Thank You Mr. Donaldson!!!

D

dhoenisch

Guest
This post is mainly meant for Bradford Donaldson, but also for others to be inspired to go for the Youthalele.

I explained the Youthalele to the kids, and told them that they wouldn't be building these ukes if it wasn't for you, Mr. Donaldson. So, the kids gathered together under a banner to wish you a big THANK YOU for all the fun they had assembling, painting and playing their brand new ukes. They had a blast, and though I was busy the whole week at music camp this past week, I had at least as much fun as they did. Anyhow, without further ado, here's your thank you from the kids at the Logos School of Music Summer Day Camp 2012...

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And because they also wanted to pose for a funny picture for you as well...

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Thank you once again for sharing your Youthalele idea. You made a lot of kids happy, and made me kind of the hero of the week.

Dan
 
And for those of you curious, I had three kids as young as 7-years-old assemble these ukes. All I really had to do for them was string them up. They attached everything else themselves. They painted them, and I clear coated them. Basically, day 1 was them gluing and screwing on the bridge and neck, then painting them up. I clear coated them that night. The next day, they installed the tuning pegs and nuts. I tried to help them put just the first string on just so they experienced it, and while they were at their next class, I finished stringing them up. I tuned them one step up, and kept doing it until I got too tired to stay any longer. Tuned them up a whole step the next morning, and just before they were walked over to me, I tuned them to pitch. They held their tuning pretty good. I taught them the C, F and G7 chords and gave them a few simple songs. Some kids added little star stickers for finger positions, which was the idea of a 9-year-old, and they had an absolute blast.

Below is a picture of what the kits looked like. All of the 25 kits were identical, and we had only two left after camp.

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Dan
 
I came away with a precious gift from the kids at camp. I was originally going to teach them how to play the uke using my tenor, but the more I thought about it, the more I figured I should just go ahead and use the "sample" uke I built to see if this was a project I was willing to take on. Anyhow, all of the kids happily signed it for me, and I tell you what... this is a uke that I could NEVER sell or give up. It means a lot to me and even though camp ended just yesterday, I already miss them and take pride in those kids every time I pick it up and play it, which is the only uke I want to play today.
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Dan
 
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A picture is said to be worth a thousand words but each one of these is worth a million bucks! A big thumbs up for Dan and these cool kids.
 
What a fantastic post. :)
 
Wow Dan,
that was sooo cool ...made me shed a tear....what wonderful memories....wonder maybe 30 years from now if one of those kids will be still playing the uke....I am sure if they still have their uke and they will remember you...ahh what memories..love their smiles too and the precious life lessons you passed on.. Way to Go Dan..
Thank You for Spreading the Uke Love around...and sharing your story...it was a doozy... Happy Strummings....
 
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Just look at those smiles in the first picture. Kinda says it all. Though I'm sure that the one you had on your face would match theirs, Dan. Way To Go!
 
Love all the custom work. Gave them the opportunity to really make it their own.
Well Done!!!
 
now that was a great post! Thank you for the story!
 
KILLER story! Love all the happy faces & the fact that Brad made these kit builds possible. The old saying "Music self-played is happiness self-made!" could be amended a bit to:

"Music self-played on an INSTRUMENT self-made, is HAPPINESS self-made times two!!!"

Mahalo!
 
Wow this is way cool. There may be hope for the human race after all!
 
Brad is a great guy, but I suspect once he reads this post he's going to be far more impressed with your work with the kids than you are of him and his amazing design.

I love everything about this post - the design, the designer, the builders - but most importantly your devotion to the whole project, Dan. Way to go!
 
Thanks all. I tell you, between having a full time job, being a Sunday School teacher, volunteering at a Wednesday night kids club every week, and finding the time to build them, it was a lot of work. I feel like I spent every waking moment in the shop, but when the kids plucked their first string, and smiled as big as they did when the instrument they built made a pleasing sound, it was more than worth all the work that was put into them. I tell you, I miss the kids soooo much already.

Dan
 
This is a great story!
 
Thanks for the story and for giving them the gift of music. the smiles speak volumes.
 
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