“Spider” John Koerner’s guitar found

After breaking the sad news that living local legend “Spider” John Koerner’s guitar was stolen in the July issue of Southside Pride, it was a great relief to find out that the news exposure ended up leading to the return of Koerner’s prized instrument to its rightful owner just days after its theft was made public.

Pulse newspaper columnist Tom Hallett (author of the weekly musical column “Round the Dial”) ended up seeing the story and showed it to to friend Ron Schreiner. Schreiner, who’s worked as a roadie, publisher and designer within the music industry for decades recognized the guitar immediately, his friend had bought it off a stranger in an area bar just days earler for $80.

Schreiner was able to quickly contact his friend and re-connect the guitar with Koerner who wasn’t interested in pressing any charges against the thief and even paid Schreiner’s friend the $80 it had cost him to acquire the guitar. A nice ending to what could have been a tragic story for one of Minnesota’s most beloved and enduring musical figures.