Special delivery: Local piano shop owner brings music back to Houston

April 23--Giving the gift of music to families devastated by natural disasters is one of Dean Kramer's callings in life.

As the owner of Kramer's Piano Shop north of Woodsboro, Kramer travels up and down the East Coast, tuning and moving pianos for families. But, after watching Hurricane Harvey send high floodwaters into Houston and Hurricane Irma slam into Florida last year, he knew there would be family, church and school pianos that would no longer be filling the halls with music.

So as the floodwaters receded, he put his staff to work locating those in need and loaded his truck on Saturday with pianos from his own stock to deliver to Texas.

When asked why he does it, Kramer's answer is simple: "We're told to love our neighbors."

Kramer is an ordained pastor in the Wesleyan faith, which is a sect of Christianity that was established in the mid-19th century in opposition to slavery. The church is built on a foundation of social and spiritual issues, which guides Kramer in life and his business.

The trip to Texas isn't the first time he has restored music to homes and places of worship, either.

Following Hurricane Katrina, he drove pianos down to New Orleans and slept on the floor of the church where he delivered one of the pianos. The next day, he went out to see with his own eyes the flooded and wind-torn neighborhoods ravaged by the storm.

"The devastation was unbelievable," he recalled even years later. "My heart was really pulled."

In some homes, 6 feet of water had destroyed all the possessions, which were then abandoned on the curb.

"All their keepsakes were gone, and I've never forgot that picture," Kramer said.

In some cases, among the wreckage is a piano. That's where Kramer and his staff step in: to identify and replace what can be the center of a home.

Don McCuller, the technician and workshop manager at the piano shop, cold-calls churches and schools to find places that have lost a piano. Then, he works to refurbish pianos in the store's stock to prepare them for delivery.

The idea is to help families, churches or schools "get back to normal life as much as possible," McCuller said.

The shop planned to bring at least eight pianos to Houston this week while McCuller continued to find people in Florida to make another trip later this year. There needs to be at least a full truck of pianos to make the trip worthwhile.

McCuller was open to suggestions from people for where to find more people in need, but specified that the shop seeks to replace pianos lost in storms rather than to give one to a person who simply wants one.

Beyond the headache of organizing the simultaneous donation of nearly 10 pianos, though, there are years of gratitude and growth to look forward to. Kramer visits the homes where he has brought pianos almost annually to tune and maintain them, and with each visit, he gets to hear the progress the children have made.

"When you do something for someone else, it's rewarding in your own heart," Kramer said.

Follow Samantha Hogan on Twitter: @SAHogan.

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