Swiftie fan receives autographed guitar at Round-Up luncheon
Eleven-year-old Taylor Pitner was given a pink guitar signed by Taylor Swift at the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Luncheon held during Red Bluff Round-Up week.
Pitner has a special tie to the Round-Up. She is the Round-Up’s 2024 Golden Circle of Champions designee and with her family, courtesy of the Round-Up, will receive a trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December as one of the “golden” children, who are going through or have gone through cancer treatment.
The daughter of Eric and MaryBeth Pitner, Taylor was diagnosed with ALL: acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia in February 2021.
She has gone through six cycles of chemotherapy, followed by 18 months of maintenance.
Pitner underwent treatment at the University of California-Davis, a nearly two-hour trip from Red Bluff. Her parents chose to make the trip each time, instead of staying in Davis.
“She felt better at home, rather than staying in a hotel,” said Marybeth Pitner.
The pink guitar will fit nicely with Pitner’s other Taylor Swift memorabilia: four of Swift’s albums, a Taylor Swift flag, popcorn buckets from the movie, an air freshener, a makeup bag, and clothing decorate her room.
Pitner’s mom chuckled that she “isn’t too tired of hearing Swift songs,” but “my husband is.”
The idea to give the guitar to Pitner came from Delcie Strahan, manager of Philanthropy with St. Elizabeth Community Hospital.
When Strahan learned that Pitner was a Swift fan, she reached out to the community to ask if anyone would like to donate money to buy Pitner her own guitar.
When Heather Bell, senior vice president director of Information Technology for Cornerstone Community Bank was approached about donating, she talked to the bank’s CEO. She was struck with the fact that her daughter is also named Taylor.
“I asked our CEO,” Bell said. “It was outside the budget, but he said yes.”
A second pink guitar autographed by Swift was on the auction block at the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Luncheon on April 16.
MaryBeth Pitner told her daughter she could bid $200 on the guitar, knowing the amount most likely wouldn’t be enough to purchase it.
Missing out on the bidding, it was then Pitner was told she would receive her own guitar – as a gift.
She was “on cloud nine,” her mom said.
Pinter doesn’t know how to play the guitar, but she’ll be taking lessons soon. John Waterman bought her a beginner songbook of Swift’s songs, and Sunrise Rotary donated $150 to her, which she will use to buy a case.
The Pitners moved from Corning to Red Bluff five years ago, and the outpouring from the community during her daughter’s illness has been wonderful, MaryBeth said.
Pitner’s school did a penny drive to help raise funds and other community groups donated money to the family.
“It’s crazy,” MaryBeth Pinter said. “People are good. Until you get involved in something like this, where your kid has a possibly life-ending illness, you don’t know the kindness of people, or how a group of people can come together.
“It’s beautiful.”
