Kennett Melgaard

When the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church of Las Cruces, New Mexico, moved into its new sanctuary in the Summer of 1965, no suitable piano was available for use in the worship service. The question arose about how the church could obtain one. At that time several merchants gave S & H green stamps to customers as a reward for doing business with them. These stamps could be redeemed at the S & H headquarters office for merchandise, including pianos. The Women's Association saw this practice as a means for obtaining a piano. The congregation was urged to patronize businesses which gave out S & H green stamps, and to give the stamps to the association. The congregation responded. In time, enough stamps, a veritable mountain of stamps, were collected to trade for a spinet piano. That piano served in the sanctuary for nearly 20 years.

In April 1983, Nancy Cobble, a member of the church, was visiting with her next door neighbor, Mary Ellen Triviz, when in the course of the conversation Mrs. Triviz inquired, "Do you know of anyone who would be interested in purchasing a Steinway Grand Piano?" Mrs. Cobble, who was fully aware of the need for a better piano in the sanctuary responded, "I'll ask the pastor of our church if he thinks we could use the piano." When she told Dr. Keith Seelig about the piano, he said he was eager to look at it.

He asked Kennett Melgaard, a member of the Worship Committee, to accompany him to the home of Mrs. Triviz. Mrs. Triviz met them at the door and invited them into the living room of her home. What they saw overwhelmed them. There stood a 7 foot long instrument, wrapped in a glossy jet black finish. It showed evidence of loving care. Mr. Melgaard sat down at the keyboard and played it. The piano fulfilled its promise, saturating the room with magnificent sound from the lowest to the highest notes.

The men looked wistfully at the piano, knowing full well the church did not have funds to purchase an instrument of that quality. To make conversation, as much as for any other reason, Mr. Melgaard inquired, "How much are you asking for the piano?" Mrs. Triviz said, "We asked Dr. William Leland, Professor of Music, and Piano-Artist-in-Residence at New Mexico State University, to tell us what the piano is worth. You know he has rebuilt several pianos, and is in a position to give a reliable estimate of a piano's worth. He has tuned this piano, and serviced it for us, over a period of several years. He said we should ask $12,000 for the piano."

Mr.Melgaard stated, "The piano is worth that much money, and more. I wish the church could afford to purchase it. But that is out of the question. We have set aside only $7,000 for the purchase of a piano." Mr.Melgaard glanced at Dr. Seelig and could see him wince as he thought, "What is Kennett saying? We do not have one penny available for the purchase of a piano."

As the men looked longingly at the piano, and turned to leave, Mrs. Triviz interrupted their departure saying, "I think we ought to negotiate. My daughter, Rita, wants to attend Harvard University this fall. Her father said we could sell the piano to help pay her tuition. You know it costs a lot of money to go to Harvard, several thousand dollars a year. While your offer of $7,000 would help, I think we should try to sell the piano for more than that. Do you think you could give me $10,000 for it?

Mr. Melgaard expressed doubt that he could find that amount of money.

The group stood there for a long time, then the men turned to leave. Mrs. Triviz ventured, "How about $9,000?". Mr. Melgaard glanced at Dr. Seelig, who looked very ill. To Dr. Seelig's distress, Mr. Melgaard proposed, "Mrs. Triviz, you have made a most generous offer. Now I will make you the best offer I can, "Will you accept $8,800 for the piano." She said "I will, and what is more, I am so eager for you to have the piano, that I will donate $300 of my own money to help you pay for it."

The men looked at her in astonishment, then left. Dr. Seelig was in shock.

What Dr. Seelig did not know was that Mr. Melgaard had a plan in mind for raising all of the $8,500. What he remembered was that the song leader at the Calvary Baptist Church in Las Cruces had raised a similar amount of money on one Sunday morning. What the leader did was ask the Music Box to move a new Yamaha piano into the sanctuary of that church on a Saturday, without asking the permission of anyone to do so.

The next day church members were understandably curious, and hounded him with questions about what the piano was doing in the sanctuary. He brushed off the inquiries. The morning worship service began. Much use of the piano was made throughout the service. As the hour moved along, the song leader pointed out at regular intervals how much the piano was helping to lead congregational singing. As the service came to a close he asked the worshipers , "Did you like the sound of the piano we used today?" The congregation applauded. He continued, "Would you like to have that piano serve us here every Sunday? Thunderous applause erupted. Let me tell you how easy it will be for us to have this piano as our own. Do you know how many keys there are on a piano? The answer is,"88". That is a significant number.

At the close of the service I will be standing at the exit of the sanctuary. If 88 of you sitting here today will buy a key for $100, the piano will be ours from now on.

His faith was rewarded. More than 88 persons met him at the exit with a pledge or check for $100. Mr. Melgaard was thinking as he and Dr.Seelig left the home of Mrs. Triviz, "If a Baptist Church can pay for a piano that way, so can a Presbyterian Church."

That evening Mr. Melgaard picked up the phone and told one member of the church after another about the excellent Steinway piano that was for sale, and offered each person an opportunity to purchase a key for $100. Before the week was out half of the money needed had been pledged.

So far, so good But the rest of the money had to be raised. The Worship Committee chose to raise the rest of the money during a worship service. Mr. Melgaard thought a visual aid, such as a replica of the piano, might help the cause. He discussed the matter with Sharon Meier, a highly resourceful member of the church. She invited him to visit the Las Cruces Public Schools Service Center. There he found what he wanted, a large sheet of 1 inch thick corrugated cardboard. Making use of a saber saw, he cut out a full size replica of the lid of the Steinway piano, and painted it black. A 16 year old girl, who worked for the Center, offered to paint on white paper, a keyboard, complete with all 88 black and white keys. She did so; her work was excellent. To complete the replica, a collection box was fastened to the bottom of the lid, with a slit above it, through which pledges could be dropped.

On Sunday morning worshipers found coupons inside their bulletins, to be used for making pledges to the piano fund.

Toward the close of the worship service, Beverly Briggs and other members of the Worship Committee carried the replica piano to the pulpit area. From the pulpit, a member of the committee extended an invitation to anyone who had not received a telephone call, to purchase a key or part of a key. They were encouraged to fill out a coupon and drop it through the slit in the replica. There was a good response to the invitation, but unfortunately the goal of $8,500 had not been met. The committee realized that many members had adopted a "wait and see" attitude, "Until I see the piano, I am not going to give one red cent."

The question arose, "What should we do to attract more donors?" Without an answer in hand, the Worship Committee had the piano brought into the sanctuary. Someone on the Worship Committee suggested we ask Marilyn Hutchison to play the piano before and during the worship service the next Sunday, arguing, "Once the skeptics hear that sound, they will jump on the bandwagon. They will be ashamed to admit they had had no part in the project."

Marilyn agreed to play, and play she did, magnificently, using all of her considerable talent. The congregation was transfixed by the sound of the instrument. The magic took hold. Persons who had not responded to the fund appeal earlier, did so that Sunday. At the end of the service large numbers came forward to look at, and to listen to the piano, as Marilyn continued to play. In the weeks that followed pledges from the skeptics continued to flow into the church office. By the time all monies had been counted, not only was the necessary $8,500 raised, but an additional $1,200. The over subscription was fortunate, since money was needed for moving the piano, for a dolly, and for tuning.

Dr. Seelig was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

To the joy of all, that piano has produced a glorious sound in the sanctuary for 15 years.