Mel Bay passed away some years ago. My wife worked at Greenbriar Hills Country Club and we got to know him there and became good friends. I am 70, not quite as old as Mel would be if he were alive. I live in Kirkwood so I have visited his music store a number of times. He and Stan Musial came to our church along with a guitarist from Nashville and did a charity thing for us. My wife just happened to attend the game in the 1950s when Stan hit 5 home runs in one game, and she scored the first game (got lazy in the second) and still has the scorecard. We met him when he was at our church and he autographed the score card. He is a natural entertainer and such a nice guy! We checked on the value of that score card, but Stan was so free with his autographs that they don't have much value--signature inflation, I guess you could call it, like printing too much money. I'm a country picker myself. Have a 1940 Gibson that's just a little short of looking like Willie Nelson's Martin, but even in its beat up condition, they say it's worth about $1000. Still plays nice. I got it in a Joplin pawn shop in 1955 for $35, or actually $25 plus an old Kay Craft with a neck "springing" (wouldn't stay steady) that my Dad gave me. Believe it or not, Kay Craft guitars are becoming collector's items. I have a song selling on eBay that I wrote for my in-laws' golden wedding called "Golden Love" You can hear it at http://goldenlove.home.att.net/ Not trying to sell it to you, just thought you might be interested since you are a guitar picker. Where do you live? Roy Johnson Kirkwood -----Original Message----- From: Gary Stoltman [mailto:stopan@optonline.net] Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 9:39 PM To: GERMANS-STLOUIS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [Germans-STL] 1903 & 1905 St. Louis Thanks Roy: As you've seen, I was only kidding (obviously, not well). Bought my first guitar from him in 1962. Had $15 burning a hole in my pocket and went into his shop in Kirkwood. He took an old country-western "S" hole guitar and made it 'sing' for me. I of course, bought it, took it home and practiced until my fingers bled. Couldn't understand why it was so hard to play until I figured out that the strings were about an inch too high off the fret board. The neck was warped! I told him that story years later and got a laugh - but, of course, no discount. I hear he's still alive with all his money, living in Pacific, selling his guitar & music books. Roy, if you are near Mel's age - you are a geezer! Congratulations on making it this far. Hope you've left your memories on a disc somewhere. Gary ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roy Johnson" <roy.w.johnson@att.net> To: <GERMANS-STLOUIS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 7:36 PM Subject: RE: [Germans-STL] 1903 & 1905 St. Louis > Couldn't have been Mel Bay. He was a friend of mine. I'm an old geezer > but not that old. Mel had to be born some time around 1900. > > Roy Johnson > Researching Schnake/Schnacke in Kreis Minden (Westfalen/Westphalia) and > worldwide > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~schnake > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Gary Stoltman [mailto:stopan@optonline.net] > Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 2:53 PM > To: GERMANS-STLOUIS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [Germans-STL] 1903 & 1905 St. Louis > > Hi Marian: > > Don't think it was Joe Schirmer or Mel Bay! Just gotta' believe there > was > more than one mandolin players at the Fair - officially The Louisiana > Purchase Exposistion of 1904. This wasn't a 'backwoodsy' country fair - > the > Olympics were also held there and over a million people attended. > > Gary Stoltman > Merverville, NJ > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <MARIANDGEN@aol.com> > To: <GERMANS-STLOUIS-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 2:20 AM > Subject: Re: [Germans-STL] 1903 & 1905 St. Louis > > > > Would you (or anyone else on this list) happen to know who the > musician > was > > in the World's Fair in St. Louis who played the mandolin? My g > grandfather > > was musically inspired by someone who was at the fair and I don't know > who > it > > was...supposedly someone well known. Mandolin playing has been passed > down in > > my family since then (although I'm not any good at it - my Dad sure > was!) > > Marian > > > > > > ==== GERMANS-STLOUIS Mailing List ==== > > OLD-GERMAN-L is a mailing list for anyone with a genealogical or > historical interest in deciphering and interpreting written documents in > German from earliest to most recent 20th Century times, and discussing > old > German words, phrases, names, abbreviations and antique jargon. To > subscribe, send subscribe to mailto:OLD-GERMAN-L-request@rootsweb.com > (Mail > Mode) or mailto:OLD-GERMAN-D-request@rootsweb.com (Digest Mode) > > > > ============================== > > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. 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