the kindness of strangers

[ovaltine]

in a place long ago and far away this story begins.

1976, i was an aimless 20 yr old kid working amongst a group of experienced rough hewn gold miners in the frozen tundra of central alaska. the mailing address was literally - general delivery, central alaska. my only friend was my trusty guild guitar. the 6 string therapist.

the work was long and hard, 10 hrs a day, 7 days a week, one day off every 2 weeks. the routine was to typically work 6 weeks, accumulate 3 days off and head to the nearest watering hole, which we did with great abandon.

one day an unexpected visitor arrived in camp. Candy was her name. she was a "friend" of one of the miners and immediately became adored by the rest of us young bucks. she hired on as kitchen help feeding the 2 shift 24 hour a day crews. her presence and joyful spirit brought relief to the repetition of the day to day work environment.

with management being what it was, it was decided there were to be no unmarried couples in this camp. Candy had to go.

as she was escorted from our back woods enclave, she presented me with a small black cardboard instrument case. "here, i want you to have this" she said to me. a bit surprised and unexpected i thanked her for her generosity, a thing seldom seen in these parts.
in the case was a little 'contessa' mandolin. the bridge was missing but otherwise intact.
i mentioned this gift in a letter home to my father. as was his nature, a package arrived some time later with a one piece wooden bridge,a set of strings and a mel bay mandolin book. all i had in the way of tools was a small V file. i got to whittling and got the little 'gift' playable.

here it is 2022 and uncoverd in the back of a closet and mostly forgotten is the little 'gift'.

seeing it again brought a tidal wave of memories, a few of which i've shared with you.

this brings me to the point for this story.

with Christmas coming on and remembering what an instrument meant to me as a young person, i'd like for the little 'gift' to go to someone, maybe a young person whose family could use a little help. someone who desires learning mandolin. i've strung it up, the neck is pretty straight, the frets are good, it tunes up and plays pretty well in tune up to the octave neck joint.

if in the dallas/fort worth area, we can meet for the exchange or if someone should want to help with shipping to a deserving beginner in another part of the country, give me a shout.

thanks for taking the time,
mm

[jaycat]

Cool story. I wonder if it's one of these ?

[Pittsburgh Bill]

VERY NICE TO HEAR of kindness. Especially in this time of year when I reflect upon what I have as an accident of birth. Sure I worked hard through out my life and had bits of luck & kindness from others that resulted in my place today. All of which could be very different had I not had those bits of luck, been born in a place or environment where pulling yourself up by your boot straps is impossible due to not being able to reach your boot straps.
Sorry for the ramble but your story reminds myself of the need to be both kind and thankful.

[UsuallyPickin]

A small act of kindness goes a long way. Thank you for the sharing. I hope you may find someone to "share" this one on. R/

[GMorgan]

Ovaltine,

What a great story and a wonderful way to start my day. I wish you great success on passing along this kindness with one of your own.

Cheers,

Morgan

[Ranald]

I've never been to Dallas, but I googled "Dallas musical instruments charity" and three charity organizations immediately popped up. You could check them out. I'm thankful for what you're doing. Good luck getting the mandolin to a good home.

[JimKo]

Ovaltine, Really like your story. Let me know if the person you give the mando to is just starting out. I have a couple of beginner instruction books an would be happy to send them to the new owner.
Jim

[Caleb]

Cool story; I enjoyed reading it a lot. I'm in Euless so we are neighbors.

[ovaltine]

Cool story. I wonder if it's one of these ?

the 'gift'

[pops1]

We have a program at our library where you can check out an instrument and see if you would like to play it. It saves buying one then deciding you want to play something else. You can check out fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar and I'm not sure what else. I donated a couple of instruments to them and also donated all the setups on everything that was donated so it wouldn't be frustrating for a beginner to try and play something unplayable. I don't know if you have something like this in your area, it is a nice idea, maybe you would like to start something in your area so many beginners can try instruments.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

We have a program at our library where you can check out an instrument and see if you would like to play it. It saves buying one then deciding you want to play something else. You can check out fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar and I'm not sure what else. I donated a couple of instruments to them and also donated all the setups on everything that was donated so it wouldn't be frustrating for a beginner to try and play something unplayable. I don't know if you have something like this in your area, it is a nice idea, maybe you would like to start something in your area so many beginners can try instruments.

Very Cool
I’m going to look into doing this at our library. Thank you for the idea. I have instructed our boys to donate my instruments to the Berkeley School of music upon my demise or will do it myself when I reach a point of no longer capable of play.

[Rob Roy]

This story reminds me of my dear friend Virgil who passed away from cancer this past year. In his dying days he was divesting all of his personal possessions. I had built a couple instruments for him and worked on several of his fiddles. He entrusted me with an Eastman 515 he had acquired and asked that I find a home for it with a young musician who perhaps couldn't really afford a $1000 instrument. Well, we have a talented young friend, a truly gifted musician, who was heading off to his first year of college. Virgil's Eastman went to that young man, may his beautiful spirit live on through music.

[allenhopkins]

...my only friend was my trusty guild guitar. the 6 string therapist.

Was it a D-25? I loved Guild D-25's!

Anyway, great story, and evidence of a generous spirit -- yours and hers -- and the admirable impulse to "pay it forward."

[catmandu2]

I had a couple of Guild D25s - heavy mahogany furniture of the guitar world - built to last.

Prior to covid, I kept a project facilitating music at our county homeless shelter - instruction, jams, recycling instruments, etc. - a wonderfully subversive activity, and a great way to put surplus instruments to use. A meager instrument often goes a very long way in enhancing someone's quality of life.

[ovaltine]

Was it a D-25? I loved Guild D-25's!

Anyway, great story, and evidence of a generous spirit -- yours and hers -- and the admirable impulse to "pay it forward."

no, a Guild F 40 with maple back and sides. my only guitar for quite a while.

it seems many of my instruments have stories.

in the mid 80's a good friend fell upon hard times and was having real issues dealing with life. he was a left handed player. i couldn't do much to help him but i could do one thing.

i set up the guild for lefty. intonation was a bit off but usable (heck, McCartney dealt with it). i gave it to him for as long as he wanted to use it.

one day he got home from work and his apartment had been burglarized. i went over for moral support if nothing else. once there i looked around at the ransacked mess. where's the guitar i asked? he looked over to it's usual resting place and his head fell forward in dismay. nobody loves ya when ur down an out... hopefully someone somewhere is getting some use from it.