- This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 1 week, 4 days ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
Since we seem to be on nostalgia week I thought I’d go back to one of the nicest moments in AM history.
Bryce Hamels was an avid participant when AM was starting to take off and he became a sort of administrator and was instrumental in getting the challenges underway and educating members to submit videos of their playing. He was also an early cheerleader for getting members out to play live.
Out of appreciation for all of Bryce’s efforts a scheme developed to secretly purchase and surprise Bryce with a brand new strat. The idea came from a member who went by “Jeem”. I organized the fundraising effort among about 50 active forum members and another member, Richard S, sort of popped up out of the blue and organised the purchase and shipping of the guitar. Brian set up a PayPal account and offered to cover any shortfall but the response was overwhelming.
You have to know Bryce to understand how sincerely grateful he was and he posted a video of thanks. I’ll try to find his video and post it in this thread. He still has the guitar today and has vowed to never part with it.
This letter went out to about 50 members by private mesage on May 26th, 2016.
JohnFor most of us, Active Melody, has become a place of musical education, camaraderie and supportive friends where we regularly hang out. Bryce (AKguitar) Hamels has become the ”glue” of AM, consistently greeting new members, offering technical advice, being supportive and leading by goofy example. As many of you know, Bryce is not an employee of AM, but, generously, gives of his time freely. As many of you also know, Bryce has ”strat envy” but delays the gratification most of us wouldn’t deny ourselves. His first priority is to save for a home with a pet for his little girl.
We propose an AM ”passing of the hat” to get Bryce the strat he yearns for, in appreciation for all he does. Consider a donation of $5-20 USD to our noble cause. Brian has graciously agreed to cover any shortfall but, with your help, we can get him something really special. Brian will pick the guitar and ship it to Alaska. The list of contributors (not the donation amount) will be forwarded, hopefully, to show Bryce the broad level of gratitude and respect we have for him.
If you are as excited about surprising Bryce as we are, email a donation labelled ”Bryce” to Brian’s Paypal account at ”brian@simplemarkup.com”. Brian asks that the amount be anything other than $10 to differentiate it from membership funds. We will cut off donations by midnight, Sunday, June 5, so please consider an early donation. We are approaching about 50 of the more active forum participants. If you can think of others who might like to help, spread the word. Thanks for your consideration.Jim (Jeem)
John (Charjo)As an update, knowing what a sweet guy is, Bryce is heavily involved with rescue adoption for dogs in Alaska and now has two muts and a cat. He also built an elaborate floating structure on the lake at a family cottage that he has named “Duckingham Palace”. He is now a partner in his Alaskan architecture firm and his daughter has started high school. His daughter has finally expressed an interest in learning guitar. Time flies.
-
-
-
That was such a nice gesture and Bryce totally deserved it! When I first joined Active Melody, I thought Bryce was one of the company owners because his presence was so prominent and he just fit the community so well!
And yes, not only was he a great site presence, site member challenge creator/announcer, but also a very generous soul! When I first joined I had very little recording knowledge and no gear. At that time he upgraded his interface and offered his portable ApogeeJam to any member that needed one – so I raised my hand and he shipped it to me! Now I was able to record through an interface and it changed everything for me. I still have it and use it sometimes, too.
That gesture also gave him an idea to organize a Pay It Forward style small gift exchange among participating site members. That worked for a minute but soon died off. Bryce was always full of ideas and knew how to talk to people. And he certainly knew how to play guitar! I still see his posts on FB once in a while and I did see the Duckingham Palace, and loved it!!!!
🎸JoLa
-
Was it really 2016? My, how time flies. I remember Bryce appearing with Brian one time, he looked so tall, we usually only saw him sitting in front of his bamboo screen. I wish him well, he was (is) a really kind and supportive guy. Happy days.
-
-
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
