The Electra Forums

Greetings Electralovers,

I want to fill y'all in on what's been happening in ozarkcannon world.

The last time I posted here was shortly after Joe's dad dropped off the remains of Joe's collection. Joe had sold most of his guitars off during the last year of his illness. His family also kept a number, something to remember him by. Some of what I received was more or,less ready to go, some were entirely torn down and the parts jumbled. It took a while in both cases to truly see what was there. Joe's father Bill had asked if I would sell these on behalf of the family. Y'all probably know all that, but have wondered what happened to the sale part.

It revolves around something that's hard for me to discuss, especially as I have always wanted the focus to be on Joe and his family, but I need to come clean with y'all. I happen to have a rare genetic disease (AIP) that over the years has caused me a lot of problems. Some of you know this, some don't. For quite a while I hadn't had any sign of it, like for years. Then last year it returned, and it totally turned my life around. I had planned to have a sale of Joe's stuff hall at one time. As things progressed I realized it wasn't practical to do it that way. I mean, I couldn't even make it into my shop for almost a year. Some of our other friends here have had these types of issues, how hard it can be to talk about it. So things waited.

Bill called one day and told me he had decided to contribute the proceeds from Joe's things to a conservation organization (swan trust.org)that was formed by the members of the community I live in (thefarmcommunity.org). This initial contribution would fund the creation of a lasting memorial to Joe on the Swan Trust web site.. Bill, Joe, and his family had always been involved in the conservation movement. In fact, Joe lived the last ten years of his life as the caretaker, among other things, of a piece of land held in a conservation trust. Bill felt this was really something Joe would approve of and want to be a part of. Not wanting Bill to wait until I recovered sufficiently to move Joe's equipment, I came up with a figure that I knew would cover what I had, an optimistic figure. Recently, Bill made that donation to the Swan Trust. Being a small, grassroots organization, this donation was a most welcome surprise. You can visit Joe's Memorial here:

http://swantrust.org/joe-cannon-memorial/

That brings us up to today. First, I would encourage all who read this, whether you knew Joe well or not, to visit that site and make a donation in his memory, small or otherwise. Here in the States, we've recently had a great example of what a number of small contributions can do by the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders. It's much the same with the Swan Trust, minus the politics.

I’ve seen first hand what can be achieved when people of good will work together in this way, both with the Swan Trust, and with Plenty our international development corporation. What?? Where I live we've found that we can throw a benefit almost any weekend night and raise $500 for a good cause. When you send that to an organization in Belize or Liberia that knows how to squeeze a buck, beautiful things start to happen. So please, keep Joe's memory alive this way. If it's alright, I'll remind the Forum of this every year around the time of the US Thanksgiving. Let me know what you think, if this is appropriate or not.

Second, Joe's guitars. I have four complete guitars, and a lot of lesser guitars or projects along with some bits and pieces. My health has improved a bit, but I also don't wish to compete with Christmas for cash. So sometime early in the new year I'll publish a list here of what I have and what I'd like to get for them. I'm sure Joe would want y'all to have the first shot on any of these things. Many of his guitars were sold to help pay his medical costs, while others found homes in the hands of his family. If by some chance we can sell all this for more than the amount I gave Bill I'll contribute it to Joe's Memorial. If you have ideas on how to best do all this, just let me know. I'd rather not have to pack and ship everything at once.

So there we are. Mystery solved! I'm sorry for taking so long to get this out, as well as the length of this post. I just have a lot of things competing for attention and energy these days.

As I always tell people, this is my favorite forum on the www, and it's the members that make it so. Thanks for listening, y'all.

C.R./METESKY

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"... can't seem to hit that Bb right."

Great update, C.R. I'm sure that I speak for all of us when I say "THANK YOU" for helping Joe's family!

Merry Christmas, my friend.

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"GREAT Googiley moogilie Jack...jumpin jehosephat, hot dang and all".
- jdwhealton

Great to hear from you, buddy, and am glad that things are looking up for you!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Thanks for the update and hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year. Thanks again for what you have done to help Joe and his family.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

We wish only the best health to you and also the best to any of the forum folks that are struggling with injury or disease. Christmas time can be a time for giving as well as receiving and I hope those here can add to Joe's legacy.

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"This is the way that pop ends, Not with a BANG but with a box set whose fourth disc you never get around to playing” - Simon Reynolds

"My guitar wants to kill your Mama" - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention