Weston McEwen High School “Opus 503” students pose with the “toy counter” they restored for the 1921 Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ for Athena’s Gem Theatre. The toy counter produces special effect sounds for silent motion pictures.

PENDLETON — Two Umatilla County organizations will receive more than $10,000 apiece in grants as part of an award from the Oregon Cultural Trust’s 20th anniversary celebration.

The trust announced the awards Friday, Oct. 8.

Athena’s Gem Inc., Athena, received $18,341 and will use that money to install a 1921 Wurlitzer pipe organ/orchestral unit. The Wurlitzer, which will be a centerpiece at The Gem Theatre in Athena, will be the only one east of the Cascades, according to a press release from the Oregon Cultural Trust.

“It’s very exciting,” said Rob McIntyre, the theatre’s project manager and treasurer, who runs the music department for the Athena-Weston School District. “It’s one more piece of the puzzle.”

McIntyre said the grant funding will go toward continued efforts at renovating the theater in Athena. The renovation is intended to turn the generations-old structure into a regional platform for performing arts, McIntyre said.

He said different parts of a Wurlitzer can be very expensive, and they likely wouldn’t have been able to purchase those parts without the grant.

It’s the third grant the project has received from the cultural trust, McIntyre added. So far, about $1.7 million has been allocated toward the renovation.

Students from Weston-McEwan High School for four years have donated countless hours toward the renovation, McIntyre said. The class, called Opus 503, works on different projects, such as rebuilding the Wurlitzer’s air reservoir and releathering an organ chest’s pneumatic valves.

The Oregon Cultural Trust also granted $12,213 to the Arts Council of Pendleton “to support delivery of a variety of cultural services in rural Eastern Oregon,” the press release said.

The trust reported the awards were part of more than $3.2 million in grant to 140 cultural organizations across the state. The amount was a record for the trust.