 A new program at Central Lakes College now allows students who don't own or can't afford a guitar to take guitar classes at the college. The program began last fall as a call for donations after students were disappointed that having a guitar was required to take the class. Two guitars were donated almost immediately and loaned to students who don't own guitars so that they could participate in that class. Some students are from out of state and they couldn't bring their guitar with them. They can, like a library book, loan a guitar out for the semester, return it at the end of the semester and use it, take it home with them, practice, perform with it at coffee shops, use it in class here with us. Some students maybe couldn't afford a guitar. Some of the students had a guitar but it was almost unusable. They were sort of broken down, the necks were bent, strings wouldn't stay in tune. So a part of the class is helping them learn how to maintain and repair their own guitar. In addition to the two donated guitars the college was able to buy two new guitars to add to the program and donations for guitars are still being accepted by the college. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.