WEBVTT

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[gentle orchestral fanfare]

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♪

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[resonant strings lead
building orchestration]

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(male narrator)
Welcome to "Our State,"

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a production of UNC-TV

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in association
with "Our State" magazine--

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for over 75 years

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bringing readers
the wonders of North Carolina.

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On this edition,

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Asheville's Grovewood Gallery

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continues a long tradition
of craftsmanship...

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[bright tune]

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we'll meet
the long-time tree surgeon

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of UNC-Chapel Hill...

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and a third-generation family
business finds itself

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not just restoring pianos
but also preserving memories.

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♪

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[gentle piano melody]

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(male announcer)
Since 1872,

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BB&T has been supporting
the people and communities

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of North Carolina.

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From our small-town roots

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to the banking network
you see today,

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we've always been here
for all our clients,

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stretching from Manteo...
to Murphy.

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We're proud of our heritage

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as the oldest bank
in North Carolina,

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and we're very proud
to provide funding

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for "Our State."

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♪

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Quality public television
is made possible

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through the financial
contributions

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of viewers like you,

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who invite you to join them
in supporting UNC-TV.

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[gentle wooden flute melody]

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♪

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(narrator)
It's amazing
how some things change

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and yet remain the same.

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♪

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What began
as a wealthy patron's desire

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to perpetuate mountain crafts

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and lift up the people
who made them

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has, in just over
a hundred years,

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blossomed into one
of our state's and America's

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most well-regarded
craft stores.

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Here, in Asheville's
Grovewood Gallery,

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you'll find work for sale

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by more than 450
carefully chosen artists,

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including some in residence...

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just as their predecessors did
in these buildings

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beginning more
than a hundred years ago.

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[bouncy piano tune]

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During the late 1890s,

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on the doorstep
of a vigorous new century,

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Edith Vanderbilt, wife of
George Washington Vanderbilt,

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the progressive son
of New York industrialist

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Cornelius Vanderbilt,

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decided to help
the youth of a village

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that had been established
just outside the gates

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of their expansive
Biltmore Estate.

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The fruit
of that small beginning

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became Biltmore Estate
Industries in 1901.

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The business grew,
including woodworking

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and the spinning and weaving

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of locally sourced wool
into cloth.

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♪

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After the death
of George Vanderbilt in 1912,

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architect and builder
Fred Seely

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purchased the business
and moved it

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to seven
English-style cottages

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next to his father-in-law's
new Grove Park Inn,

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giving birth
to Biltmore Industries,

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which proved to be

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an extraordinarily
beneficial move.

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Grove Park Inn,
they advertised it

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as the finest resort hotel
in the world,

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so he did get
rich and famous people

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to come to Asheville.

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I tell people, anytime anybody
got their picture in the paper

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over three times
in a good light,

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he wanted to make sure
they had Homespun on 'em,

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and he was very successful.

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(narrator)
"Homespun" was the brand name

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Seely chose
for his new venture,

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and he was a master
at spreading it around.

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(Ball)
When they would come
to Grove Park Inn,

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Fred Seely would make sure
he made a--

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made their way over
to his little factory here

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to see the cloth bein' made,
and of course,

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most of those folks
were fascinated by it.

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And when they left,

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he made sure
they had some cloth,

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and then his next
advertisement would be,

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"Henry Ford wears Homespun.

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"Thomas Edison
wears Homespun.

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"President whoever--
Wilson, Hoover, Coolidge

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wears Homespun."

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(narrator)
After Fred Seely's death
in 1942,

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the textile business declined.

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Enter the scene
local automobile dealer

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and entrepreneur
Harry Blomberg,

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who, according
to his daughters,

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never turned down
a good real estate deal.

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He was always
buying--

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He got a good deal.

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But he was always
buying property.

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He always said,
"They're not making
any more land.

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He said "God is not
making any more land,"

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so he bought all--

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bought property
every opportunity he got.

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He didn't sell it;
he just bought it.

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(Ball)
Harry kept the weaving going
up until '81.

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He ran this--these buildings
as the Homespun Shops,

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which became
a very popular place.

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(narrator)
An antique car museum
was added in 1965.

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I do love
this car.

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[sparse guitar melody]

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Fifty-three
thousand miles.

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(Blomberg)
Oh my God.

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(woman)
Harry Blomberg
passed away in 1991,

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so his two daughters,
Marilyn and Babs,

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and Marilyn's husband
Buddy Patton

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were left with the businesses
to--to run.

