It’s not uncommon for kids to ask their parents to play the piano or the guitar, but eight-year-old Lucas Alexander had no interest in these common instruments.
“I was doing music class and there were a bunch of instruments on the wall and I liked the harp,” says Alexander.
He went home to his mom Loray Alexander, and did what most kids do: started asking for lessons.
“It was very significant for me because I did a lot of angel and spiritual work dealing with my invasive breast cancer,” says Loray.
“When I got into remission and he mentioned that, to me that was a sign that we really were OK. It was also a sign to me that he was at peace now. To me the harp is so heartfelt. When he mentioned the harp it really seemed to reflect where we are at now.”
Loray was hesitant to immediately sign Lucas up for harp lessons seeing as he had never even held a harp before.
“I called Nancy Potter who teaches harp in town and asked if he could just come over and play with a harp,” she says.
By the end of his first visit to Potter’s, Lucas had learned to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
He has now been playing for three and a half months and happily practices many times a day.
“I feel so lucky that I get to wake up to harp music,” says Loray.
She says that Lucas even approached his teachers and asked if he could play at his graduation ceremony for the Gordon Sargent program.
For the first three months, Lucas played a smaller harp that had fewer strings and had to be propped up on a box. But when Loray knew that Lucas had a real interest in the harp, she knew they would have to look for a proper one for him.
Potter, Lucas’ teacher, was going to Kelowna for her daughter’s wedding and stopped at a harp builder’s in the area.
“She brought one back for us. We have a three month trial with it and after that we can either keep renting it or raise the money to buy it,” she says.
The harp costs $65 a month to rent and $1,900 to buy.
“I knew we’d have to go for a used harp, because a new one is $3,000. But we’ve been so lucky that everything has fallen into place. There is a harp teacher in Nelson. I don’t know if there is a harp teacher in Castlegar or Trail,” she says.
Loray and Lucas, with the help of their friends, are looking to the community to help Lucas continue with his dream.
Because of Loray’s breast cancer, she had to go on disability. She is now starting to work part time with Harvest Rescue, but the cost of the harp is a lot for her to take on her own.
Bean Here Now Café on Lake Street at Josephine is sponsoring the fundraising for Lucas’ harp. They are putting a tin out to collect donations and are also accepting yard sale items for a yard sale at Loray and Lucas’ home tomorrow.
The yard sale is from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at 409 Tower Road in Rosemont.