BY SANDRA GUY

As much as we love the sounds of the Appalachian dulcimer, and admire people who can play it, the hammered instrument has a baby brother of sorts that’s carved out its own niche.

It’s the stick dulcimer, a simple stringed board that resembles the Turkish Saz, the Russian Balalaika, long-necked lutes from Egypt, and even the medieval Italian colascione, according to the Michael J. King website.

Players tap the stick dulcimer with both hands, rather than hammering. They strike the string against the fret.

The stick dulcimer can be outfitted with eight, 10 or 12 strings.

Though the stick dulcimer never caught on widely, it has its die-hard fans, said George Gruhn, a world-renowned guitar, banjo and mandolin dealer, author and historian who runs his eponymous guitar store in Nashville, Tenn.

Gruhn credited Emmett Chapman for bringing the stick dulcimer to a wide audience.

Chapman appeared on the television show “What’s My Line?” in 1974, where a panel of celebrity guests failed to guess that he came up with the instrument, according to an article in the April 1, 2005, issue of JazzTimes.

Now, the stick dulcimer is marketed as an instrument that takes only an hour to learn to play. Now that the coronavirus pandemic lockdown has sent guitar and ukulele sales soaring, perhaps the stick dulcimer’s time has come, too.

Retail analysts say home-ensconced workers with extra time and discretionary income are scooping up acoustic instruments such as keyboards, guitars and ukuleles, paying for lessons and spending time practicing.

The following was first posted on September 11, 2011.  It reminds us of the imperative of an America where service and sacrifice are honored and the importance of leadership that understands that.

In the 60’s and 70’s, musical Utopia for us baby boomers, English blues-rock band Ten Years After produced eight Top 40 albums. Their name, apropos of the 10-year anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, two of their songs seem especially poignant today.

I’m Going Home is for all American troops, from Korea to Iraq, from Okinawa to Somalia. I’d Love To Change The World is both timeless and myopic.

World peace is the satirical wish of every beauty queen spoofed in sketch.  Whether or not realistic, until that day comes it serves us well to remember that there are those who have pledged their lives to the destruction of America.

The why is unimportant.  Just as they can not understand our way of life, we can not understand theirs.

Our foreign policy tends to implement the notion that all nations crave the American dream.  I would challenge that notion.

Politics, religion and philosophy aside, today is about reflection.

Reflection about those who perished on that day 10 years ago, simply going about their lives.

About those who raced into the eye of disaster, as they always do, in service to their communities.

About those who watched helplessly as their comrades lost battles to save victims and themselves, some disappearing forever, only to live on in the hearts of loved ones.

About those who rushed into the aftermath and today suffer debilitating afflictions and those who died of those afflictions.

It’s about those who took up arms in defense of family, friends, country and the ideal that is the heart of a great nation.  If not the “Greatest Generation”, those who answered the call are certainly a Great Generation.

To you, seeking only to defend that which you hold most dear, often paying with your life we say, Thank you and Godspeed. You will not be forgotten.

The heroes of World War II are leaving us at a rate of about 900 per day, their stories often lost with their passing.  History is their legacy, it is the lessons left behind by those who have gone before.

Today is about reflection.  Today is about those lessons.

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Trump chooses Pence to head task force-Courtesy Chicago Tribune

February 8, 2020, Washington DC.

My fellow Americans:

I come to you today with the truth. America is under attack. The attacker is not your neighbor or my political foes. It is not China or Russia, South Korea or Iran. The attacker is a virus, tiny, insidious, and very hard to stop.

But working together we can slow it down, protect our country and our freedoms. As we face the most terrible threat of this century, I make you the following promises:

1. Our decisions will be based on science. I am in the process of assembling a team of the best and brightest experts in this country on infectious diseases and public health. They will form a Task Force, coordinated by my very able Vice President Mike Pence, but free to make recommendations based on hard evidence and emerging trends. Vice President Pence has been instructed to listen and report to me, and I pledge to let his reports be a guidance to me.
2. We may need to take drastic steps, such as shutdowns or curfews, that will have a severe, negative impact on parts of our economy and those of us whose livelihood is dependant on those industries. I will work with our Congress to establish a massive financial support system. I cannot now tell you how large the fund will be, or how it will be administered, but be assured it will continue until the effects of this virus are a thing of the past.
3. The Federal Government will take the lead in establishing a nationwide system of support for supplies and their supply chains. We will help the governors of all our states, red and blue, to be able to provide for the residents of their states, without rebuke or retribution.
4. Our eventual salvation will be in the development of a vaccine. I will work with our wonderful pharmaceutical companies to put their best scientists to work to create a safe and effective vaccine as rapidly as possible. When will it be ready? I cannot tell you–but I give my word that it will not be until our scientific agencies are convinced that it will provide the protection that is necessary.

When will we know we have successfully defeated our nemesis? It won’t be Easter: it won’t be Memorial Day. With hard work and sacrifice, perhaps we can fully celebrate our success by July 4th or Labor Day. Whenever it comes, it will be because we joined hands and worked together.

There is an election in November. I had believed you would re-elect me because of our wonderful economy, our wonderful country. Now I am confident you will re-elect me because I will lead you through this unprecedented attack. There is no need to panic, there is no need to fear. Our country is strong, and over the next few months, we will prove that again and again.

God Bless America.

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Catsanova is a gorgeous, sweet, loving, and affectionate 10.5-pound, 18-month-old, male orange and white tabby cat looking for a loving guardian.

Catsanova rubs against you, talks, and tries to befriend other cats. He rolls on his back for belly rubs, and loves playing with his catnip toys.

He is very well-behaved in the home, uses his litter box and is an indoor-only cat.

Catsanova was being fed in a feral colony. He was so very friendly to his feeders and so thin, he was rescued and brought to Friends of Petraits Rescue.

He is now healthy, neutered and has all his claws. He is vaccinated for rabies and distemper, virus-tested negative, microchipped and dewormed.

He doesn’t seem to mind the company of other gentle-natured cats.

To meet and possibly adopt Catsanova, please contact [email protected] for an adoption application.

His adoption fee of $150 benefits the Friends of Petraits Rescue. He is being fostered in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.