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Sylvia Woods Harp Center
May 2020 Newsletter
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A Personal Note from Sylvia
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The theme of this month's newsletter is "Home."
For most of us, our harps have an essential role in keeping our sanity during these "stay at home" times. This past week I remembered this hand-made wooden plaque that we sold back in 2005. I think it sums up our thoughts perfectly!
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I have some huge "home" news. I bought a new house here on Kauai in March! Read the article below, and you'll find out all about it.
Speaking of Kauai, many of you have written asking how we're doing here in Hawaii with the COVID-19 pandemic. See the "Coronavirus in Hawaii" section below for the most recent update.
Continuing the "home" theme of this newsletter, all of the books, sheets, and PDFs that are part of this month's sale include a piece with "home" in the title.
I hope that you and your family are safe and secure "at home" and that your harp is bringing joy to yourself and others.
Aloha,
Sylvia
P.S. If you know of anyone who might want to purchase a unique 3-story condo with impressive views on the beautiful, lush island of Kauai, Hawaii, let me know! My condo is excellent for a vacation rental and is now on the market for sale!
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My big news is that I bought a new house in the town of Lihue, and moved in on April 8th! I'm still on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, but I'm now centrally located, less than 5 minutes away from major stores, the airport, and the hospital. The best part is that instead of living in a three-story condo with 32 steps, I'm now in a one-story house with only two steps!
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My new house was built in 2010. It has four small bedrooms, two full baths, a living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, and a small covered lanai in the back yard. I've never had a garage in my entire life, so I'm very excited that it has a huge two-car garage!
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One of the bedrooms is now the "harp room" with harps for sale and rent. I rent to local people here on the island, and also to tourists who want a harp to use while they're on vacation. I enjoy meeting my customers from all over the world when they come to Kauai.
Another bedroom is my office and shipping center, where I process and pack your book, sheet music, and accessory orders. Sometimes I Skype or FaceTime with my students here, and other times I use my living room. It is nice to have options!
I'm pleased that my business is finally all set up, and I have unpacked almost all of my personal stuff. My new house is finally starting to feel like "home."
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Way back in the early 1970s, I took a stained glass class at the Santa Monica recreation center. At the end of the first class, the teacher told us to bring a drawing of what we wanted to create. Everyone else brought in a design with 6 or 8 pieces. My project was a replica of the Guinness harp with over 100 pieces! The teacher tried to discourage me from doing such a complex project, but I stood my ground. I think I did a pretty good job, considering I hadn't a clue what I was doing! My glass creation is now hanging in a place of honor in my new dining room.
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Here is a photo of one of my two chandeliers. I'd much rather have ceiling fans, but since these came with the house, for now, they are staying put. They do add quite a bit of class to my surroundings!
By the way, I was bragging to my sister in France that I had two chandeliers in my new house. She said, "that's nice, but I have THREE!" Oh well. I should have learned a long time ago not to try to compete with my siblings!
I have a fun trivia question for you. Can you guess what housewarming gift I've received the most? I'll give you a minute to think . . .
(Hum the Jeopardy theme while you ponder) . . .
I've received a few plants, but mainly I've been getting toilet paper! That is a sign of the times, isn't it?
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Many of you have emailed asking how Hawaii is coping during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Just like most of the U.S., here in Hawaii, we are under "stay-at-home" orders, and masks are required whenever we leave our homes. Schools, stores, and businesses are closed, and restaurants are only open for take-out. Beaches are ok for exercise, but not for sunbathing or socializing. Some of these restrictions will start to be relaxed in the next few days or weeks.
Anyone flying into the state of Hawaii must self-quarantine for 14 days. Tourists must stay in their hotel rooms. They are not allowed to go out to the pool, the beach, or stores. They must get their food through room service. So, this is not a good time to come on vacation! Because of this, tourism is down by 99%.
As of May 15th, 39,000 individuals have been tested in the state, with 638 positive cases of the virus.
565 cases have been released from isolation, 56 required hospitalization, and there have been 17 deaths.