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(narrator)
So they started renovating,

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eventually changing
the name of their business

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to Grovewood Gallery

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and began renting spaces
to artists.

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And it's to the--

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the Pattons' credit

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that they've kept it alive

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in the very space

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that got it started
in the beginning.

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(narrator)
Chris spent his early years
near Asheville

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and remembers seeing

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Harry Blomberg's business
in operation.

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And I'll never forget
going into the, uh--

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what's now the antique car
museum, which was--

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they had 40 looms running
in there at that time,

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and the sound of those looms
going simultaneously

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was just incredible.

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Beautiful, beautiful work
that they were doing.

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Kind of opened my eyes
a little bit

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to hear these guys,

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and they just sit here
all day,

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but look what they get
at the end of it

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and what they were able
to produce.

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(woman)
Chris cares a lot

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about the history

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of, um, Asheville

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and the area, and he--

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he saw himself
fitting in here,

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and he definitely does.

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(narrator)
Chris creates lovely,
high-end wooden flutes

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in his Grovewood studio,

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instruments
in demand worldwide

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for their dark, rich tone.

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He uses African blackwood
and other rare woods,

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which he ages for ten years.

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Abell Flute head-joints,
part sterling silver,

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are carefully finished
and voiced,

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assuring that each instrument

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has that distinctive
"Abell" sound.

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[gentle melody]

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This is Kate Steinbeck,
Chris's wife,

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whom we could
listen to all day

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should time allow.

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♪

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Carl Powell
makes glass art,

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stunningly layered
stained glass windows

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for both residences
and public buildings

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and laminated glass sculptures
with striking bevels

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and intricate
engraved patterns

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that seem to float
inside the form

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and change their perspective

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depending on the angle
from which you view them.

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(man)
I was very, very influenced

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by the constructivist
painters like Paul Klee, uh,

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Kandinsky, uh.

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Marc Chagall was
a big influence also, uh.

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In fact, when I see
a Kandinsky painting,

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I think of stained glass,
and I always have

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since I've been around
stained glass.

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(Masters)
Carl's work
is very contemporary.

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He's come up on his own
with several techniques

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to create his own style,

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and you know Carl Powell's
work when you see it.

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It's very distinctive.

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(Powell)
It's been a great place
to--to have a studio,

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a beautiful setting.

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You get to bring your dog
to work every day,

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and of course,
it's nice being next door

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to the Grove Park Inn

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and get some
of that traffic through here.

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So here I am--
heh, heh.

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(woman)
We love metalsmithing,

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but we also--
we love crafting.

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We like to make things
with our hands,

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and that's one thing
about these buildings,

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is they have that feeling

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that there's been
a lot of making--

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a lot of craft.

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(Masters)
Kathleen and Tom have to know
the different properties.

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I mean they work with silver,
gold, pewter, bronze, um...

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copper, pearls, diamonds.

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They work with so many
different materials,

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and they have
a very broad knowledge

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of everything in metals.

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Their work is substantial.

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It has a lot
of design to it.

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(narrator)
The process
they use to reproduce

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a finished piece of jewelry
is fascinating and complex.

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First they create a mold,

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then a wax model,

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followed by casting
and finishing.

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[soft marimba arrangement]

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♪

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And finally, they end up
with a piece of art.

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Not every artist
is a fit for Grovewood,

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either for studio
consideration

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or representation
in the gallery.

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Their work has to match
the gallery's look and feel,

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price points,
and professionalism.

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(Masters)
We only represent work
from the United States,

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and our mission really is
to show that to our visitors,

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to show them what artists
make in this country

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that really is
professionally done

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and--and, um,
also affordable,

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that people
can live with and enjoy.

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Another mission is to just
make our visitors feel good

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when they come here,

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to make them welcome
and feel at home here

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because it's a warm and--
and inviting space.

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(narrator)
Twenty-six thousand visitors
a year would likely agree,

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and we'd like to think

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that the many people
who helped create and build

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what has become Grovewood
Gallery over the years

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would as well...
were they here to see

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what has become
of the seeds they planted.

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Oh, look,
isn't that
beautiful?

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Gosh!
Just look!

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[chainsaw]
buzzing

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[tender, undulating
marimba melody]

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(narrator)
There's something compelling
about Carolina blue...

