Guitars for Kids

When the Guitar Club at Lochearn Elementary School in Rocky Mountain House, AB, needed new equipment, the Gord Bamford Foundation stepped in with funding that helped supply new guitars and accessories. The following is a thank-you letter from Eric Armitage, the teacher at Lochearn School that supervises the Guitar Club:

Hello Mr. Bamford,

My name is Eric Armitage and I presently teach the third grade at Lochearn Elementary School. I am also responsible for running a Guitar Club here. When I started I had a few guitars of extremely varying quality. Some were not even playable.

With your generous donation I have been able to purchase seven new guitars with capos, tuners and all the accessories that I will need to play them with kids. The club is officially up and running now and the kids are enjoying it immensely as they discover the musician in themselves.

Without reliable instruments, I would not have been able to put on the kind of dynamic program for the club that I had envisioned. There is not one kid who has joined in the last couple of weeks that has not grown somehow in either musicianship or camaraderie with their fellow musicians.

Thank you very much for the support and for solidifying the message of the importance of music with our kids and all it can do for their minds and souls. I look forward to organizing a meeting with you to shake your hand and have the school show its appreciation. Thanks again.

Eric Armitage, teacher, Lochearn Elementary School,
Rocky Mountain House, Alberta