For anyone else who may have shared my initial reaction to the Foxtail
Group's request for financial support --

At first I resented being asked to send a donation for what was free.
Then the suggestions got stronger.  Now the group is threatening to delay
subscriptions to those who show no support.  When I saw that this morning
my first reaction was to say "CANCEL!"

There's some wisdom that comes with age and I can proudly admit that
reality dawned on me in a very short time.  Considering that this news-
letter arrives generally on schedule and the fact that it's directed to
those of us with like interests, and -- maybe most important -- it is
spam-free, I think that I can ask myself if I would be willing to spend a
lot of time putting this thing together.  On my own time.

I did.  I said, "No."

By the time you read this, and against my better judgment, I will have
picked up a Mason and Hamlin with an Ampico "B" to restore.  Somewhat
selfishly I also realized I may need some help from this group in addi-
tion to the information I've already gleaned silently from numerous
issues.  A great deal of the issues and information presented and dis-
cussed here cannot be found anywhere else.  As I look at the bookcase in
my office I realize that as substantial as it is, there's a lot of info
missing.  And some of these books were far more than $30.

Jody and crew: I find this to be a valuable source of information both
personally and professionally.  My check is in the mail with my thanks.
How tragic it would be to lose this resource.

Roy F. Ulrich
Pike Piano, Inc.

 [ Editor's Note:
 [
 [ Roy,  I appreciate that you shared with us how you developed your
 [ opinion.  I hope some others in the group arrive at the same
 [ conclusion.  With so much being apparently "free" on the Internet,
 [ it's sometimes hard to realize how much work goes into a publication
 [ like this.  There are real costs plus the time burden.
 [
 [ Robbie's wife and my wife have both been extremely patient and
 [ understanding of our passion for this forum.  Both Robbie and I want
 [ to increase the scope of the forum as well, by adding additional
 [ search features to the web site, adding "museum" section, and possibly
 [ doing a periodic "multi-media" issue.  Continued funding hopefully
 [ will allow us to do more.  Thanks again for your support!
 [
 [ Jody