Played on John Shal’s violin #128, by Dr. Gina Mashburn Heath (2017)
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John Shal was born in Everson on April 20th, 1910. John loved violins since the age of 9 1/2 years when he tried to teach himself how to play. By the time he graduated from school he was helping friends make small adjustments on their violins and he did his best to scratch out tunes on his own. He found a man in Lemont Furnace to teach him the art of repairing them. He always took his vacations of three weeks together and attended violin making competitions around the country to meet and pickup tips from the best. During all this time with his obsession he found time to marry his wife Mary and they would live in south Connellsville. But it wasn't until the age of 50 that he began taking violin playing lessons from Everett Thomas of Connellsville, the Concertmaster at California State College. As he learned his art of making violins, he collected thousands of dollars worth of tools and could ask one to two thousand dollars for a violin that could take at least 240 hours to make. He came to model each violin after those of the famed Italian master Antonio Stradivari. John was a member of the Southern California Association of Violin Makers. There was an annual contest held in Phoenix Arizona and he was proud that he had a violin take the Grand Championship for Tone there in 1969 and he had another take 7th place in the same championship. John passed away on November 25th, 1994 at the age of 84 and was buried in the Holy Trinity Cemetery. John was one of the founders of the Fayette County Fiddlers Association.
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Connellsville Post Office - Date Unknown
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John Shal House located at 316 Vine Street, South Connellsville
To took John and his wife 10 years to complete this house from start to finish.
Photos courtesy of of John's daughter Janet Parkerson.
To took John and his wife 10 years to complete this house from start to finish.
Photos courtesy of of John's daughter Janet Parkerson.