Recently, I was passing through Waverly, Ohio, on Highway 23, and stopped in at Prussia Valley Dulcimers and met Gary Sager, who runs the shop with his wife, Toni.
We had a long chat. Gary used to work for RCA making TV tubes until the plant in Circleville closed in 2004 and all that work went to China. He’d been making dulcimers for several years by then, so he and Toni opened the store.
Turns out, didn’t know this, but most good mountain dulcimers (the kind pictured here) are made by artisans in workshops around America. So Gary tells me. The work hasn’t been turned over to the Chinese entirely, in other words.
Gary sells only this kind of artisan dulcimers. Nice American story of a guy rebounding from the punches of globalization, not letting it keep him down.
So if you’re in central or southern Ohio and in the market for a real American-made mountain dulcimer, or a banjo, a mandolin, or a guitar, stop by Prussia Valley Dulcimers in Waverly, Ohio and see Gary Sager. He’ll give you a good deal….
Here’s the website: http://www.prussiavalley.com/
Gary, I am Carlene’s sister, Jean from Wood County Dulcimers. Have sent lots of info but haven’t been answered back cause I don’t know how to do this. Anyway… I think you are great.
I bought my last dulcimer from Gary and Toni Sager. They are what a small business should be–providing quality products and services to people at a fair price. They have a large assortment of quality instruments, which they will demonstrate and let you try out. And if you just need a pick or a string? Well, they will give that need as much attention as they would if you were buying an instrument. Prussia Valley Dulcimers is a great small-town American business and Gary and Toni represent America at its best.