Here's a little story I thought I'd share with my fellow forum-members:

I get a call from a drummer friend of mine yesterday afternoon. He tells me a story of how, while attempting to enter a county courthouse to pay his taxes on his properties, the metal detector goes off due to the fact that he forgot he had a drum key in his pocket. He steps out of line, empties his pockets and places the drum key in a tray prior to going through the metal detector for the second time.

An elderly gentleman who's behind him notices the drum key, asks if he's a drummer and tells him that he used to play "back in the day". He adds that he's still got his kit but that it's in cases down in his basement and he needs to move it since he no longer makes use of it and it's just taking up space. He asks my friend if he might be interested in it. My friend inquires as to the make of drums and the gentleman states that he believes it's either a Slingerland or a Gretsch kit. He's not really sure since the kit's been in storage for so long. My friend provides the gentleman with his phone number and the owner of the kit says that he'll give him a call once he pulls the kit out of storage.

It's now been over a year since the two had their original conversation and my friend gets a call earlier this week from the gentleman who informs him that he's now retired and finally found the time to pull the drums out of storage. He asks my friend if he'd like to stop by to see them. My friend answers in the affirmative, drives over and finds a Rogers Cleveland-era Red Onyx Holiday kit in a 20/12/14 configuration inside the fibre cases. There are no extra holes in any of the shells nor any modifications made to them. Both toms have their original Rogers heads (top and bottom) and the only "flaw" that he could see was a crack in the wrap (not shell) of the 12 inch rack tom. He asks the gentleman how much he'd accept for the drums and the answer is $100, including the three fibre cases. My friend, feeling a little guilty, hands over $110, says thank you, and leaves with one great Rogers kit. He sounded like a little kid on Christmas morning when he was relating the story to me over the phone.

I guess it's another case of good things happening to good people. I'm going to have the opportunity to see the kit this Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to it!