Get free strings, help a great cause

Watermelon Music’s annual Strings for Food event returns Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at both stores, 207 E St. in downtown Davis and 527 Main St. in downtown Woodland.

Shoppers who bring at least two non-perishable food items with their guitar, bass guitar, ukulele, banjo or mandolin will receive a free set of D’Addario strings installed by Watermelon Music staff members, who also will polish the instrument. There’s a limit of two instruments per customer.

Food items donated at the Davis store will go to Davis Community Meals. Food donated at the Woodland store will go to the Woodland United Way.

The Strings for Food event was pioneered in the 1990s by Davis Music (now Watermelon Music), and has become an annual event at more than 40 independent stores across the country, generating thousands of pounds of food for local food banks before the busy holiday season.

For the last couple of years, string manufacturers like D’Addario have jumped on board, helping to make to make the event possible on a larger scale. This year, a website (www.stringsforfood.org) has been set up to further spread the word.

For more information about this event, call Jeff or Ron at Watermelon Music in Davis at 530-758-4010 or Ted or David at Watermelon Music in Woodland at 530-668-4020.