Attending organ concert, meeting radio host Michael Barone fulfill Eau Claire man's dream

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Feb. 22, 2022, edition of the Leader-Telegram, which serves Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley in Wisconsin. It is reprinted here with kind permission.

EAU CLAIRE — It was only appropriate that the host of the American Public Media radio show “Pipedreams” was also the host of a surprise organ concert Monday [Feb. 21, 2022] arranged for Charlie Reid of Eau Claire.

Not only is Reid a longtime fan of “Pipedreams” and host Michael Barone, but the idea of the 90-year-old Reid, now a resident at Azura Memory Care who struggles with multiple physical ailments, attending a concert of his beloved pipe organ seemed like a bit of a pipe dream.

But this dream came true Monday thanks to Azura’s MOSAIC Dream program, which sets up special experiences for residents of its 14 facilities in Wisconsin, often related to past activities they enjoyed or things they’ve never done but always wanted to do.

“It’s kind of like a make-a-wish program except we’re doing it for older adults,” said Justine Barton, director of MOSAIC training and engagement for Azura.

For Reid, that meant giving him the opportunity to attend an organ recital.

Reid’s daughter, Kathy Reid Walker, suggested the concert and the possibility of her dad receiving a letter from Barone.

Azura reached out to Elaine Mann, who heads the Chippewa Valley chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is also the organist at Grace Lutheran Church, and she agreed to put together a program for Reid, his family and several Azura residents and church members.

When organizers contacted Barone about writing a letter that could be read at the concert, he offered instead to drive over from his home in Minnesota and host the program.

Monday’s recital at Grace Lutheran included four pieces — two played by Mann and two by retired UW-Eau Claire organ professor Paul Kosower — that resounded through the sanctuary.

Perched in his wheelchair at the front of the church with family members by his side, Reid smiled and watched intently as the organists performed in the church balcony, listened carefully as Barone shared stories about the composers and joined the crowd in clapping enthusiastically after each of the works.

“Words are difficult, but his expression says it all,” Reid Walker said of her dad, who she believes was particularly excited to meet Barone.

Both Reid Walker and her brother, Stuart Reid of Minnesota, recalled that their dad, a retired Presbyterian minister who used to play the organ himself, always loved listening to “Pipedreams.”

“It was sacred time. You didn’t disturb him when ‘Pipedreams’ was on,” said Reid Walker, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Eau Claire, adding that she is sure Charlie Reid recognized Barone’s familiar voice.

“Organ music has always been a part of his life, so there’s no better way to do a tribute to him than this,” Stuart Reid said immediately after the concert.

For his part, Barone said he was pleased to be part of the event and presented Charlie Reid with a box full of compact discs of the nationally distributed radio program.

“I was particularly touched that Charlie had been a religious listener to my ‘Pipedreams’ programs, as every broadcaster loves knowing that we have someone actually listening,” Barone said. “That’s special stuff.”

In his remarks at the recital, Barone made it clear that he shares Reid’s love for the organ.

“He knows and I know ... that the organ does speak in a unique way, and the power of its voice, the subtlety of its voice and the nuances of its color continue over hundreds of years to attract our attention, to command our appreciation, to entertain us, to surprise us,” Barone said. “Every day I learn something more, I hear something new. It’s a continuous surprise and delight, and I expect for Charlie it’s been the same.”

It was apparent from Charlie’s vigorous nodding that Barone’s analysis — and the concert itself — hit all the right notes.

Contact: 715-833-9209, eric.lindquist@ecpc.com, @ealscoop on Twitter