{"id":2316,"date":"2008-08-19T18:38:02","date_gmt":"2008-08-19T18:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=2316"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:22:14","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:22:14","slug":"6520","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/08\/19\/6520\/","title":{"rendered":"Eighty Years at the Keyboard and Still Going Strong"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELKHORN, WI (August 19, 2008) \u2013 Ruth Cook was 12 years old when the regular pianist at church was unable to play and the Sunday school superintendent asked her to play \u201cI Would Be True.\u201d That was nearly 80 years ago, and Cook, who is 91, has been the pianist and organist at Millard Community Church<\/a> ever since.
\n
\nThe Evangelical Covenant Church congregation will honor her with a dinner and special program on September 7.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cEven though Ruth measures barely five feet in height she\u2019s very tall in the willing-to-serve department,\u201d says pastor Lyle Heinitz. \u201cI use Ruth often as an example of using our gifts for Christ\u2019s glory and not retiring from that service as long as we are able. She remains faithful, flexible, and fun as she willingly guides us in worship on Sunday mornings, at weddings, and at funerals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooks says she plans to continue to play as long as she is able. Her faith and commitment to the church have always guided her. Her parents brought her to church for the first time when she was just two weeks old and figures she has probably missed fewer than 50 Sundays since.<\/p>\n

Cook\u2019s childhood and youth centered on music, including piano lessons, playing trumpet in the high school marching band, and singing in the school\u2019s glee club. Although she gave up the trumpet, her music education didn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

In 1952, a church member unexpectedly donated a spinet organ to the church. \u201cIt just appeared in the back of the church,\u201d Cook says. She had never played an organ before that, but she took six years of organ lessons. The congregation eventually purchased another organ, which she later replaced. In 1984, she bargained with a dealer at the county fair and purchased two identical Hammond organs for $10,300\u2014one for the church and one for her home.<\/p>\n

Cook also served for a long time as the choir director, and recalls that the group was made up of only six members\u2014three each from two families. So, if one family was absent on a Sunday, there was no choir that day.<\/p>\n

The church sticks to mostly \u201cthe old hymns,\u201d says Cook, who counts \u201cWhat a Friend We Have in Jesus\u201d and \u201cHow Great Thou Art\u201d among her favorites.<\/p>\n

The church has purchased an electronic piano, but Cook doesn\u2019t play it. \u201cIt has too many buttons,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Cook says she found her niche playing piano and organ. \u201cI tried teaching Sunday school, and it didn\u2019t take long to realize I didn\u2019t want to do that,\u201d she says, laughing. \u201cBut I loved playing music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ELKHORN, WI (August 19, 2008) \u2013 Ruth Cook was 12 years old when the regular pianist at church was unable to play and the Sunday school superintendent asked her to play \u201cI Would Be True.\u201d That was nearly 80 years ago, and Cook, who is 91, has been the pianist and organist at Millard Community Church ever since.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEighty Years at the Keyboard and Still Going Strong - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/08\/19\/6520\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eighty Years at the Keyboard and Still Going Strong - 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