RE: New ownership for RiverSide Music, a downtown Trenton music business featuring retail sales and music lessons.
Trenton, ON: On Saturday, November 9th, Jason & Christy Wryghte of Trenton celebrated the grand opening of their music store, RiverSide Music in downtown Trenton. RiverSide Music has existed in Trenton for more than fifteen years, but the Wryghte's bought out the previous owners, Maggie and Peter George who closed their store August 31st. The new RiverSide Music re-opened with a new business licence on September 1st and the grand opening was a chance to celebrate the transition with patrons, friends, family, local musicians, greetings from MP Rick Norlock, MPP Rob Milligan, Mayor John Williams and Suzanne Andrews from the Quinte West Chamber of Commerce.
“We wish Jason and Christy every success and we are very pleased that RiverSide Music will continue to offer our community their services,” says Quinte West Mayor John Williams. The new RiverSide Music which is locally owned and operated, is the Quinte Region's largest music retail space. They offer guitars, ukulele, violins, keyboards, percussion equipment, electronics, and band instruments of all kinds. They have rows of accessories and one of the largest selections of music books between Oshawa and Kingston. They rent equipment of all kinds including lights, sound equipment, and karaoke machines. RiverSide also boasts a strong and diverse teaching team providing lessons in all types of guitars, ukulele, piano, violin, drum kit, brass and woodwind instruments.
“The transition of RiverSide Music to its new owners has been very smooth,” says Quinte West Chamber Manager Suzanne Andrews. “It is important for business people to have a succession plan in place for their retirement so that when a change of ownership occurs their customers are well taken care of.” Jason will function as the overall manager and Christy will keep the books. They are a strong, community minded team that bring many great skills with them. Both are professional teachers with years of experience, and Jason has taught instrumental music for many years. Both are past members of the Trenton Citizens Band, and Jason currently performs with the gospel music group, The Crusaders. Jason also runs the Frankford Youth Centre, and Christy has very often helped out with the kids there. They are committed to supporting local musicians through their store. 'We are glad to offer a selection of local musicians' CDs and we take zero percent of those sales.' Patrons are encouraged to consider supporting local musicians in that way, and the display is boldly placed right up front. In fact, local gospel group 'Trinity' and local country singer Debbie McLean were at the celebration on Saturday. It is clear that they appreciate the support.
The space is designed to be family friendly and RiverSide Music's slogan is 'Quinte's Centre for Music and the Arts' as they also have a thriving fine arts program. A dedicated instructor provides group and individual instruction, and one wall is beautifully adorned with student work. In addition, local professional artists are invited to submit their work for consideration of their consignment space. Twenty percent of the proceeds from these art sales goes to RiverSide's scholarship program, so that families with some financial needs might be able to continue their lessons. It's a win-win-win proposition for artists, the students, and RiverSide. Presently, Bert Small's excellent watercolour work is on display.
Another distinctive feature is RiverSide's large collection of Christian music. Christian bookstores in Belleville and Stirling have much to offer, but Trenton's own RiverSide carries a significant collection of Christian sheet music.
The Wryghte's look forward to hosting events for the broader community, from intimate concerts to recitals for students from all studios, including private ones. 'It's certainly not about competition,' says Jason, 'but rather about providing neat opportunities for the kids.'
RiverSide Music is located at 16 Dundas Street West in downtown Trenton. They open Monday-Thursday from 9:30am to 8pm, Fridays from 9:30-6, Saturdays from 9:30-4:00, and Sundays from 2pm - 5pm. For more information call 613-394-4891, check out riversidemusic.com, or find them on Facebook.