414 cases were or are on Oahu, 117 in Maui County, 76 on the Big Island, and 21 here on Kauai.
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Our Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami was one of the first Hawaiian leaders to institute rules to control the pandemic here. He has also been presenting excellent
video updates every afternoon to keep the residents informed. Then, after he gets home from work, his wife films his short
"Stay Home, Kaua'i" videos on a variety of fun, and often silly, subjects: #stayhomekauai.
“There’s enough negativity and fear going around, and that’s not what people need right now,” he said. The purpose of “Stay Home Kaua‘i” is “to be a beacon of hope.”
The mayor's policies have been working. We've only had a total of 21 cases on Kauai, and everyone has recovered. Twenty of the cases were travel-related, and only one patient was hospitalized. We currently have no active cases, and have not had a new case in over a month.
We are looking forward to welcoming tourists with aloha in the future -- but only when it is safe for all.
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P.S. There are some effects of the virus that most of us don't consider. Our Kauai K-Mart shut down in 2018 when they were closing stores throughout the country. No new store has moved into its space, so the store and its parking lot have been vacant. I drove by about a month ago, and the parking lot was full of cars! Just then, I happened to hear on the radio that since we currently have no tourists, rental car companies were leasing parking lots and vacant farmland to store their cars.
I haven't been able to find out how many rental cars are on Kauai. But the businessinsider.com website reports that there are 18,000 rental cars on Maui. They usually have about twice as many tourists as we do, so I guess that there are probably about 9,000 rental cars on Kauai. That's a lot of vehicles to have to find places to park on an island!
Of course, this problem isn't limited to Hawaii. I recently read that Dodger Stadium's lot in Los Angeles is being used for the same purpose.
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This month's sale features books, sheets, and PDFs with songs about home. The code word is
Home
.
To get the 15% discount on the products below, enter the code word
Home
in the Promo Code box on your shopping cart page and click "Enter Code" by June 1, 2020. For more information, see the "How to get the 15% discount" section at the bottom of this newsletter.
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including
Merida's Home
by Sylvia Woods
15% off with
Home
code
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from
Les Miserables
by Sylvia Woods
15% off with
Home
code
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including
She's Leaving Home
by Sylvia Woods
15% off with
Home
code
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including
Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home
by Deborah Friou
15% off with
Home
code
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including
Almost Home
by RoJean Loucks
15% off with
Home
code
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including
Home
by Lisa Lynne
15% off with
Home
code
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by Angi Bemiss
15% off with
Home
code
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by William Mahan
15% off with
Home
code
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including
Home Sickness
by William Mahan
15% off with
Home
code
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including
Cape Breton Home
and
The Night the Goats Came Home
by Brenda Bowen Cox
15% off with
Home
code
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including
Mist Covered
Mountains of Home
by Kim Robertson
15% off with
Home
code
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including
Home on the Range
by Louise Trotter
15% off with
Home
code
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How to get the
15%
discount
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15% off select sale items when you use the code word
Home
Our newsletter promo codes are redeemable online and are only valid for the items featured in the sale section of this newsletter. They are not valid for phone or email orders. This month's code word is
Home
, and it is valid for 15% off the select books, sheets, and PDFs in the
sale section
above. Just because an item is mentioned somewhere in this newsletter doesn't mean that it is on sale. It must be in the sale section.
#1. Put the items you want to purchase in your cart.
#2. On the page where you view the items in your cart, type this month's code word
Home
in the "Promo Code" box and click on "Enter Code."
The actual price of the featured sale products on this page will then automatically change to reflect the discount. You'll also see a note below the Promo Code box saying the name of the promo code you entered and the percentage amount of the discount.
REMEMBER: you must enter this month's code word
Home
in the Promo Code box and click "Enter Code" on your shopping cart page by June 1, 2020 to get the discount!
Offer expires at the end of the day on 6/1/2020.
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Sylvia Woods Harp Center
Lihue, Hawaii
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