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if you're a Carolina fan,

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but there's also another
color closely identified

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with the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

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green.

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Not the green

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associated with
environmental conservation,

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the green that overarches
the 729-acre campus:

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trees.

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UNC's landscaping
has been an integral part

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of the university's identity

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since founder
William Richardson Davie

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and a committee from Raleigh
chose the spot

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and since the first students

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took shortcuts
across the quadrangle in 1795

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to get
where they wanted to go.

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The university's
setting was selected

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for maximum effect,
planned and groomed over time.

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It was centrally located

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on a hilltop
with an expansive view

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where an old chapel had stood,
tucked comfortably

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into a richly diverse
deciduous forest

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whose lush remnants remain
part of the campus today.

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[strings lead
rich arrangement]

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But have you ever wondered
how all this magnificence,

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this richly endowed landscape,
is maintained?

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Surely not by students
in their spare time

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and certainly
not by one man,

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although you might
easily think so,

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considering
the near-legendary status

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of the campus tree surgeon,
William "Bus" Hubbard.

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Whether you've been
at Carolina only a semester

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or for most of a lifetime,
you know who Bus is,

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even if not by name.

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He's the old guy
up in the trees.

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[harp flourish]

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It's shortly after 7 a.m.,
and Bus is ready for work

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after his typical
Spartan breakfast.

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I don't eat but one thing.

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I'll drink a glass
o' orange juice

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and work a half a day.

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I don't eat
no breakfast.

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I bet you I ain't eat
no breakfast in 40 years.

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(male interviewer)
How do you do that?

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I don't know;
that's just my habit,

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my habit, my habit...
my habit.

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I get the--my wife buy
them little orange juice,

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'bout that high,

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and I reach and get
one o' them; I'm full!

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(narrator)
You'd think he mighta
slowed down by now,

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but at age 78,
when most men's work life

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is just a memory,
Bus Hubbard is still at it,

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preparing to trim
a large, storm-damaged limb

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from this tree.

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If you've ever handled
a chain saw,

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especially
a big one like this,

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you know
that it's no easy job.

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It takes strength,
a lot of it,

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and plenty of patience...
plus endurance,

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something you'd expect
more of a man in his 30s

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than one knocking
on the door of 80.

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[chainsaw sputtering]

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We had, um,
a physical, um.

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This is 20 years ago now,

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and I can remember
going in after Bus

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to get my physical.

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And he said,
my goodness, Kirk.

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He said, that man has the body
of an Olympic athlete.

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(narrator)
Could it be
the mayonnaise sandwiches

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he's had for lunch
for the last 40 years...

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or perhaps the beans he gets
for supper most nights?

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No meat, so it must be
all that hard work

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and a positive attitude.

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Here's a guy who, you know,

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started as a...
humble grounds worker

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and, I think,
really understands

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the mission
of the whole place.

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He may not be
a Carolina basketball fan,

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but he loves Carolina,

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and he knows
what this place is about,

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and he knows that the trees

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and the beauty of the place
add to it,

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and he knows
that he's part of that.

14:04.834 --> 14:06.735
It's--it's hard work.

14:06.835 --> 14:10.067
It's his dedication,
and it's his spirit

14:10.167 --> 14:14.066
of just...being the best
that he can be.

14:15.334 --> 14:17.835
(narrator)
An attitude
that was apparent early on

14:17.935 --> 14:20.767
when the boss needed somebody
from the landscaping crew

14:20.867 --> 14:22.768
to work in the trees.

14:22.868 --> 14:26.167
The boss man come in
with a tree climber...

14:26.267 --> 14:30.101
and I started--he wanted--
they wanted somebody to climb,

14:30.201 --> 14:32.534
and I started with him,
going out.

14:32.634 --> 14:34.634
Me and him'd go out
half a day,

14:34.735 --> 14:38.068
and he'd go up in the tree,
and he'd sit there and wait.

14:38.168 --> 14:42.101
He'd sit there and wait on me
to walk all out on the limbs,

14:42.201 --> 14:45.401
and everyone just--

14:45.501 --> 14:48.634
Go out every half a day--

14:48.735 --> 14:51.302
that's the only way
I learned it.

14:51.402 --> 14:55.234
(narrator)
Back then, work was tough,
and wages were sparse.

14:55.334 --> 14:58.668
Twenty five cents an hour--
that's when I started.

