The owner’s of the Grand were Mr. Harvey Blank and Mr. Warren Fenstermacher. Mr. Blank, a businessman, was part owner of the Upper Perkiomen Transportation Company. Mr. Fenstermacher was the conductor of the East Greenville Orchestra. Of course, since the co-owner of the Grand was the local orchestra conductor, there would be no pipe organ in his theater! The Grand would feature the six piece Grand Theatre Orchestra until talkies came to the Grand in 1929.

One may ask, “If the Grand never had an organ, why are you installing one?”

Since silent films are so far removed from the public, live orchestras are even more so. Given the charm and popularity of theater organs, we decided to bring a piece of history from the period into our theater. Since so few historic theaters remain, the same can be said about these incredible pieces of machinery. The owners of the Grand are very interested in historic preservation and restoration. As a result we feel that restoring the Grand with a theater organ is the best of both worlds.

In a sense, we are making history!