eyes aren't seeing things. Gas prices are headed higher in the Quad Cities and other parts of the country. "I spent 50 bucks on 11 and half gallons of gas", laughs Carine Iverson. She had another
  • Friday, May 17 2013 11:17 PM EDT2013-05-18 03:17:16 GMT
    A warning about a new synthetic drug reaching our streets. Like K2, and bath salts before it, this new drug, 2CE can be bought legally. Health officials say 2CE causes someone to hallucinate. Mimicking
    A warning about a new synthetic drug reaching our streets. Like K2, and bath salts before it, this new drug, 2CE can be bought legally. Health officials say 2CE causes someone to hallucinate. Mimicking

Nancy Varner says they are like potato chips. You cannot have just one. Varner has about a dozen. The Montpelier, Iowa woman collects reed organs.

Reed organs were the instruments of the late 1800's which were the family entertainment system.  People played polkas, waltzes, gallops, and marches on the oak and walnut beauties. There was a time when hundreds of companies in the United States made reed organs.

A reed is a thin strip of metal which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. Nancy really caught the bug to collect these musical instruments in 1998. She buys them at auctions and antique stores. She also is a member of The International Reed Organ Society.

Nancy has some Molines which were built in 1891. Another in her collection was made in 1893 in Providence, Rhode Island. She also has a Chicago Organ with the original pedal covers. There is a portable Estey which opens up and was used by Navy Chaplains. 

Nancy jokes that she also has an organ with an attitude, and you don't know which attitude it is going to play that day. She has restored some of the organs in her collection.