14:58.768 --> 15:02.067
He has been here
for every graduation,

15:02.167 --> 15:03.434
58 years.

15:03.534 --> 15:06.034
He's been here
for every special event.

15:06.134 --> 15:08.667
He's been here
for every snowfall.

15:08.767 --> 15:10.334
He's always here.

15:10.434 --> 15:11.601
[chainsaw buzzing]

15:11.701 --> 15:13.967
(narrator)
If working
can be seen as art,

15:14.067 --> 15:15.967
Bus Hubbard is a master.

15:16.067 --> 15:19.467
Like a fine artist,
he knows his tools...

15:19.567 --> 15:21.800
and his trees.

15:21.900 --> 15:24.934
This job's almost done.

15:25.034 --> 15:26.800
Just a gentle push...

15:26.900 --> 15:28.067
[limb thudding]

15:28.167 --> 15:31.101
and the limb's final section
falls to the ground.

15:31.201 --> 15:33.534
[high strings introduce
tender arrangement]

15:33.634 --> 15:37.267
As spring rolls into summer
and then back into fall,

15:37.368 --> 15:39.267
the Carolina landscape
changes character

15:39.368 --> 15:40.768
with the seasons,

15:40.868 --> 15:43.734
and who's to say one is more
beautiful than the other.

15:43.834 --> 15:45.735
The whole effect is calming,

15:45.835 --> 15:49.101
as a walk from classroom
to dorm ought to be,

15:49.201 --> 15:51.368
given the challenges
of college life.

15:51.468 --> 15:53.368
And looming
over the students

15:53.468 --> 15:55.468
as if chaperoning them
to class

15:55.568 --> 15:57.934
stands UNC's
revered Davie Poplar.

15:58.034 --> 16:00.301
Bus knows the 300-
to 400-year-old-tree

16:00.401 --> 16:02.101
like an old friend.

16:02.201 --> 16:04.601
It looks like
it would just bust right down,

16:04.701 --> 16:07.234
but it's holdin' on,
I'll tell you that.

16:07.334 --> 16:09.568
(narrator)
As long
as this big, misshapen,

16:09.668 --> 16:11.768
lighting-struck
tulip poplar stands,

16:11.868 --> 16:15.301
legend says that
the university will thrive.

16:15.401 --> 16:18.234
Should anything happen
to the old tree,

16:18.334 --> 16:20.234
practically
an unimaginable event,

16:20.334 --> 16:23.167
Davie Poplar Jr.
and Davie Poplar III

16:23.267 --> 16:25.267
are growing nearby,

16:25.368 --> 16:28.667
planted in 1918 and 1993

16:28.767 --> 16:31.501
from the older tree's seeds.

16:31.601 --> 16:37.301
But what happens when...
or if...Bus finally retires?

16:37.401 --> 16:38.768
The university's trees

16:38.868 --> 16:41.002
will continue
to spread their limbs.

16:41.102 --> 16:45.134
Storms will do their best
to undo all of his good work,

16:45.234 --> 16:46.900
and spring
will come to campus

16:47.001 --> 16:49.234
as surely
as a new crop of students

16:49.334 --> 16:52.101
plans on showing up
at the end of summer.

16:52.201 --> 16:53.468
And who knows?

16:53.568 --> 16:55.201
Perhaps
some burly young newcomer

16:55.301 --> 16:57.201
with a gold standard
work ethic

16:57.301 --> 16:59.201
will show up just in time,

16:59.301 --> 17:02.568
ready to shoulder the task
for another 60 or so years

17:02.668 --> 17:05.533
once the big man's days
at Carolina are done.

17:05.633 --> 17:07.034
But then again,

17:07.134 --> 17:09.301
it very well
could take two of 'em

17:09.401 --> 17:11.167
to do this one man's job,

17:11.267 --> 17:13.434
just like those two
younger Davie Poplars

17:13.534 --> 17:15.433
waiting in the wings.

17:15.533 --> 17:17.533
♪

17:23.601 --> 17:25.500
[soft piano
melody]

17:25.600 --> 17:29.767
♪

17:29.867 --> 17:31.500
[clattering]

17:31.600 --> 17:33.901
♪

17:34.002 --> 17:37.001
(narrator)
This is one
of the lucky ones...

17:37.101 --> 17:39.368
among thousands
of worn-out, old pianos

17:39.468 --> 17:42.900
that either get junked
every year in our country...

17:43.001 --> 17:45.633
or chosen for restoration.

