Social - November 2003

Small treasure keeps history, memories alive

By DIANE TURBYFILL, Staff Writer

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Clara McCann scoots up the wooden bench to the small organ. She plays snippets from the two songs she learned as a child.

McCann admits she didn’t see the value of the instrument as a child, but her mother did.

Her mother couldn’t read music but loved singing and playing church hymns.

“She practically wore that little thing out,” says McCann. “She would play until the notes finally matched what she was singing.”

McCann’s growing relationship with her little organ began 73 years ago when she was five. It was 1930.

She remembers trips to the country with her parents. They would visit two little old ladies. McCann found the time at their house boring.

During a visit one of the home’s residents offered her a bribe for a smile. Her toothy grin yielded an instrument she didn’t know how to play — the small, wooden organ.

For years the organ stayed at her parents’ home, only finding use when her mother or guests would play it.

She remembers visits from her cousins, Hazel and Mazell Lackey. They would entertain themselves and McCann playing the organ. Beer Barrel Polka was their favorite, she says.

McCann’s mother died in 1968. She then began reading her mother’s documentation and learned of the rich history of the organ she had not previously cherished.

Lawson Yount originally owned the organ and used it to teach music. He would fold the legs of the organ under and place it in his buggy and travel the countryside, according to McCann.

She still has the music book he used. Names and dates are listed in the book. The oldest visible year is 1879.

She prides herself on keeping the organ in good condition and doesn’t plan to sell it.

Caring for the instrument is not her only project involving antiques.

McCann uses her talents to restore antique dolls. She once worked for a dealer but now mainly beautifies the dolls for friends and as a hobby.

Cases in her living room display McCann’s handiwork with dolls. The music book and organ sit beside the cases, and paintings she created hang on the walls.

The dolls also take her back to her childhood.

“I didn’t have a doll when I was little, so when we moved here my husband started collecting watches and I collected dolls,” she says.

A Shirley Temple doll — with a wide smile and tight tendrils — reminds McCann of a friend’s doll she coveted as a child.

The relics and antiques that adorn her home show McCan’s obvious interest and enthusiasm for history.

She shows no interest in selling or getting the organ appraised. But she does have one regret — never learning to play the instrument she treasures.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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