Crossroads Custom Framing

About Us

About
Crossroads…Not Just a Festival
Mary Weiler and Ron Scharer, owners of Crossroads Custom Framing in downtown Farmington are avid rock and roll enthusiasts who have travelled the world to enjoy the music of some of their favorite artists. One of their most memorable events was the Crossroads Guitar Festival in June 2004, held in Dallas, TX. The festival benefited the The Crossroads Center in Antigua, located in the Caribbean Islands. Ron explains that the festival changed his and Mary’s life. “Reigniting our passion for music,” he continued.

When Ron and Mary returned home Ron dug his Martin D28 Acoustic Guitar out of the closet where it had been stored for years, because his ex-wife had convinced him that the guitar “was not suitable for a man his age.” That part of his life gone and this new passion stirring inside him, he pulled his guitar out of the dust and began to play. Ron, however, really wanted an electric guitar.

At this same crossroad in Ron’s life, his 16-year-old son mentioned that he wanted to purchase an acoustic guitar. However, he only had a couple of hundred dollars, not really enough to purchase a quality instrument. So Ron made a deal with his son, if his boy would purchase an electric guitar for him, Ron would give him his acoustic guitar. Typical of father son relationships, no money ever changed hands. Ron bought his own no-frills Les Paul studio electric guitar (pictured on the front cover of the magazine) and gave his son his Martin D28. This simple event opened a whole new dialogue between Ron and his son. They were no longer just father and son, but musicians sharing chords, stories and a laugh or two over a $500 debt that still hangs between these two musicians.

Ron will tell you he is happier because his life changed at the crossroads. He and Mary had been wage slaves, now they are free spirits enjoying life, the music and each other.

Together they own and operate Crossroads Custom Framing, where you will hear their favorite music playing in the background. Be sure to stop in and see them as they are in the process of framing and displaying some of their favorite festival and concert memories. They are doing this because they want you to know that they understand the importance of memories. They also want you to know that they will handle your memories and art as though it is their own. In fact don’t be surprised that your art will be hanging somewhere in their store so that they may briefly enjoy it before you take home.

Our Passion
The Crossroads Guitar Festival

Crossroads Center Antigua

The intersection of two roads has always been a mystical place for travelers. Since early times, man has created stories and held superstitions about these places. It was said that at these intersections, demons, evil spirits, ghosts, sprites and fairies were found. It is a burial place for suicides and murderers. The crossroads is a rendezvous for witches who use this place for Sabbath rituals. Sacrifices were often offered to the gods to protect humans from the evil which lurked here, as many sought to make a deal with these beings.

The legend of Robert Johnson, one of the most famous Blues geniuses in history, began in Tchula Junction, Mississippi. He was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Eric Clapton has called Johnson “the most important blues singer that ever lived”. Johnson began following Jazz and Blues greats Son House and Willie Brown, trying in vain to learn to play the guitar from them both. Son House told him that he would never become a guitarist of any note.

Johnson, a widower at the age of 19, turned to a Hoodoo root doctor for advice and was instructed to take his guitar to the crossroads around midnight. Many insist that Robert sold his soul to the devil for his astonishingly rapid mastery of the guitar and later wrote a song about this. He died at the age of 27 from a dose of poisoned alcohol.

Eric Clapton, member of the British band Cream, later covered the tune and continues to this day to play it. Clapton also compares the myth of Johnson’s life to the various addictions of famous musicians and built a rehab center in Antigua that also offers free care for those who cannot afford it as he feels that drugs and alcohol are stealing the “soul” of the musical arts. He funds the center with the Crossroads Guitar Festival, a benefit concert, that occurs every three to four years, of which a majority of the proceeds go to the center.

Our website is bold and different from other frame shops because we believe that life should be spontaneous. We also like to think out side the frame and understand that you want your memories to represent you.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the frame!
We specialize in framing
Rock – N – Roll
Memorabilia

CHECK US OUT AT:

WWW.CROSSROADSCUSTOMFRAMING.COM

Crossroads Custom Framing, 122 E. Columbia, Farmington, MO (573)701-0577

Photos

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