FAYETTEVILLE — The odometer read 360,000 miles on Sam Donelson’s 1984 Mercedes Benz when its crank shaft recently broke, leaving the Fayetteville organist without a car to make his weekly rounds.
Donelson plays the organ at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Eureka Springs every Sunday, a 45-mile drive into the hills of Carroll County. After the 8:30 a.m. Mass there, he commutes southwesterly another 45 miles to play during the Latin Mass at St. Joseph Church in Tontitown.
But supporters and friends in northwest Arkansas hope the $250 they raised can help his transportation situation. The money came in part from The Sam Donelson Car Project, a Facebook page that is being sponsored by the Berryville conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
“We heard about his plight,” said Joe Shaughnessy, of the society’s Berryville office. And “our hope is to give him a car.”
Donelson, 74, said he bought a discounted Cadillac last week and “now had reliable transportation.”
Those who have worked with Donelson throughout the last 30 or more years say that not only is he a great organist, but his ability to read Latin has made him an invaluable member in the Catholic community.
“He’s been able to give us a heads up about (music liturgy) changes before” diocesan notification to the parishes, Dianne Phillips, music director at St. Raphael Church in Springdale, said.
Donelson’s relationship with the organ began in high school in Texarkana.
“I was a late starter,” in playing the organ, said Donelson, describing his Episcopalian home as lacking a piano, but not a connection with music.
Donelson grew up singing in the choir at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Fayetteville before entering high school when organ lessons were taken “on the side.”
By the time he reached Northwestern University, Donelson pursued the harpsichord. Today, he owns three — all of which remain on loan.
At the Evanston, Ill., university, however, Donelson took a degree in foreign languages with a minor in Latin and Greek classics, and after college, followed the now-deceased American harpsichord maker, John Challis, first to Detroit and then to New York City.
While exploring New York’s Little Italy neighborhood, Donelson wandered into St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral and discovered a “wonderful old pipe organ that needed work and was 100 years old in 1966,” he said.
“I converted to Catholicism partly because of my experience at Old St. Patrick’s,” said Donelson.
By 1970, Donelson returned to northwest Arkansas and repaired pipe organs.
Linda Kelly, associate organist and choirmaster at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, wrote in an e-mail that what makes Donelson unique is that he understands the music used in the liturgy and that he shares his knowledge and instruments.
“The electronic organ at the current St. Joe’s (St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fayetteville) belongs to Sam,” she wrote, and “I’m not sure if he has donated it or if it’s on loan. Whichever, he is very generous and loves the music ministry.”
Donelson’s love of organ music is tied with his love of traditional liturgy.
He laments that the musical instrument “held in high esteem” by the Second Vatican Council, isn’t as prominent in the Catholic liturgy as it was before the council documents were released in the mid-1960s.
Msgr. Richard Oswald, diocesan director of the Office of Divine Worship in Little Rock, said the Church has never made any effort to stop using organ music, but that a lot of other kinds of music are being played now. And some is music that does not require an organ.
Good music, however, remains very important to the liturgy, he said, and it is one of the two most important things for the health of a parish — good preaching being the other.
While some parishes may have difficulty finding experienced players, Donelson said he considered himself lucky that his skills remain in demand.
“Organists never retire,” he said, “we just stay on the bench as long as we can.”
Donations to the Sam Donelson Car Project can be sent to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 1844 Highway 62 West, Berryville, AR 72616.