17:45.734 --> 17:47.834
For these fortunate ones,

17:47.934 --> 17:50.368
here is where hope begins

17:50.468 --> 17:52.934
thanks to a family
of piano repairmen

17:53.034 --> 17:55.934
with the unlikely name
of Kluttz.

17:56.034 --> 17:57.301
But the truth

17:57.401 --> 17:59.634
is that this third-generation
Salisbury business

17:59.735 --> 18:02.368
almost never got off
the ground at all...

18:02.468 --> 18:06.101
save for a steam engine...
that looked a lot like this.

18:06.201 --> 18:08.101
[bouncy piano chords]

18:08.201 --> 18:10.701
(older man)
My father worked
for the railroad.

18:10.801 --> 18:13.667
He was conductor
on a train, and, uh...

18:13.767 --> 18:15.601
[ominous piano chord]

18:15.701 --> 18:18.201
(man)
My grandfather
was in a bad train wreck

18:18.301 --> 18:19.934
and got burnt.

18:20.034 --> 18:21.667
With the little bit of money

18:21.767 --> 18:23.400
that they might have paid him

18:23.500 --> 18:24.768
for his injuries,

18:24.868 --> 18:27.034
his brother talked him
into buyin' a couple

18:27.134 --> 18:30.634
used, old upright pianos
to fix up and sell.

18:30.735 --> 18:33.434
In the '30s and '40s,
they would load two uprights

18:33.534 --> 18:35.568
on a pickup truck
and take off.

18:35.668 --> 18:37.634
(older man)
A lot of times,
they'd go

18:37.735 --> 18:40.001
to the
eastern part
of the state,

18:40.101 --> 18:41.568
tobacco country.

18:41.668 --> 18:44.134
(Jonathan)
Just doin' cold sales,
knockin' on doors and sayin',

18:44.234 --> 18:46.001
"Would you be
interested in a piano?"

18:46.101 --> 18:47.867
The way they tell me,
it was,

18:47.967 --> 18:49.735
"Oh, no,
we don't need a piano."

18:49.835 --> 18:52.568
"Keep it for a week or two,
and we'll be back.

18:52.668 --> 18:55.134
If you're not interested,
no cost, we'll pick it up."

18:55.234 --> 18:57.935
Most of the time, they would
end up fallin' in love

18:58.035 --> 19:00.534
or somebody would play it
enough to wanna keep it.

19:00.634 --> 19:02.668
So that's how
they kinda got their start,

19:02.768 --> 19:04.534
and it kept goin',
kept growin',

19:04.634 --> 19:07.234
and my dad and my uncle
inherited the business.

19:07.334 --> 19:09.767
It's been passed on now
for three generations

19:09.867 --> 19:12.101
to a cousin and to me.

19:12.201 --> 19:15.967
♪

19:16.067 --> 19:19.101
For the most part,
when we get a piano in

19:19.201 --> 19:21.401
to restore,
it's at a condition

19:21.501 --> 19:24.867
where it's either fix it
or get rid of it.

19:24.967 --> 19:27.201
[bouncy chords conclude]

19:27.301 --> 19:28.634
Most of the time,

19:28.735 --> 19:30.067
it's the sentimental
attachment,

19:30.167 --> 19:31.600
the family heirloom.

19:31.700 --> 19:33.201
A piano that coulda been--

19:33.301 --> 19:36.034
just as my business is two
or three, four generations,

19:36.134 --> 19:37.767
that piano
might stretch back three,

19:37.867 --> 19:39.501
and they wanna pass it on

19:39.601 --> 19:41.234
for another two
or three forward,

19:41.334 --> 19:43.834
so you can have literally
four or five, six generations

19:43.934 --> 19:45.735
ownin' one instrument.

19:45.835 --> 19:47.634
(narrator)
When you've been
working together

19:47.735 --> 19:49.601
as long
as these men have,

19:49.701 --> 19:52.368
Ray Kluttz in front,
son Jonathan on the right,

19:52.468 --> 19:54.368
and nephew Paul on the left,

19:54.468 --> 19:56.901
you eventually fall into
a natural, practical rhythm.

19:57.002 --> 19:59.201
(Jonathan)
I came here;
I was mowin' the yard

19:59.301 --> 20:01.401
when I was eight or nine,
sweepin' floors,

20:01.501 --> 20:03.401
doin' whatever needed
to be done.

