BigDaddy,

You're lucky to have anything in Michigan, what with your Governor Engler--but seriously, the thriving Michigan folk music scene owes a lot to Stan Werbin, and Elderly Instruments--there had been a fairly active folk community in East Lansing when they started the store, but it was starting to fall by the wayside--And even though it started as a small store for collectible instruments, they welcomed and tried to accomodate everybody, whether they were collectors, players, non-players, or whatever--the result has been that a goodsized, vibrant community has grown--

The trick was that the door was open to anyone--which, sadly, is not always true