The Snowbelt Chapter of the MBSI mourns the death of Tom Fretty who,
despite living several hundred miles south of our prime membership
area of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, was an active and valued
member of our organization.

My first encounter with Tom Fretty was in August of 1977, when fellow
automatic musical instrument enthusiast Mike Merrick, my cousin Brian
and I were returning from Denver.  Having left Colorado quite early in
the morning, our intention was to find a motel somewhere around Des
Moines before continuing our journey northward the next day, stopping
at Tom's Country Market and Musical Museum on our way.

As darkness fell, we were finding every hostelry full as the Iowa State
Fair was in session making overnight accommodations scarce.  We kept
driving north, taking the state highway that paralleled I-35, reasoning
that we would go through the small Iowa towns and would be able to more
easily check each motel for availability.  Then dense fog rolled in,
making visibility difficult and driving speed much slower.

Exhausted and road weary, we finally got a room in an older "Mom and
Pop" facility, not even knowing what town we were in.  Much to our
surprise when we pulled back the curtains in the morning, there
directly across the highway was Tom's Country Market!  We had a grand
tour and a very nice visit with Tom.

In the summer of 1985, the Snowbelt Chapter hosted its first band organ
rally, held in my parent's rural back yard as a regular club meeting.
Four local instruments were there, but soon Tom Fretty pulled up in
a large truck with three more band organs!  The neighborhood was alive
with the sound of music all afternoon.  Tom was pleased to be able
to visit with his MBSI friends, saying the thought of coming to the
meeting without an instrument wasn't even considered.  (And, of course,
those three organs were for sale.)

The summer of 1987 found Tom and Jean arriving in Saint Paul for the
first (and so far, only) joint Annual Meetings of AMICA and MBSI.  He
had brought a truck load of "goodies" for the mart.  While most of the
attendees were on a Mississippi River paddle wheeler cruise, the
Frettys and I left the hotel to enjoy a casual evening of dinner and
conversation.  While dining, we were unaware that the weather had taken
a serious turn and a tremendous thunderstorm was raging outside.

As we left the Chinese restaurant (a favorite of Tom's), we used Saint
Paul's famous skyway system to return to the hotel without going
outside and getting soaked.  Of course, this meant the three-block walk
at street level had doubled to more like six blocks, as you wend your
way through buildings one story above the streets.  Tom had a bit of
trouble with his legs due to diabetes, so our trip back to the hotel
was a leisurely stroll.  (Tom vetoed the idea of taking a cab, saying
he could use the exercise!)

Upon entering the hotel, it seemed odd to us that there were no other
guests around.  We soon were met by a distraught hotel employee who
hurriedly guided us to the basement ballroom where everyone had been
evacuated for the tornado warning that we were totally oblivious of.
The weather service gave the evening "storm of the century" status.
(Incidentally, the river cruisers were having a grand time, with
their vessels safely tied to shore during the entire conflagration.
It became one of the most talked-about and remembered events of the
greatly successful joint event!)

As Tom and Jean gradually sold off their mechanical music devices we
saw less of them up our way, but one would still occasionally run into
Tom at organ rallies.  He was always ready to visit and reminisce,
and he always benevolently took advantage of the opportunity to try
to interest you in an item or two he still had on hand.  He will be
greatly missed.

Tracy Tolzmann
Snowbelt Chapter Chairman, MBSI