20:03.501 --> 20:05.734
I just grew up
in the business.

20:05.834 --> 20:08.068
[tender piano melody]

20:08.168 --> 20:11.400
(narrator)
Paul's been here since
he was born, basically, too.

20:11.500 --> 20:13.701
[sander humming]

20:13.801 --> 20:16.334
One of our weaknesses,
the other one has a strength

20:16.434 --> 20:17.934
that can overcome
that weakness.

20:18.034 --> 20:19.668
I wanna be on the road

20:19.768 --> 20:21.934
or out with people
or sellin' or--

20:22.034 --> 20:24.067
or just tearin'
somethin' apart,

20:24.167 --> 20:26.800
whereas Paul has the patience,
I have none.

20:26.900 --> 20:28.334
He can do the--

20:28.434 --> 20:31.266
the tedious things
that I can't do.

20:32.534 --> 20:34.501
I don't know
where I got my personality.

20:34.601 --> 20:36.368
It wasn't from dad,
that's for sure,

20:36.468 --> 20:37.734
'cause he's quiet.

20:37.834 --> 20:40.568
He's a talker
more than I am.

20:40.668 --> 20:42.633
Sometimes,
he talks too much.

20:42.734 --> 20:43.967
[raspy
laughter]

20:44.067 --> 20:45.834
Aw, jeez!

20:45.934 --> 20:48.834
♪

20:48.934 --> 20:51.101
[playing scale]

20:51.201 --> 20:53.835
(narrator)
Each of the 88 keys
is connected

20:53.935 --> 20:58.067
to an intricate array
of piano action parts,

20:58.167 --> 21:00.901
more than 50 of them
per note.

21:01.002 --> 21:04.501
They have names like hammer,
damper, knuckle, and wippen,

21:04.601 --> 21:06.501
and all must be
perfectly mated

21:06.601 --> 21:08.867
if the note
is to play correctly.

21:08.967 --> 21:11.067
[animated piano melody]

21:11.167 --> 21:17.267
♪

21:17.368 --> 21:20.034
(man)
No two pianos
really play the same

21:20.134 --> 21:22.267
or sound the same.

21:22.368 --> 21:26.266
Each one has its own tone,
its own feel to the keys.

21:26.367 --> 21:29.534
♪

21:29.634 --> 21:31.735
(narrator)
The old Steinway
now in the shop

21:31.835 --> 21:34.934
is on its way to getting
a new set of strings,

21:35.034 --> 21:36.935
around 230 of them.

21:37.035 --> 21:40.134
(man #2)
They each have from 195
to 200 inch-pounds

21:40.234 --> 21:41.934
of torque tension
per string.

21:42.034 --> 21:44.034
All of it totaled
together is something

21:44.134 --> 21:45.834
over 30,000 foot-pounds.

21:45.934 --> 21:47.568
I don't see what keeps it

21:47.668 --> 21:49.567
from folding up
like an accordion.

21:49.667 --> 21:51.568
♪

21:51.668 --> 21:53.834
(narrator)
Piano restoration
also includes steps

21:53.934 --> 21:56.067
as ageless as sanding

21:56.167 --> 21:59.167
and then refinishing
piano cabinet components,

21:59.267 --> 22:02.134
the furniture part...

22:02.234 --> 22:04.934
like these massive legs
undergoing restoration

22:05.034 --> 22:06.735
before being reunited

22:06.835 --> 22:09.034
with the rest
of the instrument.

22:09.134 --> 22:12.568
♪

22:12.668 --> 22:14.935
(Jonathan)
Every piano that we get in

22:15.035 --> 22:18.102
usually has some kind
of storyline with it.

22:18.202 --> 22:20.800
(narrator)
This square grand
was in pretty tough shape.

22:20.900 --> 22:22.201
In normal circumstances,

22:22.301 --> 22:24.301
its next step
likely would be the dump.

22:24.401 --> 22:26.034
But then, there's
all that fascinating

22:26.134 --> 22:27.401
Civil War history

22:27.501 --> 22:29.401
that the owner
began talking about.

22:29.501 --> 22:32.067
(Jonathan)
She was telling me
that when Sherman

22:32.167 --> 22:33.768
was marchin' up
from Fayetteville,

22:33.868 --> 22:36.468
he was meeting armies
comin' out of New Bern.

