REFLECTIONS

How many readers out there like to combine some tasty pizza with some of their favorite musical tunes?
Take a trip to Mesa, Arizona and you will find another wonder of the world. It's called Organ Stop Pizza and it combines your favorite pizza choices with some music you love.
My wife, Judy, and I were introduced to this phenomenon on our recent visit to Mesa, the winter home of Judy's sister Cindi Hansen and her husband, Darrell. They always introduce their guests to this experience which can be repeated over and over.
As soon as you enter this establishment, you begin to hear an orchestra supreme.
Let's read from a brochure that also doubles as a menu for the many kinds of pizza, pastas, sandwiches, ice cream, soft drinks, draft beer and wine that are available.
Seating accommodates those who wish to sit close to the organ, or to those who wish to enjoy the organ sounds from a balcony.
Guests can write their musical choices on a small slip of paper and place it in a request box.
Cindi Hansen requested "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. We requested Canon D and "Hey Jude." We also heard these popular pieces: "Sound of Music," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Mission Impossible," "Country Roads," etc.
Pipe organ’s history
, according to the Organ Stop Pizza's menu/promotional brochure:
“In 1972, the original Organ Stop Pizza restaurant premiered in Phoenix at the corner of 7th Street and Missouri Avenue with a Wurlitzer pipe organ which was originally built for Grauman’s Hollywood Egyptian Theater,” according to the Organ Stop Pizza's menu/promotional brochure.
“This unique concept of a pizza parlor with a pipe organ was envisioned by William P. Brown, a Phoenix real estate developer whose enthusiasm for the theater pipe organ and its music led to the creation of this landmark attraction.
“The phenomenal success of the Phoenix restaurant prompted plans to open another Organ Stop in Mesa. It opened in 1975 near the corner of Dobson and Southern Avenue with a Wurlitzer organ from the Denver Theater in Denver, Colorado.
“In the theater, the Denver instrument had 15 ranks, or sets of pipes. The instrument was totally rebuilt, and the decision was made to enlarge the organ to 23 ranks for its debut in the new Mesa Organ Stop.
“The success and popularity of the new Organ Stop Pizza mirrored that of the Phoenix location. In 1984, Bill Brown decided to retire from the restaurant business. The Phoenix “Organ Stop was sold to a real estate developer, who sold the pipe organ and demolished the building in favor of an office complex.
“Incidentally, that instrument was sold to a couple in Downers Grove, Ill., for installation in their home! The Mesa Organ Stop was sold to longtime employee and manager Mike Everitt and his business partner Brad Bishop.
“Under the new ownership, improvement of the pipe organ became a high priority. Over the course of the ensuing years, careful acquisition of rare pipework and percussions were made, culminating in what is now the largest Wurlitzer pipe organ in the world.
“With the change in ownership, the restaurant continued to gain in popularity. Inevitably, plans were made to move into a facility twice the size of the original in order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of patrons and ever-expanding organ.
“This new mega facility, located at the corner of Stapley Drive and Southern Avenue, was designed specifically to accommodate the expanding scope and size of the Organ Stop Wurlitzer. Construction of the new facility began in May of 1995 and the grand opening was Thanksgiving weekend of that same year.
“In its new and improved location, Organ Stop Pizza and its Mighty Wurlitzer have come to be known as the biggest and best in the world as attested to by many of the world’s finest theater organists and, more importantly, the hundreds of thousands of patrons who visit each year.
“There are continuing efforts to make additions and improvements to the organ, endeavoring to fine tune the instrument closer and closer to perfection.”
On the day we visited Organ Stop, Brett Valliant was the organist. He is a native of Wichita, Kan. and began piano studies at age 4. He joined the Organ Stop musical staff in 2015.
Other highlights
The Organ Stop Pizza visit was not the only highlight of  our week-long visit to the Hansens.
We were on the go constantly, visiting the huge Mesa Market, taking a tour of The Olive Mill, attending a Wild West shootout at Goldfield in Mesa, seeing the wild horses near Mesa and enjoying the benefits Darrell and Cindi have from being a resident of the Valle Del Oro resort.
There are activities galore in this retirement park. It accommodates over 3,000 persons.
I will share more in future columns about the fun to be enjoyed during the winter season in Mesa. We also hooked up with some other Blooming Prairie friends.