After more stolen pipes found, Calvary organ restoration back on track
Police on routine patrol Tuesday morning, May 16, in North Memphis found the rental truck stolen from Calvary Episcopal Church. (Submitted)
When the second batch of missing organ pipes from Calvary Episcopal Church were found over the weekend, they were in a van parked just up the street from where the first load of stolen pipes was found.
“We have every reason to believe most of the pipes are there. It would be strange if there were a third site,” said Rev. Scott Walters, the church’s rector.
Memphis police received a Crimestoppers tip on Sunday, May 28, that led them back to the 2800 block of Mountain Terrace Street. The tipster will receive $5,000 reward put up by the church and a Boston firm, Spencer Organ Co., that had been hired to restore the organ.
The Memphis Police Department has impounded the van.
The story began more than two weeks ago when a 26-foot Penske rental truck was loaded on May 13 with 55 crates of the church’s organ pipes, or about half of the instrument’s pipes. The truck was parked overnight on Adams Avenue near Second Street.
When church staff arrived the next morning, the truck was gone.
Police later found a Penske truck, parked in the 2800 block of Mountain Terrace Street, on May 16; officers stopped to check it out after remembering the news story and found the pipes. Fifteen crates were missing.
Walters went to the site that day. Photos he took at the scene show two vans parked up the street.
“I thought, ‘Why didn’t we go up there and check?’ ” he said Tuesday, May 30.
He suspects the second batch of pipes had been sitting there since mid-May.
No arrests have been made.
“We don’t care. We just wanted our pipes back,” Walters said.
Spencer Organ Co. rented the Penske truck and drove it to Memphis from Boston with the specialty crates for packing.
The organ has 4,000 pipes. Spencer plans to pack the rest this week and will take the entire load to Boston.
The pipes are insured both by Spencer and under the church’s umbrella policy.
“I do keep telling myself that, 100 years from now, this will be another great Calvary story in the lore,” Walters said.
The pipes are original to the church’s 1935 Aeolian-Skinner organ. It is being restored as part of the church’s $8 million remodeling project.
Topics
Calvary Episcopal Church Rev. Scott Walters pipes Subscriber OnlyAre you enjoying your subscription?
Your subscription gives you unlimited access to all of The Daily Memphian’s news, written by nearly 40 local journalists and more than 20 regular freelancers. We work around the clock to cover the issues that impact your life and our community.
You can help us reach more Memphians.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we provide free news access at K-12 schools, public libraries and many community organizations. We also reach tens of thousands of people through our podcasts, and through our radio and television partnerships – all completely free to everyone who cares about Memphis.
When you subscribe, you get full access to our news. But when you donate, you help us reach all Memphians.
Pay it forward. Make a fully tax-deductible donation to The Daily Memphian today.
Thank you for reading the local news. Thank you for investing in our community.
Jane Roberts
Jane Roberts has reported in Memphis for more than 20 years. As a senior member of The Daily Memphian staff, she was assigned to the medical beat during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has done in-depth work on other medical issues facing our community, including shortages of specialists in local hospitals. She covered K-12 education here for years and later the region’s transportation sector, including Memphis International Airport and FedEx Corp.
Public Safety on demand
Sign up to receive Public Safety stories as they’re published.
Enter your e-mail address
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.