Monday, February 22, 2021

Happy 10th Anniversary for Second String Music

ONE THING WE were good at from the start was having parties. Second String Music officially opened exactly 10 years ago to this day at the corner of Eighth and Washington, and the store quickly became a social gathering hot spot.

I remember the first days as being cold and snowy, and Sheryl quickly figuring it all out as we went along. We had three or four guitars in the store, all mine. I bought the last acoustic guitar ever sold by Vegas Music, owned by our late friend Pat Cornwell, and it quickly sold our little shop. It didn't take long for items to start arriving, and Sheryl spent many long hours arranging the displays and logging inventory.

The location wasn't the greatest, though it was about a block from the house. Sheryl came up with the idea to open the store after Vegas Music closed in the fall of 2010. She was unemployed with a master's degree. I thought she was crazy and of course she was. 

We saw a For Rent sign in the window. It seemed decent enough to start dreaming. The upstairs had history. The downstairs had a few issues and our landlords were from out of town and didn't care about Quincy. But ... it was a great start.

I think the first party was in November of that year, when we toasted Pat and celebrated the start of a new business. I remember being staggered by the number of people who showed up and hooted and hollered with us. The one-year anniversary was a good one too, though it's all a blur now.

I quickly learned Second String Music parties started early and ended whenever, and the rock and roll truck effect was in full force the next day. 

That's the sad part about this year. We would have had a party two days ago and it would have been crazy fun. Facebook memories have flooded us with nostalgia all weekend with photos from prior year parties. I'm toying with the idea of having a smaller scale bash in early May when we could be outside and safer. Any excuse to have a party, gather with friends, have a jam session and have more fun than should be allowed.

Geesh. Ten years. Thank you to all our loyal Second String Music friends and customers. Sheryl's crazy idea took seed and planted, and we are still going strong. 

And we'll celebrate when it is safer, hopefully this year.

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