Ohio man builds harps, fosters family’s music love

By JAMES D. DECAMP

COSHOCTON, Ohio — It all began with a home-built wooden box and some leftover string.

Joel Hostetler wanted to play some kind of a musical instrument so, in the absence of one, he rigged one himself. Not long after that experiment, his parents decided that perhaps he could use something a tad more sophisticated as a 16th-birthday present.

So dad Reuben Hostetler, a skilled furniture maker, sent away for plans.

“The harp is one of the first two instruments mentioned in the Bible and it is the last one mentioned in Revelations,” Hostetler said. “The sound of it is beautiful and melodious and reminds us of the wonderful things that God does. I felt driven to make one.”

Once he received design plans for a harp, he spent a few hours each day over the course of a couple of weeks tracing and cutting, sanding, trimming and polishing in his barn.

When he was finished, he had to make sure the harp worked. He had no idea how to tell if it was in tune, so he simply closed his eyes and prayed: “I plucked it, and it made noise. For that I was grateful.”

That was almost nine years ago, and so much has changed.

These days, the four oldest children in the family — Joel, 24; Darlene, 22; Daisy, 21; and Joshua, 18 — all play beautifully, despite only four hours of lessons among them. The two youngest, Jewel, 3, and Jonathan, 2, pick at the strings whenever someone asks them.

Each person plays a role in Harps of Praise, the harp-making trade that now supplements the furniture business. Last week, Hostetler finished his 108th instrument. The largest one he crafts has 38 strings and sells for nearly $3,000; the smallest is a decorative 10-string for $29.99.

The Hostetlers play at nursing homes, private homes and, really, wherever they are invited. This month, they played a set at the Keim Lumber Company Cafe in the heart of Amish country in nearby Charm.

The Hostetlers have recorded four CDs. They credit prayer for putting the love of — and talent for — the harps into their hearts.

“It was always our dream to have children who could sing and play instruments,” Mrs. Hostetler said. “God has blessed us richly.”

Music has long been an important part of the spiritual soul, said Pastor Mark Miller of Faith Christian Fellowship in Walnut Creek, the church the Hostetlers attend.

The Bible, Miller says, tells us to sing. He quotes Ephesians 5:19 — Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.

“Everything we do, we do to honor the Lord,” said Reuben Hostetler, who describes the family’s religion as Christian but adds that they most closely hold to Mennonite and Anabaptist beliefs. “We play to bless others and make them happy. We want to be joyful.”

On a recent evening, the Hostetlers (minus Joel, who is married and no longer lives at home) gathered in the farmhouse’s sunroom for a session.

It couldn’t have been more perfect.

The sun was setting on the rolling Coshocton County hills outside the wall of windows behind them. Cows grazed in the pasture, and the goats fed not far away.

The home smelled sweet, the scent of stewed tomatoes drifting from the kitchen where the women had spent the day canning and making salsa, ketchup and soup with the fruit grown from their garden.

Darlene, the one who everyone agrees is the most accomplished harpist, tuned her favorite instrument, a 36-string harp made of a dark and rich African Padauk wood, and settled in.

With the grace of a falling snowflake, her long and slender fingers danced across the strings. She began to sing.

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound ...”

Good-natured Daisy clearly enjoyed herself the most. She smiled even as she sang, her voice soft as cotton and smooth as a sanded board.

“That saved a wretch like me ...”

Then, there is Joshua. He spends his days making swivel stools, benches and rocking chairs in the woodshop. He’s not as musical as his sisters, he said, because he doesn’t have as much time to practice.

Still, he was the most focused of the lot, closing his eyes and swaying with the music as his strong fingers caressed the taut strings.

“I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see ...”

And the two little ones? Well, let’s just say they tried.