It was such a pleasant surprise to see Gavin Rice at our door Saturday morning. He has made quite a career of himself in New York City as a teacher and as a performer in five different bands, rumor is that he’s going to be playing at the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City for the Banjo Hall of Fame celebration.

I did get a morning visit with an old customer on Thursday. We had lots to talk about.

Yours truly and the one and only…."Spamp"

My nephew Nicholas now lives in France here he is with my brother Tom and his wife Ginny

My nephew Dan on the left, is an artist living in Oregon and my son Jay. They are first cousins who hadn’t seen each other in many years

My brother Pat on the left, my daughter Kara on the right and in the center, with all the energy in the world, my granddaughter Olive.

Julie and Julie junior aka Grace Bernunzio

Dan Lynch led a great Bluegrass Jam in the back room on Saturday… it was a real treat with a lot of smiling faces

The Puerto Rican festival was on Saturday and the parade took place on East Avenue in front of our store. It was colorful, celebratory and a beautiful event honoring a beautiful people.

For the past four years, Julie has tended this little garden on the corner in front of the history museum on Main Street….it is her own bit of civic pride. When we asked if we could get a free membership to the museum, they told us no…so I think this is her last year. Some people here do not understand simple Latin: "quid pro quo".

Lawrence Sugarman is constantly creating…