We recently visited The American Folk Music School/The National Dulcimer Museum in Trenton, Ohio. There, the owner/director Vickey Lovitt Sasser has curated a wonderful collection of Appalachian Mountain dulcimers and other stringed folk instruments. Spanning generations, over one hundred and thirty instruments tell the stories of dulcimers and their makers with examples and from the early 19th century to contemporary builders.

In my travels, I seek out museums that display stringed instruments and am often disappointed at meager offerings that are always behind glass. Here, we spent an enjoyable afternoon with the knowledgeable Ms Sasser examining the numbered instruments and reading about them in corresponding notebooks. Other patrons were sharing stories and some even brought their own acquisitions for Ms Sasser to identify.

Each month the museum spotlights a dulcimer and this month it is one of mine!  It seems like only fourty-seven years, three months, and sixteen days since I created this all walnut hourglass dulcimer. How time flies! I am honored that one of my early dulcimers shares the museum with those of  famous luthiers of the past and present.

The National Dulcimer Museum is located at 215 E. State Street, Trenton, Ohio and is open the second Saturday of each month from 1 to 5 PM.