Missing Dobro returned – in a manner of speaking

SPBGMAAs this year’s SPBGMA convention in Nashville was winding down, we shared the unfortunate story of a young man whose instrument had gone missing.

Alex Clayton had borrowed a Dobro guitar from a friend so that he could work on his developing skills in jam sessions at the hotel. He had set it down in a hallway to chat with some other young folks, and when he was ready to move on, the guitar was gone.

He had placed it on the outside of a row of similar cases belonging to several other pickers who had stopped to talk in the hallway, and initially hoped that it had taken inadvertently. But Sunday at SPBGMA passed without anyone reporting having the wrong guitar, and so has the rest of the month of February without it being discovered.

Now comes a wonderful story of generosity from Don and Sherry Goff, the owners of the missing Dobro, demonstrating the kindness of strangers.

Alex Clayton and Don Goff“On behalf of my husband, Don Goff and myself, we would like to give an update on his Dobro that disappeared from the SPGBMA Showcase at the Music City Sheraton in Nashville a few weeks ago. My husband loaned it to a young musician friend, Alex Clayton, who plays banjo and learning to play Dobro. It was Alex’s first trip to SPGBMA and we hate that the last portion of his weekend was so upsetting for him when his borrowed Dobro came up missing. I’m sure filing a police report was the last thing he and his family wanted to be doing while there.

We greatly appreciate each one of you who shared our story and made every attempt to help get the word out in hopes of getting the Dobro returned. Alex is a wonderful young man, who has been taught well by his family and started offering immediately to give us the money for the value of the Dobro. However, we were still praying that it would show up.

Out of the blue, Alex gets a message from a wonderful Christian family that saw the story and offered to give him a Dobro that they had, but, weren’t using. That in itself, was a very generous blessing. Then, we find out that it’s the exact same brand, model and year that Don’s was!

This family wants to remain anonymous and we totally respect their wishes. God knows who they are and I pray that he showers them with abundant blessings! On behalf of our family, Alex’s family, Sherry Clayton and the Ross family, (Danita Fowler Ross, Jeff Ross) thank you all so much! A special thanks to Bull and Tammy Harman for jumping on board and getting the word out quickly.”

 

The generosity of the bluegrass community is always a lovely thing to see. What a wonderful ending to a sad story.

A description of the stolen Dobro can be found in our earlier post.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.