In my hometown of Welland Ontario, there is an outstanding music shop named Central Music. I was strumming my acoustic uke today and I remembered the day I bought it at Central.

I was taking bass lessons for about 2 years and saw a baritone uke on the wall. It was always there, hanging, and I kept banging around the idea of buying it. On my 15th birthday my grandmother slipped me some extra money along with the money my grandfather new about in the card. The cash equaled about a hundred bucks, which was just enough to get the uke. I remember being extremely happy with the purchase and was excited to learn another instrument. I took some soprano uke lessons when I was 10 in Mr. Sekel’s music class and knew that I needed to get a uke of my own. 5 years later, the Baritone ukulele would became my partner.

16 years on, I am still strumming away on the ukulele and tonight it took me back in time to the day I bought it. Central is a fantastic store and has provided a legion of Wellanders with the necessary tools to rock away the doldrums.

Playing music has always been a very rewarding hobby for me, and Central certainly helped get me started.