22:36.568 --> 22:38.800
They would just come through
and slash and burn,

22:38.900 --> 22:40.667
and they would
just take your stuff,

22:40.767 --> 22:42.734
put it in a pile,
and burn it.

22:42.834 --> 22:44.468
When they came
into the home,

22:44.568 --> 22:46.801
one of the colonels
or one of the generals

22:46.901 --> 22:49.634
saw a Masonic emblem
and told the soldiers,

22:49.735 --> 22:51.767
"When we leave here,
don't destroy this farm.

22:51.867 --> 22:53.534
He's a brother Mason."

22:53.634 --> 22:55.967
(narrator)
This piano
may not have been burned,

22:56.067 --> 22:58.967
but as time went on,
six generations of heat,

22:59.067 --> 23:01.034
humidity, and critters
did their best

23:01.134 --> 23:03.701
to nearly rid the thing
of its usefulness.

23:03.801 --> 23:06.534
So what we'll do is come in,
replace the bad wood,

23:06.634 --> 23:09.167
and then it'll be patched in
with a rosewood veneer,

23:09.267 --> 23:11.234
and then, of course,
on top of that,

23:11.334 --> 23:13.401
we will have
the moldin' back around it,

23:13.501 --> 23:15.468
so everything
will be pieced back together.

23:15.568 --> 23:18.134
And then, when we started
takin' it apart, you know,

23:18.234 --> 23:20.634
just pullin' the guts
out of it and everything,

23:20.735 --> 23:23.434
we literally got
about five gallons of pecans

23:23.534 --> 23:26.401
that the rodents
might have stored in it.

23:26.501 --> 23:30.868
(Paul)
Yeah, the, uh--the years
weren't good to this piano.

23:30.968 --> 23:34.067
Anything on here broke,
you have to make by hand.

23:34.167 --> 23:37.701
You can't look
in the catalog and order it.

23:37.801 --> 23:40.967
(Jonathan)
But Pa found
on this key here--

23:41.067 --> 23:44.167
it's dated May
the 16th, 1858.

23:44.267 --> 23:46.234
This gentleman
may have signed all his work

23:46.334 --> 23:50.267
when he created a new piano,
so it wasn't that old a piano

23:50.368 --> 23:52.601
when it was threatened
to be burned

23:52.701 --> 23:56.001
when Sherman marched through
and they spared the farm.

23:56.101 --> 23:57.600
But we are
sellin', um,

23:57.700 --> 23:59.034
pecans
by the pound

23:59.134 --> 24:02.067
'to help offset the cost
that we're havin' here--

24:02.167 --> 24:04.468
heh, heh, heh!

24:04.568 --> 24:06.601
(narrator)
Pianos, like their owners,

24:06.701 --> 24:08.768
have distinct personalities,

24:08.868 --> 24:12.501
and the Kluttzes approach
the restoration of each one

24:12.601 --> 24:16.434
with a respect
bordering on reverence...

24:16.534 --> 24:18.667
clearly acknowledging
the work of the craftsmen

24:18.767 --> 24:20.668
who came before them.

24:20.768 --> 24:23.167
It's almost like
there's an unwritten pact

24:23.267 --> 24:26.034
between the generations
to make these instruments

24:26.134 --> 24:29.501
as new and perfect
as possible.

24:29.601 --> 24:31.968
(Jonathan)
The last time
when that screw was touched

24:32.068 --> 24:35.267
is when somebody in 1908
put the screw in the piano

24:35.368 --> 24:37.201
to put it together,

24:37.301 --> 24:39.668
and then
we touch it in 2011.

24:39.768 --> 24:42.734
We want it to be exactly
how it was meant to be

24:42.834 --> 24:44.334
when it was manufactured.

24:44.434 --> 24:47.001
That's what our goal is.

24:47.101 --> 24:49.368
While I enjoy the process
of pickin' 'em up

24:49.468 --> 24:51.701
and dealin' with 'em
on that end,

24:51.801 --> 24:53.767
the fun end
is on the reverse end

24:53.867 --> 24:55.434
when you're takin' it back

24:55.534 --> 24:58.001
and the process
has been completed.

24:58.101 --> 25:01.102
The piano's been restored.

25:01.202 --> 25:03.768
(narrator)
The grand being delivered
to this lucky couple

25:03.868 --> 25:05.767
today in Charlotte
is a Chickering.

25:05.867 --> 25:07.768
Can you handle
that turn, Ray?

