On the quaint and quiet Beaver Island, you can find a group of students who can make quite the rumble.
“Tunes is a 501(C)(3) non-profit music program on Beaver Island, and we provide music, education and instrument lending to both the young people and the aging community on Beaver Island. We have virtual lessons with the music school in Traverse City that does vocal, mandolin, we do have some fiddle lessons going through there, we have some students taking virtual fiddle lessons with an instructor from Donegal, Ireland, and then in the community center here we have piano lessons, acoustic, bass, and electric guitar lessons, and we have some accordion lessons happening,” said Non-Profit Director, Tara Palmer.
Tunes Music Makers launched this past January in honor of Tara’s father, Edward Palmer.
“It was his wish to continue his musical legacy throughout the island for generations to come. He grew up in a time when life was very difficult on the island, and there was an elderly woman in the community who took him under her wing when he was about nine years old. And sat him down in front of a piano and started to teach him music. And he just kind of evolved from there. The process kind of went from the piano to the guitar to the harmonica, and by the age of 14, he was playing music for a lot of events in the community. As time evolved, he ended up entertaining five generations of Beaver Island Families,” Tara said.
Palmer played music from the age of 9 to 74 years old and became very instrumental in keeping music alive on Beaver Island.
“When he was passing, my sisters and I had multiple conversations to him about what he wanted to see for the future of Beaver Island, and it was always about the music. Keep the music going, keep the tunes going,” said Tara.
Which is exactly what Tunes Music Makers is doing. This non-profit is bringing the world of music to kids and adults on the island with lessons at no charge.
“We know that a lot of kids need an outlet for expression. We know that mental health is at an all-time high for young people, and we have seen so much progress with the kids that, you know, a year ago had never picked up an instrument were shy, were introverted, and are just engaging with their peers musically. They’re engaging with older people in the community that are playing music. We’ve seen just a lot of confidence be built in the short amount of time that we’ve been giving our lessons,” Tara said.
Tunes is not only continuing the legacy of Mr. Palmer, but also the rich history of music on this Northern Michigan island.
“Beaver Island has a long history of musical traditions from Native American through the Irish Immigration area and onward. So, for many generations we’ve had a lot of live music here. The Irish had house parties, they had parties in the church hall and dances and things like that. So, it goes back a long way, 170 some years for most of us who have some heritage here. And what this project is about, is continuing that and making sure that the younger kids in the community and others of all ages, but I think particularly the younger generations, carry that forward,” said Robert Cole, support staff at the Beaver Island Community Center.
“It’s been amazing just to see children and adults that come through the building here at the community center. They’re just lit up excited. Each week they share with us and, you know, they got a song down and it just they light up and it’s just they started with nothing and now they have something,” said current Tunes Fiddle student, Catherine Meintsma.
There’s no doubt that Mr. Palmer would be beaming with joy, knowing what his family has created in his honor for the community.
“My dad always had a saying that was, he would say when he was playing music and it was, is everybody happy? And it was kind of a general way of him saying, are we all feeling good? Is everybody happy? Are you checking on the person next to you to make sure they’re happy? What can I do to make you happy? And I really feel like that’s been the backbone of this program for us. Like, how can we improve the life of people on Beaver Island? How can we improve the children’s lives on Beaver Island with the idea of, you know, my dad as the center of that? And it it really does make us very happy,” Tara said.
Edward Palmer’s legacy will continue to live on with every note these students play.