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By DEBORAH MEDENBACH
Times Herald-Record
Posted: January 20, 2010 - 2:00 AM
CROTON-ON-HUDSON — Folk icon Pete Seeger's banjo head, ringed by the words "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender," has been vibrating under plucked strings for 30 years. It has been around the globe and in every state of the union.
The banjo head was in Seeger's hands as he played "This Land Is Your Land" at President Barack Obama's inauguration. It was also on his instrument for his 90th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden.
Now this little piece of folk music history is hitting the eBay auction block to benefit charity.
"Every 30 years or so, I have my friend R.J. Storm fix up my banjo. I should have had it done a long time ago," Seeger said from his home. "I had him put a new banjo head on, and he said he wanted to raise money for Haiti. I said anyone who wants to have the old banjo head can, for a price, and you can raise the money that way."
Storm, a Port Jervis acupuncturist and instrument repairman, said auction proceeds will go to 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, whose tree-planting work in western Kenya reforested clear-cut mountains. Seeger hopes Maathai will teach the women of Haiti her methods of land restoration.
"I read her book, 'Unbowed,' about her experiences in Kenya," Seeger said. "It's a glorious story. If you fly over Haiti, as I have, you can see a straight line between the forested Dominican Republic and Haiti, which is almost bereft of trees."
Though the small Caribbean nation is in the throes of earthquake recovery, Seeger said he wanted his proceeds to benefit the Haitian environment.
"The good and bad are all tangled up in this world, but some awful things are followed by good results," Seeger said.