1920’s Silent Movie Night at First Congregational Church
An evening of 1920's silent movies accompanied by music on the pipe organ will be presented at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 3, 2018 at the First Congregational Church, 165 East Mill Ave. The movies will feature Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy and Buster Keaton.
Dave Moreno, a longtime theater organist from Sacramento will be at the four-manual Moeller console. Both of Moreno's hands and feet move simultaneously, creating vivacious melodies and sounds that give characters depth and bring the action on the screen to life. The audience will hear sounds of a car horn, a barking dog and a train steam whistle, among many others.
Not only is Moreno a talented musician, beginning when he was just 13 years old, he's also an organ technician and operates a company that designs, builds, installs and maintains pipe organs, especially theater organs, throughout the state.
The First Congregational Church's organ was brought to Porterville from the Deluxe Theater in Los Angeles and dedicated on March 2, 1931. It was a seven rank, two manual 1916 Wurlitzer and is believed to be one of the oldest functioning pipe organs in California today. On October 25, 1936, a fire partially destroyed the Church and damaged the pipe organ, however it was repaired and rebuilt in 1937.
In 1963 the original Wurlitzer was expanded and over the next 45 years major repairs and renovations have upgraded the organ's functioning. The Wurlitzer console was replaced in 1963 with a four manual Moeller console that has a full 2 ½ octave pedal board. The organ now has 25 ranks, more than 1,525 pipes!
First Congregational Church has hosted silent movies several times, the last being in 2006. All proceeds of the event will go toward the organ maintenance fund. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for youth ages 6 – 18, and children 5 and under are free. Tickets are available at the church office, 165 E. Mill Ave, Porterville Chamber of Commerce, Hanson Travel and Jeff's Music, and will also be available at the door.