October 31st 2022

Good Morning Folks,

Today is Halloween celebrated world-wide. It’s a time for ghosts and goblins and trick-or-treat and candy (and left over candy!). But it is also the birthday of Ryan Yarmel. Half his life ago he stopped in our store as a young teenager looking for a guitar. He halfheartedly asked if we had any job openings and I looked at him and said "well if you can dress up in a suit and tie, you can work the crowd control during the Jazz Festival". And so a career was born. Ryan has now been with us for fifteen years! He is now considered one of the experts in the business of vintage instruments and especially vintage banjos. He will be representing us next weekend at the Annual Banjo Gathering in Baltimore. I am still not well enough to travel long distances and because of that I had to have Julie do my usual work this past weekend….and luckily she had the help of our daughter Grace and her wonder dog, Penny. That work was to travel with the biggest van we could borrow to pick up a collection of instruments near Portland, Maine. Luckily, Grace, who works from "home" could accompany her as she could work remotely in the car! Julie and Grace drove all day on Friday, loaded the van and then drove about a third of the way back, stayed in a hotel off the Thruway and finally reached Penn Yan on Saturday afternoon with nearly one hundred banjos!

   Sadly, a long time friend and customer recently passed away. His name is James Atleson and we had known each other for over 40 years. Jim was an attorney in Buffalo, New York and taught at the University. He was well regarded as a scholar in international labor law. He also had a banjo habit….and I had the sure-fire cure! When I first met Jim in the late 70s I was going through some difficult personal times. He contacted me because I had a fairly rare Fairbanks Tubaphone five string banjo with flower pot peghead. He was very interested in, it but he adamantly assured me he was not a collector…he wanted it to play! I told him I would drive it to Buffalo because I had another appointment there (with another Tubaphone for Elias Kaufman but that’s another story altogether!). I was glad to have him play it and buy it only if he liked how it played. I had alluded to the fact that I was going through some difficult times but we never discussed personal things. He just wanted me to remember that he was not a collector but he was a player. He bought the banjo of course and as I was leaving he placed a fatherly hand on my shoulder and, in his soft, comforting voice said, "everything is going to work out just fine, you wait and see". And he was right!

    Over the years Jim’s collection expanded perhaps beyond what he had ever imagined. When he retired, he moved to Maine outside of Portland. A few years ago when he got into the "deaccessioning" mode he contacted me. I drove up to Portland and met him and he had about 25 banjos outside of the garage that he said he wanted me to sell. I drove them back to Rochester and of course sold them for him. He would continue to buy more but he would never admit how many were behind that garage door. Last year when my daughter Grace and Julie and I were traveling in Maine, Jim contacted me and said I should stop and we picked up another 30 banjos. I said, "Jim how many do you have left" and he said, "I don’t really know!"

    We are proud to present for sale the banjos from the collection of James Atleson. He was devoted to them and it is our job to find good homes for them. They are suitable for either players or collectors. Each of these was picked out for both beauty and sound. Jim was not as much a history buff as he was just interested in the banjo and its traditional, old-timey style and the camaraderie that goes along with the music. Many banjos he had commissioned from contemporary makers who are now have a long waiting list and these will be for sale. Ryan will be cataloging all the instruments over the next few weeks. There are some remarkable things that we are honored to have in our inventory.

Sincerely 

John Bernunzio 

With over 250 banjos in stock I’m sure there’s something for you if you thinking about adding a banjo to your repertoire.

Grace and Penny provided both the directions and the entertainment for Julie on the trip. The van was borrowed from our son, Jay at the Tint Shop. We advertise it across the Thruway all the way from Rochester to Portland Maine.