9-17-10 Richard Crowson’s Commentary
From Winfield to Nicaragua (listen)
Right this very minute down in Winfield, Kansas, someone is playing the bejabbers out of a guitar. It’s just one of several jam sessions that have been going on throughout the night there. It might be early in the morning for such things under ordinary circumstances. But there’s nothing ordinary about the Walnut Valley Festival. The third weekend of every September brings thousands of musicians to the Cowley County Fairgrounds. This year marks the 39th year for little old Winfield, Kansas to become the center of the guitar universe. The instrumental contests at this festival bring some of the most talented pickers from around the world to our neck of the woods.
Recently through a Wichita-based organizaion called Trees for Life International, I became aware of an opportunity for those of us who know and love the joy of playing music. Trees for Life has begun a program called Heartstrings which places quality guitars into the hands of some of Nicaragua’s less fortunate children. For a donation of $50, a $350 guitar made by the Manuel Rodriguez & Sons Company of Spain can be given to a Nicaraguan child.
Trees for Life’s educational branch called Books for Life has established 50 libraries across Nicaragua which will distribute the guitars. I’d like to urge you to visit www.booksforlife.org/heartstrings to learn more about how we can spread the joy of sharing music. We can send a little bit of our Walnut Valley Festival and a lot of love all the way to Nicaragua!
For KMUW I’m Richard Crowson.
