Nov. 4, 2024 - NOVEMBER MUSINGS
Tending the booth
Among the many great instruments that we saw was this early Orville Gibson made, three point, F style mandolin with a stunning peghead inlay and engraved silver tailpiece
Julie and I snuck home on Thursday night to pass out candy for Halloween. It’s a big deal in Penn Yan, and we were prepared!
NOVEMBER MUSINGS
November 4th, 2024
Good mornings folks,
October has been a month of conventions… three of them to be exact and we are really ready for a rest. I’m going to try to take most of this week off to do some things in Penn Yan…including voting! The Classical Mandolin Society of America (CMSA) convention was a wonderful experience. Julie and I tended our display booth while the crew took care of the store. For us, the best part was seeing old friends we hadn’t seen in many years and also finally meeting folks who had been customers over the 50 years we have been in business. Many of those folks took the short trek from the convention to our store so it was busy to say the least. To top off an amazing week, about 75 very fine, vintage instruments have come into our possession this past week and we are working hard to catalog everything. There will be lots of interesting surprises to see over the next few weeks, including some beautiful, pristine instruments and amplifiers from the 1950s and 60s!
As October surrenders to November, the transition is palpable. The beauty of fall with its color and brilliance disappears almost overnight. The chill of the evening air turns to frost. It is November. The clocks turn back. The change of season, anticipated, is eerily unsettling. Tomorrow is the day when Americans decide their path to the future.
American democracy is novel and unique. THE PEOPLE have the power to determine the course of the country. Our individual power lies in the ballot. Do your civic duty and vote!
With peace,
John Bernunzio
I was privileged to give the introduction to the Rochester Mandolin Orchestra’s performance on Friday night. Ken Luk has done an amazing job as director and the entire orchestra performance was superb. If you get a chance to see them some place in town, put it on your calendar. It is worth the drive to wherever they may be playing.
Karen Napoli did all the decorations for the convention. They were creative, informative, and delightful.
Rochester Skyline…
Goodbye to Keuka Lake for another season….unless I decided to take up ice fishing!