Composer, performer, and expert restorer of pipe organs in need of tender loving care, guest speaker Thomas Helms was a self-taught musician before he graduated with honors in organ performance and church music from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth where he was also awarded TCU’s prestigious Performer’s Certificate. Since his graduation, Thomas has studied organ performance extensively in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, and currently serves as organist and director of music for the diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. He has composed twenty-six film scores and five ballets. Most notably, his score for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was featured on National Public Television.

Tom comes to Beaumont to restore the 1927 pipe organ in the Jefferson Theater, which was damaged in Hurricane Rita in 2005 and again in Hurricane Harvey in 2017. As Tom noted, “pipe organs are allergic to water and plaster dust.” He has spent a great deal of time in the attic or the basement of the theater putting the organ back to rights. While adding stops to make the organ more versatile and add variety, the original pipes remain in the walls of the theater. Tom passed around several pipes and Rotarians could not resist creating an occasional toot. Tom called the Jefferson theater’s organ one of the “finest theater organs anywhere.” There are 1,300 pipes in the organ’s ranks and under each are two leather pneumatics that will last one hundred years after restoration. Tom noted that the movable console with the keys is only the command center, and the heart of the organ are the tin and lead pipes positioned throughout the building. The pipe organ was made by the Robert Morton Company and Beaumont’s theater organ is one of only thirty still in existence. One Rotarian wondered what the difference was between a theater organ and a church organ. Tom drily replied, “a bowtie.” Seriously, the number of sounds available, such as percussion, chimes, violin, flute, and other stops, make a theater organ a virtual orchestra. Another Rotarian asked if the Jefferson Theater had any plans for student field trips, and Tom noted that indeed that is on the agenda. Another question focused on the air generation for the pipes, which comes from an electric turbine in the basement that pumps air through the walls. And finally, Tom noted that like many mechanical devices, a pipe organ must be played to be kept in shape. Thomas Ashworth, the project manager for the City of Beaumont, also attended.

Upcoming performance of note: July 22, 2023, silent black and white comedy from 1924 starring actor Buster Keaton, Sherlock Jr. A grand theater, a first-class pipe organ, and a riotous movie will unite to guarantee an entertaining evening in downtown Beaumont thanks to the efforts of Thomas Helms and with support from the Mamie McFaddin Ward Heritage Foundation and others.