Peter Courtney presented guitar made from fallen 150-year-old maple tree at State Capitol

Oregon Corrections Enterprises surprised Peter Courtney on Friday with a custom Prison Blues electric guitar made from a 150-year-old maple that fell on the State Capitol grounds during the 2021 ice storm.

The presentation came before the regular meeting of OCE's advisory council at its showroom on State Street.

Courtney was lured to the meeting expecting to give a speech about his appreciation of Oregon Corrections Enterprises and its programs. He still did, embarrassed to admit he had never been to the showroom, so he made an advance visit earlier in the week.

"I didn't want to leave," he said. "I was mesmerized by the products. The men and women incarcerated, their handiwork, their skill, I was just blown away. I can't say enough about what this organization is doing."

Courtney, former Senate president, is a long-time supporter of Oregon Corrections Enterprises, a semi-independent state agency providing work and training programs for adults in custody in Oregon prisons.

In partnership with the Oregon Department of Corrections, OCE operates 21 businesses in nine institutions, with 1,400 adults in custody working in various programs, including wood and metal manufacturing, commercial laundries, and website graphic and video design.

Courtney and two other legislators went to the furniture workshop in 2008 to recognize the thousands of hours inmates put into making desks and other furniture for the renovated House and Senate office wings. In 2013, he personally purchased miniature state flags from the embroidery shop to give as gifts to his fellow legislators.

When the historic maple tree fell during the February 2021 ice storm, Courtney talked to then-OCE administrator Ken Jeske about saving the wood. They shared ideas about products some of OCE's manufacturing businesses could make using the maple, including a guitar.

Prison Blues produced its first guitar in 2016, donating it to the governor's food drive. Two years later, OCE officials held a contest for adults in custody to come up with plans to develop a guitar manufacturing program. In 2019, blues rock recording artist Ty Curtis came to the showroom to test drive one of their guitars.

Today, Uptown Music in Keizer sells the guitars. A salesperson said Friday afternoon the shop once had 10 but is down to three in stock. The Prison Blues custom electric guitars retail for $1,250.

The custom guitar presented to Courtney features a lighter-colored wood fretboard inlay of the Capitol building on the neck.

Courtney said he does not play guitar. But he used to play cello and trumpet.

"I was pretty good," he said while posing for photographs next to the glossy guitar.

Courtney took it home but said he will not be keeping it.

"It belongs to the Capitol," he said.

During the meeting, Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, also presented Courtney with a memento, a replica of the Oregon State Seal made of wood from the reader board removed from the Senate chambers.

"We wanted you to have a piece of Oregon Senate history for you to display in your home or wherever you want," Knopp said, noting it is one of just 30 made.

"This is very nice, too," Courtney said. "I'm humbled."

Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6710. Follow her work on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Guitar made from fallen 150-year-old maple at Oregon Capitol