[ Ref. 080718 MMDigest "Walt and Ellen Bellm" by Greg Lyons

Greg,  I remember meeting your grandparents, Walt and Ellen Bellm,
for the first time in the mid 1970s.  You always knew when they were
visiting -- they had this huge bus that was converted into a travel
trailer RV.  This was the size of a Greyhound bus and it was decked
out with all the bells and whistles.  This was before the large RV
busses were commonplace.  That's one memory that stands out for me.

From time to time they would travel up here to Sikeston, Missouri,
for a few days and visit with my grandparents, Paul and Laura Eakins.
Whenever I was fortunate enough be over at the museum when they
visited, they always treated me with kindness.

I do have a lot of recordings from the Bellm museum that were made back
in the early 1970s.  Some of the neatest ones were of our grandfathers
recording the motors running in some of the old cars.  I am not sure
why these were recorded but it captures some of the fun that these
people had with their collection.

I only have one picture of your grandparents and it's a great one.
This picture is from the grand opening of the Gay 90's Melody Museum in
St. Louis, from 1966.  Here is the link for the picture, which shows
Paul and Laura Eakins and Ellen Bellm looking at "The Emperor" Mortier
organ: http://www.bandorganmusic.com/History/museumopening.jpg 

I now own "Madam Laura", the large fairground organ that was at the
Bellm museum and which was owned before that by my grandfather.  It's
funny how things work out.  http://www.bandorganmusic.com/1.jpg 

Give your grandparents my regards and I hope they continue to stay
healthy.

Thanks,
Chris Carlisle
Sikeston, Missouri