CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - A huge COVID-prevention project kept one Carmichael business alive during the darkest days of store closures. Tim’s Music store owner Scott Mandeville earlier anticipated massive revenue cuts. “Two sectors most affected by the pandemic are retailing and entertainment,” he explains. “That totally represents what we do.”

But an ill wind blew life-saving work his way. From mid-May to the end of June, his staff toiled against the clock to complete the store’s biggest contract -- sanitization and repair of 1800 school musical instruments (mainly the property of San Juan Unified School District). When campuses closed indefinitely in March, much music program funding was redirected to instrument cleansing.   “When school started, we wanted students and parents to be assured that instruments would be as safe as possible,” explains San Juan program specialist Gary Coartney. Retrieving loaner instruments was a mammoth task. He and staff choreographed drop-off operations compliant with COVID protocols. “Some students were not even comfortable leaving home,” he says.  “We had them put their instruments on front doorsteps for us to pick up. We filled U-Hauls and our own vehicles to get everything to Tim’s.”

A 44-year-old Sacramento institution, the music store has been based in Carmichael for three years. As the pandemic struck, the owner was forced to lay off 17 workers. “The San Juan contract (plus similar work for other school districts) allowed me to hire back my repair staff,” Mandeville says. “It gave us income to carry on.”

From petite piccolo flutes to towering tubas, instruments from 57 schools take much space. San Juan inventory filled Tim’s 2100 square foot-performance hall four times over. In compliance with Center for Disease Control guidelines, each instrument was quarantined for six days before de-greasing and ultra-sonic treatments began. Mandeville acquired extra ultra-sonic cleaning sinks to hasten operations. “Sanitizing brass is one thing,” he explains. “Woodwind cleaning requires two separate chemical processes.” Technicians scrubbed and tweezered inner works; they also cleaned instrument cases. Along with expected grime, they found a shoe inner-sole (in a tuba) and removed a decaying hamburger (from a Sousaphone). Mandeville installed ventilators and circulated staff from the workroom every two hours. During six weeks of intense work, his team remained 100 percent illness-free.

School reopening dates are yet unknown but thousands of SJUSD musicians will begin their semester with squeaky-clean instruments. The sanitization contract was a windfall that saved Mandeville’s business. The owner nevertheless prescribes regular instrument cleaning for all musicians. “We have a tradition of bell-ringing and hollering when any repair service is completed,” he says. “We’re celebrating that an instrument is ready to go out and improve someone’s life. If our work also makes students and families also feel safer, that’s something extra to celebrate.” 

Tim’s Music Store is located at 6818 Fair Oaks Boulevard.