Photographer Unknown
Jerry Barton
My dad worked in vending when I was a kid. He used to repair and refurbish vending machines and sometimes he went around and collected the money from inside them and filled them up with candy and other snack items. One of my favorite memories is the time I went with him on his route. He drove us around in a big van that was packed with boxes of candy and chips. He gave me a dollar a day and told me I could eat any of the snacks I wanted that were in the back of the truck.
Throughout the years, Dad had a lot of artistic hobbies. He was a photographer and would develop his own film. He could draw. He was a woodworker. He could play several instruments.
When I was seven my parents got me a guitar for Christmas. My dad taught me how to play. I remember getting frustrated and he encouraged me to keep trying when I could not make a clear-sounding chord and when I could not change chords smoothly.
Though Dad worked in vending for many years, deep down he always had the heart of an artist and musician and for the last fifteen years of his life he spent his time working on his art and music. He designed and built dulcimers, door harps, psalteries, furniture and mechanical wooden toys. Many of these items were hand-painted by him as well.
Dad performed with his dulcimer at festivals and historical museums. He knew the history of the unique instruments he was playing and enjoyed answering questions about them. He also held dulcimer workshops where he taught others how to play.
Dad and I had performed together quite a few times over the years. I would play guitar and occasionally sing and dad would play the dulcimer. I have always liked the way the dulcimer and guitar sounded together.
In 2003 my dad was diagnosed with a heart condition. He had been under the care of a cardiologist and led an active life for many years after his diagnoses. Then suddenly in February of 2011 he passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was 60 years old.