Part of St. Louis Blues History Comes Home
The St. Louis Blues organization is one with a lot of history. Memories of nights at the old Arena still burn deep within our memories and many can still hear Ernie Hayes playing the iconic organ for overjoyed fans celebrating some of the best memories in Blues history.
Tuesday, Chris Kerber, the voice of the Blues for KMOX, sent a tweet that said the St. Louis Blues had reacquired the organ that used to fill old St. Louis Arena with its upbeat melodies including the traditional When The Blues Go Marching In. Many will remember when only a few years ago the Blues restarted the tradition of the song before Blues games with Charles Glenn filling Scottrade Center with his incredible vocals.
CBS reported that,
"According to team COO Bruce Affleck, he had received a message from an old family neighbor who was in possession of the same organ that long-time organist Ernie Hayes used to play at Blues home games.“His dad ended up with the organ, not sure how,” Affleck explained in an email to CBSSports.com. “The message said, ‘Bruce, this is Bob Dienstbach and I just wanted you to know we are putting this organ Ernie Hays used to play at the old Arena on Craigslist.’ ”Seeing an opportunity to reclaim this important piece of team history, Affleck jumped into action.“I called right away and left him a message and said we would buy it sight unseen, which we did,” Affleck said. He did not disclose the amount paid. According to a Jan. 3 report from KPLR in St. Louis, Dienstbach listed the organ online for $1,000."
The organ was finally delivered back to the organization that enjoyed it for so many years when Chris Kerber finally sent the tweet to let the St. Louis Blues fans and the rest of the world know.
CBS’s article went on to say,
"Also according to the KPLR story, Dienstbach and reporter Patrick Clark inadvertently uncovered a floppy disk and hand-written notes in the organ’s seat. The disk included original music they believed to be recorded by Hayes, which is playable from the organ.According to Affleck, the team’s current organist, Jeremy Boyer, was a protégé of Hayes’."
St. Louis fans will possibly get to enjoy these great recordings again as St. Louis Blues’ spokesman Rich Jankowski has said that while the organ will not take the place of the current one inside Scottrade Center, the organ will be used at some point for some reason. Until the Blues bring the organ back, Blues fans will have their memories and can savor them just a bit more knowing the organ is back with the team that enjoyed it for so long. As always, LET’S GO BLUES!
-Alex Hodschayan