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Mermer
Guitars, Cub Scouts from Pack 525 (Sebastian, Florida)
to present GFL with the "GUITAR OF LIFE" |
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I'm pleased to be involved
in a very special project with Guitars
For Life, Stewart McDonald Guitar Supply,
and the Boy Scouts of America. 'Guitars
For Life' (www.guitarsforlife.org) is
a charity that raises money for kids with
some very rare terminal illnesses. I am
currently assisting the Cub Scouts from
Pack 525 (Sebastian, Florida), in building
a guitar that will be donated to Guitars
For Life and auctioned off to raise money
for kids in need. Special thanks to Steward
McDonald Guitar Supply, who has graciously
donated an Indian Rosewood D-28 kit. The
scouts are really enjoying themselves
(they just love spreading glue with their
little fingers) and feeling good about
what they are doing. Attached are a few
photos and we hope to have a link to a
site to keep you all posted on the instruments
progress. Anticipated delivery is the
fall of 2004. We'll let you know when
the auction is planned.
~Richard
Mermer Jr.~
www.mermerguitars.com
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This
article first appeared in ‘Guitarmaker’,
the journal of the Association of String Instrument
Artisans. |
‘The
Guitar of Life’
While
displaying my wares at the 2001 Chet Atkins
Appreciation Society’s annual conference
in Nashville, I became aware of a unique organization.
I admit to being attracted at first to the
cool hats and T-shirts that I noticed some
folks floating around with. They sported a
great logo, a guitar with wings and the words
‘Guitars For Life’ underneath.
I figured this was like ‘You can have
my guitar when you pry it out of my cold dead
hands’ kind of thing. Ya know, the kind
of thing some obsessed guitar nut would desire
for Xmas or a birthday. But I really was knocked
out when I discovered their source, the organization
known as ‘Guitars For Life’.
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GFL
is a non-profit organization working to support
‘other’ organizations that focus
their attentions on children with often rare
and life threatening diseases. The organization
raises funds to assist with genetic research
and specialized surgeries, and to assist the
families of the afflicted children directly.
The main vehicle of funding for GFL is the
hosting of benefit concerts by musicians that
believe deeply in their cause. What they refer
to as ‘musicians with a heart’.
For a more complete description of the organization
and their work, I would recommend that you
refer to their web site at www.guitarsforlife.org
Well let us get to the point of my little
article here. I, not being the world-class
musician that would draw a crowd to assist
with the raising of funds for GFL, was wondering
how I might be able to get involved and help
the cause. About the same time, I was being
sucked into the depths of another organization
known as …the ‘Cub Scouts’.
For those of you that have no clue, they are
the little brothers of the ‘Boy Scouts’.
I have two young sons and our family is active
in the program. The natural thing seemed to
be to combine these areas of interest. To
make a long story short, I’m assisting
the local Cub Scout pack (and believe me they
do exhibit ‘pack’ behavior) with
the building of a guitar that will be donated
to GFL, and auctioned or raffled off to raise
funds for children in need. |
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I
thought that it would be best to introduce the
scouts to the world of luthiery via a ‘kit’
instrument. I figured this would cut down on
the use of heavy machinery and sharp cutting
tools, thus reducing the chances for potential
injury. I would like to thank Jay Hostetler
at Stewart McDonald Guitar Supply, for his support
of the project and the donation of a beautiful
rosewood dreadnought guitar kit. The Scouts
and GFL greatly appreciate his efforts.
Now the Cubs Scouts are a pretty diverse group,
ranging from the ‘Tiger’ scouts
in first grade (age 6), through the Wolves and
Bears, and up to the ‘Weblos’ in
5th grade (age 11 or so). The ‘pack’
I’m working with is also quite large,
with over 100 kids. For the purpose of this
project, I needed to separate the building process
into specific, age appropriate tasks. My shop
is only about 600 sq. ft., so I could not accommodate
large numbers. I decided to prep a piece or
step at the shop, and then bring all the necessary
pieces and materials to a ‘den’
meeting (when one level or age of scout would
meet). The ‘den’ would complete
their evenings task, we’d spend half the
meeting cleaning up the ‘Titebond’
glue that they smeared over each other, and
then it was time for cookies and juice boxes.
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Attached
are a few photos of the guitar in progress.
Notice the smiles on the faces. These guys
seemed to really enjoy the process. I’m
proud to report that the guitar’s body
has been completed and is ready to have the
finish applied, and the instrument’s
neck is not far behind. ‘I’ will
do the nitrocellulose finish and rub out.
Our hope is to return
to the site of my initial ‘infection’,
the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Conference
in July of 2004, and raffle or auction off
the instrument. The ‘Guitar of Life’
will be a beauty and is filled with the energy
of the Scouts. We hope we will be able to
generate some significant funds for GFL and
the children that need our support. Please
check out GFL at www.guitarsforlife.org
Rich Mermer
Mermer Guitars
391 Bayfront Terrace
Sebastian, FL 32958
www.mermerguitars.com
(772) 388-0317 |
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