I went to a jam yesterday & ended up being one of two banjo players present. The other guy was pretty good, and I noticed he had a Banjo Ben sticker on his case.
Naturally I commented on it. That started the story -
“That’s for my son,” he said. “He takes guitar lessons. He’s only been playing for a year. I’m taking his seat at this jam because he hurt his pinky in gym class this week. He was really looking forward to coming.”
At this point I began to suspect I was about to encounter a Proud Papa. My suspicions were confirmed when he pulled out his phone and said, "Listen to this. My son didn’t know I was recording him. He loves Tony Rice, so he decided to learn “Manzanita.” All the guitar players rolled their eyes. He pushed the Play button. Wow!
It was while we were all praising the kid’s ability that Proud Papa dropped the bombshell. “My son wrote an essay and won a scholarship to Banjo Ben’s Montana Cabin Camp in the fall.”
In my mind I was thinking “This guy should buy a lottery ticket real soon!”
A Cool Encounter
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I love this community. I love these stories. That was indeed a cool encounter.
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Wow, what a small world! Yes, he wrote an amazing essay and it’s my pleasure to award him the scholarship. Thank you to the previous Campers who have donated to bring kids like this to camps!
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It’s not that small. I had to drive an hour and a quarter to get there! 
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