Moving Music: Docent hits right key at Old St. Pete’s in time for St. Pat in The Dalles

Lynne Allen sits behind the baby grand at St. Peter’s Landmark on Friday, Feb. 20. The piano has been in her family since the early 1900s.

By Tom Peterson

The Dalles, Ore., Feb. 21, 2026 — A baby grand piano built in 1915 and carried through generations of one Oregon family has found a new home inside Old St. Peter’s Landmark in The Dalles, where its music will once again be heard starting on St. Patrick’s Day.

The five-foot-four-inch Lehr baby grand was delivered Jan. 8 to Old St. Peter’s Landmark Preservation, the nonprofit that maintains the historic church and oversees its use for concerts, weddings and community celebrations. The donation connects more than a century of personal and musical history with one of The Dalles’ most recognizable landmarks.

For Lynne Allen, a docent at the landmark and retired oncology nurse practitioner, the decision to gift the piano was rooted in both memory and purpose.

“A musical instrument needs to be played,” Lynne said. “The music from it needs to be shared.”

The piano had been part of Lynne’s family since the early 1900s. It was originally played by her aunt, Ava Steiger, a Baker City musician who studied classical piano and traveled to New York in pursuit of becoming a concert pianist.

“She played beautifully,” Lynne said. “When I was in junior high … one of the sisters at St. Francis school in Baker said, ‘Oh, are you related to Ava Steiger?’ … ‘She played so wonderfully.’”

Over the decades, the piano moved with the family, eventually making its way from Baker City to the Tri-Cities and then to Lynne’s home in The Dalles when she relocated in 2014 to work at Mid-Columbia Medical Center.

In recent years, however, it had fallen silent.

“I felt very sad that no one’s been playing it for a long time,” Lynne said.

When Lynne began volunteering at Old St. Peter’s Landmark, the idea of donating the piano slowly took shape.

“I love St. Peter’s,” she said. “I thought, ‘Wait, I have this baby grand piano.’ It could get played down there and people will enjoy it.”

Linda Miller, president of the Old St. Peter’s Landmark Preservation Board, immediately recognized the instrument’s value. Linda herself took piano lessons as a child on a baby grand inside St. Mary’s Academy in The Dalles in the late 1950s.

“Well, I didn’t want to get rid of it,” Lynne said. “I just wanted it to have a better home.”

Moving the piano into the historic structure required careful coordination.

The crew with Lesters Moving Company of Hood River put their best skills to use handling the baby grand, and then doing the landmark another solid by moving an older piano to the basement.

Alan Eagy, treasurer of the Old St. Peter’s Landmark Preservation Board, said Lester Moving Company handled the delicate task of maneuvering the baby grand piano up a long ramp, through the entrance, and into the main seating area of the historic church. After placing the donated piano upstairs, the crew then removed an older piano from the main floor and carefully carried it down two flights of stairs into the basement.

Alan said watching the movers handle both instruments in the tight, historic space required skill and precision.

File photo - Alan Eagy caught in the act of giving back to the landmark several years ago.

“Everybody said you got to get Lester’s,” Alan said. “They did such a wonderful job.”

“It was a great addition,” Alan added. “The next step, we’re going to get it tuned.”

Once restored, the piano is expected to serve both performers and visitors. Old St. Peter’s Landmark hosts concerts throughout the year and already has nine weddings scheduled in 2026 — five more than last year. Volunteers say the instrument will provide a warm and welcoming presence for ceremonies and community events.

“It might be some nice light warm-up music as people are entering,” Alan said.

The piano will make its public debut during the upcoming “St. Pat’s at St. Pete’s” concert featuring the Cascade Singers, part of a long-standing tradition at the landmark.

For Lynne, the donation ensures the instrument will continue doing what it was meant to do — bring people together.

“Music is universal,” she said. “Music is connecting. I think we need everything we can have to connect to one another.”