Generous stranger gifts guitar to aspiring musician

By BRIAN COBIAN
The Tower

Human interest stories, the ones that tug at your heartstrings and remind you of the good in the world, can often be lost in the storm of daily news.

However, after reading an article in The Manteca Bulletin about how a teenager whose dream is to become a stronger guitarist, one generous citizen decided to gift him a brand-new electric guitar. Paniagua received the brand-new electric guitar on Oct. 11.

In a Q&A with Manteca High’s student newspaper, The Tower, junior Salvador Paniagua spoke about how he taught himself to play the guitar by watching YouTube videos and practicing. His story was published in The Bulletin and shared in Manteca, Lathrop and Ripon. Mike Killingsworth, a local photographer with Preservations Photos, enjoyed the story so much that he contacted Paniagua with an offer.

“I read in the Manteca Bulletin there was an article from the Manteca High journalism club and it was talking about some students,” Killingsworth said. “And there was a picture of him. He was kind of sitting on the curb and strumming a guitar. He says how you can never give up and he was developing his capabilities for playing the guitar."

Manteca High junior Salvador Paniagua and Mike Killingsworth stand together in Paniagua’s home after Killingsworth gifted the guitar to Paniagua on Oct. 11, 2023. (Puneet Sandhu)

Paniagua was in shock.

"I didn’t know what to say except thank you,” he said. “I kept smiling. It seemed too good to be true even when looking at it hang from my wall."

Killingsworth had just one request.

He wanted Paniagua to read a book: The King of California, written by Mark Arax, and the report back to him.

Paniagua’s mother, Graciela Hernandez, received the call. Now for a mother it must be very confusing to get a call from someone saying how they want to give their child something. Most moms, like Hernandez, wouldn’t think it was true for even the slightest second.

She became very emotional upon hearing this.

“When I received a phone call from the school letting me know that a man went to the school trying to talk to him about giving him the guitar, I couldn’t believe it,” Hernandez said. “I felt happy and excited for my son; I got emotional and teary.y. I went and told my oldest daughter right away. We were both very happy for him. We wanted to tell him, but we didn’t want to spoil the surprise."

Killingsworth wanted Salvador to not only read it but to also describe to him what the book was about and his thoughts on the book. Although it did take a while for him to finish the book, once he did, he got back in contact with Killingsworth to do one last task before obtaining a very special gift.

Salvador described the book as: “The book was about the true history of California. It also talked about the San Joaquin Valley too; basically, a lot of farming and all that.”

Manteca High Student Puneet Sandhu contributed to this project.