Singer and songwriter Carl Wayne Meekins, right, shares his story and how that compelled him to start his Play it Forward Campaign as recent graduates of Guitars 4 Vets, Jacob Scissions, second left, and Ariel Jarvis, second right, listen during a Guitars 4 Vets guitar donation hosted by Every Third Saturday in Minneapolis on Monday, June 23, 2025. The ceremony celebrated veterans who had completed 10 weeks of guitar lessons through Guitars for Vets, a national organization that provides free guitars and music lessons to veterans. Mark Shirk, Minneapolis Guitars for Vets chapter coordinator, stands to the left. (Bennett Moger/Pioneer Press)
(Tribune News Service) — Veteran Ariel Jarvis received a guitar on her graduation instead of a diploma.
The ceremony celebrated veterans that completed 10 weeks of guitar lessons through Guitars for Vets, a national organization that provides free guitars and music lessons to veterans.
The audience clapped for veterans Jarvis and Jacob Scissons as they were presented with polished acoustic guitars at the Every Third Saturday main office in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday.
“We give them a social outlet that’s coupled with a musical experience that allows them to, just for a moment, focus away from, you know, the mental health challenges they’re having,” said Mark Shirk, Minneapolis Guitars for Vets chapter coordinator.
The Minneapolis chapter of Guitars for Vets partnered with Every Third Saturday for the event. Every Third Saturday is a nonprofit in Minneapolis that supports Minnesota veterans in finding purpose after military service.
Jarvis grew up in Woodbury, Minn., and served in the 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota National Guard from 2017 to 2023. She was deployed to Kuwait for 10 months in 2018.
Jarvis said the most difficult part of her time in Kuwait was being apart from her family for almost two years between her training and deployment.
But it was also a time of growth and even romance: A friend gave her the number of a Marine who had just returned to the United States after being deployed in Kuwait. The two started talking about their experiences and eventually got married in September 2022.
‘Peaceful’
After her service in the National Guard, Jarvis decided to go back to school and is working on an accounting degree at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn.
Jarvis found out about the Guitars for Vets program through social media. Another veteran posted that the lessons helped them with their anxiety and depression.
“I was like, ‘Well, I have those things, so I’m gonna sign up,’” she said.
Jarvis began guitar lessons in May. She played piano for five years growing up, but had forgotten most of her musical background.
“I’m getting back into music and it is really peaceful,” Jarvis said. “I’ll sit down to practice, and then I’ll look up and be like, ‘Oh, I’ve already been playing for an hour.’”
Scissons joined the army in 2002 and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and in 2010. He currently serves as an Army Reservist. Scissons lives in Faribault, Minn., and drove 45 minutes to Every Third Saturday for guitar lessons.
“It is very meditational,” Scissons said. “It does focus you on what you’re doing, here and now, versus thinking about how you can pay bills or what the kids are doing or all the other things that are going on.”
Paying it forward
The guitars were given to Jarvis and Scissons by Carl Wayne Meekins, a Nashville singer-songwriter. When Meekins was a 16-year-old living in Chesapeake, Va., one of his high school teachers gave him an old acoustic guitar.
Meekins always wanted to pay the gift forward, and for the past two years he has traveled around the country and given away more than 70 guitars, primarily to veterans.
“That kind of changed the whole trajectory of my life, when I started learning how to play the guitar,” Meekins said. “It’s definitely therapy for me, and that’s what we found with the veterans organizations like Guitar for Vets, that they use it as a healing tool.”
Jarvis would find songs she wanted to learn on guitar and bring them to her lessons instructor. She’s currently learning “Zombie” by The Cranberries.
“In your head, in your head, they’re still fightin’,” the song’s lyrics say.
“[Music] makes you feel an array of emotions,” Jarvis said. “For me, that’s really important, because sometimes I get stuck in one emotion and I can’t find the way out to the next one to keep moving on with my day.”
She hopes to continue playing guitar and pick up piano again. Scissons said he’s excited to take the next step of learning how to play guitar alongside other musicians.
Guitars for Vets and Every Third Saturday
The Minneapolis chapter of Guitars for Vets always needs more guitars and is looking for more veterans to get involved in the program. The organization has a Facebook page at facebook.com/G4VMinneapolis. People can email jademarco1@gmail.com to donate a new or used guitar.
Every Third Saturday accepts monetary donations for its veteran services at everythirdsaturday.org.
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