Ashland — From where Harry “Tom” Chaplin sits, the view is priceless.
Chaplin, 72, of Ft. Myers, Fla., knows exactly what motivates him to travel to Ashland to play his calliope in the annual Christmas Parade.
“It’s for one reason — it’s for the kids,” Chaplin said Monday while preparing, along with his friend Gary Tomlin, to go over his truck-mounted pipe organ to make sure the antique music maker is ready for action.
“I’ll play all of the kid’s songs like Frosty The Snowman and those little kids will just jump up and down and that’s what it’s all about. I get the kids in the Christmas mood. Just the smile on those kids faces makes it all worth it.”
Chaplin, who grew up near Marietta, has been providing a medley of holiday melodies from the small keyboard of his calliope for years. He took over the job from fellow Shriner Ray Brewer.
“He was getting older and couldn’t last through a whole parade. I was asked to ride along and help out,” he remembered.
The instrument itself is a bit of mystery, Chaplin said.
“Nobody really knows where that thing came from. It may have been part of an old merry-go-round. It’s not big enough to have been from a riverboat like they used,” Chaplin said, explaining the air-powered organ was recovered in an old garage and hadn’t been played for many years before it became a staple in the Shriners’ parade line up.
The calliope made it’s parade debut in Ironton several years ago and has since provided a platform for the music of the season.
“I try to play songs that are appropriate for the time,” he said. “For example in the Ironton parade I would play In the Good Old Summertime.”
Chaplin has tried to research the make and model of the instrument, although little information has been available.
The festive-voiced calliope uses a Briggs&Stratton; engine to generate the wind it uses, he said, and utilizes a small keyboard to make melodies.
“It’s almost like a one-finger typewriter,” he said with a chuckle, noting he plays a rotation of Christmas song melodies to keep things interesting as he moves along the parade route. “I can’t play anything too complicated on it. Some of the whistles are out of tune ... and sometimes it’s my mistake, too!”
Watching the excitement and expression of children along the parade route, Chaplin said he can easily recall his own childhood memories about the anticipation of Christmas. The happy children are also a reflection of the role he and fellow Shriners play in helping children, Chaplin said.
The annual Christmas parade is set to start in downtown Ashland at 7 tonight. This year’s theme is “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” with the 201st Engineer Battalion as the co-grand marshals.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.
Local News
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Gary Tomlin attaches a whistle to the calliope after cleaning it. Kevin Goldy
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