A pipe organ the size of a house, in the woods of Bonny Doon!
The great pipe organ of Boomeria, in the forests north of Santa Cruz, is the life’s work of Preston Boomer (aka “The Boom”), a school teacher who restored the old 1879 pipe organ on his Bonny Doon property. Boomer and his pipe organ are now the yearly guests of honor at the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival’s “Boomeria Extravaganza!”
You now understand why I love Santa Cruz so much! 
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
“The event takes place Saturday afternoon from 1 to 5 p.m. and the musicians enlisted to tackled the 2,500-pipe organ include Bill Visscher, Hartzell Lemons, Ann Thiermann, Colin Whitby-Strevens, Vlada Moran, Lawrence Manzo and Max Perrey.”
A $50 ticket (I guess I won’t be going – actually, I’m working in the LAA Gallery on Saturday!) includes snacks, drinks and wine, and an “organ crawl,” an inside tour of the organ housed in the “Chapel Royal” near Boomer’s home. In 1953, Boomer rescued the organ after it was replaced at the Trinity Parish Church in San Jose. Boomer and his students at San Lorenzo Valley High School restored and added onto the organ.
The event raises funds for the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival. The essentials:
- ‘boomeria extravaganza’
- presented by: The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival
- when: 1-5 p.m. Saturday
- where: Boomeria, Empire Grade, Bonny Doon. Exact directions will be provided to all ticket holders. (Oh! The mystery…!)
- Cost: $50, includes snacks, wine and drinks, and a tour of the Boomeria organ. Sold in advance only.
- details: www.scbaroque.org or 459-2159
-Bill at
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