From: Oakel Hardy
Columbus
I very much enjoyed Tom Jekel’s column in Sunday’s paper about Tom Pickett. I have had the honor and pleasure of knowing Tom as a child taking music lessons at his store and as an adult.
My feeling always has been that Tom has a deep love for the music and wants to share it with others – particularly children. Some of my best memories of growing up was the time spent taking guitar lessons and just hanging around the store and listening to the talk about music and musicians: local and famous.
The atmosphere was always pleasant and more like a family setting rather than anything else. I know Tom had to run a business to feed his family, however, it was obvious even to me as a young person; that was not the primary motive in his work.
He wanted us to succeed and was willing to put the time and effort into helping that happen.
Tom has a way of getting people of all ages “hooked on music." Later, as a police officer, I saw the sad effects of young people getting “hooked on drugs and alcohol." I always thought if Tom had gotten a shot at them in time, he would have saved a lot of them.
I also wonder how many of the undoubtedly thousands of kids he has dealt with over the years he did save by getting them hooked on something positive before they could turn in negative ways.
That number, of course, is unknowable; however, if known, I suspect the number would be astonishing.
Final thoughts on Tom Pickett – a man of faith, a man of great personal integrity, a man who has and continues to have a strong positive influence on people’s (particularly children’s) lives myself included, a man who will persevere in the face of setbacks and hardship.
The last, a trait to inspire all of us during these times of hardship and misery for so many. It is a privilege to say that at age 73, I still consider myself one of Tom Pickett’s kids.
