Hi Everyone…….

Our accordion museum continues to shock and delightfully surprise many people who come to visit. However, something happened last night that was a real shock and surprise to me. I call it a Christmas miracle!

A fellow came in with his family to take the tour. Rob is in his seventies and grew up in Oregon. He was overwhelmed with our collection and began to tell me about how he started to play an accordion. Back in the days of his early childhood, he was a huge fan of Hopalong Cassidy. He had the whole getup complete with two six shooter cap guns, hat, cowboy boots, chaps with fur etc. He would wear it wherever he went even in public. When his parents took him to get his first accordion, he was dressed up in his cowboy suit. They bought him an accordion but also arranged to have the instrument decorated as a Texas accordion complete with a Texas star, pistol, lariat, horseshoe, and a big longhorn cow image on the grill. It was all professionally done and, it was one of a kind.

He laughingly said, “I bet you don’t have anything like that here!” As he said that, I had a strange feeling and I asked him to follow me. As we went around a corner of a display table, his expression went from a smile to one of complete disbelief and shock. There on the table was his old accordion. I watched as he identified all the markings and even the serial number. Then came the tears and joy and a flood of wonderful memories.

The odds of finding his accordion like that are just astronomical! People who have been visiting our museum and shop are telling me how magical and special this place is for them. One lady called it a portal to the past. When she opened the door, she stepped back in time. She became 10 years old again and, all the people who were in her life back then were once again present. Another man came in recently, looked around, and quickly said. “Yep, if you build it, they will come.”

There is something special going on here. They say you can never go back; you must keep moving forward. But I’m finding that we need to revisit the past just to find that precious something that we left behind and bring it forward with us to the future. When my grandsons are working with me here at the museum, I’ll hear them say things like, “Poppa I just love you.” Being surrounded by good memories and fun musical sounds makes expressing that love much easier to say. Maybe that’s what many of us have left in the past. Maybe if we could recapture the feelings we had back then, it would become easier for us to enjoy each other’s company once again.

It’s Christmas……come visit us at the New England Accordion Connection & Museum Co.
75 Main Street
North Canaan, Connecticut 06018

Like Rob, you may find something very valuable you left in the past that you’ll want to bring forward with you as we move into the new year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!
Paul Ramunni
Cell: 860-833-1374
Email: ramunni@comcast.net