25:07.868 --> 25:10.501
(narrator)
A venerable, old,
American-made instrument--

25:10.601 --> 25:13.267
in fact,
a grandma's piano.

25:13.368 --> 25:15.834
A grandma's piano
is made of memories,

25:15.934 --> 25:17.834
harkening back
to a different time.

25:17.934 --> 25:19.534
(Jonathan, strenuously)
Ohh! Aggh!

25:19.634 --> 25:20.968
(narrator)
When family entertainment

25:21.068 --> 25:23.334
centered for the most part
around the piano,

25:23.434 --> 25:26.034
so much so
that it was hard to imagine

25:26.134 --> 25:28.633
an early-20th-century home
without one.

25:28.734 --> 25:30.633
[tender piano melody]

25:30.734 --> 25:32.001
For sentimental
reasons,

25:32.101 --> 25:33.467
I wanted the piano

25:33.567 --> 25:35.002
no matter what

25:35.102 --> 25:37.501
'cause that's what I remember
my mother playin'

25:37.601 --> 25:40.935
by how nice
it's restored, like this.

25:41.035 --> 25:43.800
(Jonathan)
I was just tellin' her,
these are the same ivories

25:43.900 --> 25:45.234
that her
great-grandmother,

25:45.334 --> 25:46.834
her great-aunt,
her mother,

25:46.934 --> 25:49.901
and now she's
touchin' 'em.

25:50.002 --> 25:52.934
By doin' what we do,
we're sorta extendin'

25:53.034 --> 25:55.101
the life
of the instrument.

25:55.201 --> 25:57.134
We're extendin'
the gift of music

25:57.234 --> 26:00.034
so it can be passed on
to another generation.

26:00.134 --> 26:01.967
[tune concludes]

26:02.067 --> 26:03.401
[tender, flowing melody]

26:03.501 --> 26:05.468
(narrator)
Well, you may
have guessed by now

26:05.568 --> 26:07.468
that the story
we're telling here

26:07.568 --> 26:10.401
is really more
about family than pianos.

26:10.501 --> 26:12.401
The family in the business

26:12.501 --> 26:15.101
and the family
of customers they serve,

26:15.201 --> 26:17.334
people who might not
be able to have

26:17.434 --> 26:19.167
their precious heirloom
restored at all

26:19.267 --> 26:21.334
were it not
for Kluttz Piano Company

26:21.434 --> 26:24.501
and their eagerness to take on
even the most challenging

26:24.601 --> 26:26.601
of these old instruments.

26:26.701 --> 26:28.734
(Ray)
Yeah, we have a lot
around there

26:28.834 --> 26:30.867
that are
in pretty bad shape,

26:30.967 --> 26:34.567
we fix up
'cause it's our love...

26:35.834 --> 26:37.767
love of pianos.

26:37.867 --> 26:39.767
[gentle, rising notes]

26:39.867 --> 26:43.266
♪

26:45.167 --> 26:47.867
[strings lead piano and harp
in rich arrangement]

26:47.967 --> 26:58.467
♪

26:58.567 --> 27:00.533
[oboe leads]

27:00.633 --> 27:04.234
♪

27:04.334 --> 27:07.067
[Beethoven's Piano Sonata in
C minor, Op. 13, "Pathetique"]

27:07.167 --> 27:21.001
♪

27:21.101 --> 27:27.967
♪

27:28.067 --> 27:29.835
Caption Editors
Erin Gibbs & Will Halman

27:29.935 --> 27:31.433
Caption Perfect, Inc.
www.CaptionPerfect.com

27:31.533 --> 27:35.033
♪

27:37.135 --> 27:39.768
(announcer)
To subscribe
to "Our State" magazine,

27:39.868 --> 27:43.600
visit the Web site
ourstate.com or call...

27:48.601 --> 27:51.167
[strings support
gentle piano melody]

27:51.267 --> 27:54.767
From the time BB&T
opened its doors in 1872

27:54.867 --> 27:56.568
in the town of Wilson,

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we've supported
the people and communities

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of North Carolina

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from the Outer Banks
to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

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We've been in business
for 136 years,

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making us the oldest bank
in North Carolina.

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We're proud
of this distinction,

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and we're also very proud

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to provide funding
for "Our State."

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♪

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Quality public television
is made possible

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through the financial
contributions

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of viewers like you,

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who invite you to join them
in supporting UNC-TV.