Gryphon's 30th Birthday Party
On the even of the Millennium, and entering our 4th decade
October 30, 1999 marked the 30th anniversary of the founding of Gryphon Stringed Instruments. So what could we do? We had a big party!
We dug around in the attic, and dragged down a few instruments for a "museum" display:
That's a pair of vintage Gryphon guitars (circa 1971) flanking the Gryphon mandolin of the same period.
Some find turn-of-the-last-century banjos and guitars:
Some artifacts from Gryphon's early publicity efforts, and two more old time banjos:
And a collection of interesting vintage artifacts:
Being the day before Halloween, we put together a little section of the main display case:
Here's Nancy, whose boundless spirit catalyzed the whole affair:
No birthday party is complete without a birthday cake:
Gryphon has lots of friends, so we set up some tents and had a block party outside:
One fine thing about being in the music business - you're never short of entertainers:
That's the on-the-spot-reconstituted Gryphon Quintet, this time featuring (from the left) Ed Johnson, Carol McComb, Preston Carter, Jack Tuttle and John Kael.
Next year, Ed and Carol will celebrate their 25 years of teaching music at Gryphon. Jack is next in tenure with 20 or so to his credit.
Here's another shot of Ed and Carol:
Judging from the amout of food spilled on the street, the party was a big success!