For approximately a year or so, Diane Dorton and her husband had been discussing about donating their piano within the community through the Aiken Performing Arts Group’s Instruments in the Attic program. Unfortunately, Harold Dorton suffered from an illness and died two weeks ago. After which, Diane decided to proceed with what they had previously discussed, so she went on to donate the piano.
23 years ago, the couple moved over to Aiken. Initially, they had thoughts of learning to play the piano, so they purchased a used piano. However, they didn’t manage to learn how to play it well. This led to their decision of finding a new home for their piano. “We didn’t want to sell it. “It’s in such good condition and we wanted to see it put into such good use. I just wish my husband could have seen this,” stated Diane.
volunteers from APAG worked in conjunction with South Aiken’s PTO to bring the piano to the choral program. “It’s been a busy time for us with pianos. We’ve donated eight of them now, and two more schools have requested pianos, too,” said Bob Kelley, APAG’s volunteer education outreach coordinator. According to him, the piano donated by Diane and her husband, is an excellent condition Baldwin-Howard. It is also estimated to be about 40 years old. For refurbishment of the piano and providing of other needs, it amounted to about $1,500. They keyboard also had to be taken out and put into registration. At the same time, a special dolly was purchased to enable the piano to be moved from the auditorium to the choir room without having to frequently retune it.
South Aiken started to rebuild their choral program around three years ago. “To have such a piece of equipment is just fantastic. We could not have afforded it,” added Bryan Skipper, the principal of South Aiken. Three students were also rather enthusiastic about the arrival of the piano. “I’ve been singing a lot, mostly at church. I like to have fun, but it has become more important to me now. And the new piano is really exciting,” exclaimed Terrance Sanders, who currently takes music appreciation, but plans to join the chorus as a senior next year. If you would like to read the rest of the story, you can do so here.
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