8/21/2019 Outdoor piano to return summer 2020 - News - Boone News-Republican - Boone, IA

Outdoor piano to return summer 2020

By Michael Murrell General Intern
Posted Jun 27, 2019 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 27, 2019 at 2:17 PM
The famous Boone outdoor piano that toured the downtown area of Boone in
the summers of 2015 through 2017 could be making a return.

Local piano restorer Chuck Behm, Owner of River City Piano Restorations, is
building a new outdoor piano for the city.

The original outdoor piano was decommissioned after it was forced to sit out in
the elements in the winter of 2018.

Behm originally asked people for advice on Facebook for how to fix the original
piano before deciding it would be easier to just build a new one.

A new piano was donated to Behm for the project and he has started a
GoFundMe on Facebook to help raise money for the piano.

The piano used to travel from business to business where it would stay for a
week.

“It’s something you don’t normally find in bigger towns and it’s something that
can help make our town unique,” said Susan Schafer Owner of The Book Shoppe
downtown. “That’s what we need, more interactive, fun things.”

The outdoor piano was very popular at the local Dutch Oven Bakery who usually
had the piano during Pufferbilly Days in Boone.

“I think people just really enjoyed something a little bit different,” said Owner of
the Dutch Oven Bakery Terri Van Hemert. “They sat down and played music.
We had some people play the piano and one person sang.”

Behm specifically modified the piano to be able to be played even if it was in the
rain. Water normally ruins pianos due partially to the felt key bushings.

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8/21/2019 Outdoor piano to return summer 2020 - News - Boone News-Republican - Boone, IA

“The thing about most city pianos that are put outside is that all they do to them
is paint the outside of the case.”

Modifications of the old piano included plastic key bushings and even a solar-
powered fan inside the piano.

“When we went over to initially see it we just thought it was a great idea,” said
Mayor John Slight. “We thought we’d try it out and it was a huge success...
People loved it. They thought it was a great project and the idea was to see how
long this thing would last and it held up very well for three years.”

Behm asked Slight to bring the city in on the project. The city took on the
responsibility of moving the several hundred pound piano from week to week to
different locations. Many business owners appreciated the city’s involvement.

“I think that is a really good thing that the city did because it is an asset to the
community,” said Shafer.

“I think it definitely added to the downtown and it enhanced it I think,” said Van
Hemert. “People enjoyed it.”

Slight was always on board with the project partly because of how well he knew
Behm.

“I thought it was a neat project,” said Slight. “I’ve known Chuck for years; he was
a school teacher of mine. I’ve known him and he put a lot of time into it. A lot of
hours and a lot of labor.”

Behm has been restoring and tuning pianos since 1973 after picking up the trade
from his father who was also a piano technician.

“I like the stage where you are putting everything back together where you are
reassembling everything,” said Behm when asked about his favorite part of
restoring pianos.

Behm owns every copy ever published since January of 1958 of the Piano
Technicians Journal.

“I’ve been reading them for a long time because my dad was a piano technician
and he subscribed back in the 1970s,” said Behm.

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8/21/2019 Outdoor piano to return summer 2020 - News - Boone News-Republican - Boone, IA

He published a five-part series in the journal on his construction of the first

outdoor piano in Boone. According to Behm, he has published the most articles,
120, in the journal of anyone ever.

Behm also runs a subscription-based Facebook group called “Piano Shop in the
Cornfield”. A group of piano restorers that can come together and bounce ideas
off each other.

Behm estimates it will probably take him about 100 to 150 hours of labor for the
new piano but he intends to make this one fully waterproof. He is hopeful to
have it finished in time for next summer.

“I don’t think I would do anything different,” said Van Hemert. “I think he pretty
much had it figured out. When it came the piano sounded great so I’m excited he
found another piano to work on.”

Schafer is excited to see the piano return as well.

“It made people happy. People come up and they just play on the piano and you
could see the smiles on their faces,” said Schafer. “Sometimes it was little kids,
you know nine or 10, sometimes it was people in their 60s or 70s playing it.”

If you want any updates you can check Chuck Behm’s Facebook page where he is
posting regular updates. There you can also find his GoFundMe if you would like
to contribute to helping Behm complete the project.

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