As Clovet Shelton stood on Centre College’s campus, looking up at the expanse where a living piece of history once stood, he contemplated: how could he both preserve a legacy and give that piece of history back to the college?

“The General,” affectionately named by the children of former Centre President John Rousch due to its impressive stature, was a slippery red elm on the lawn of the Craik House. The tree had been a fixture on the corner of what is now Maple Avenue and Main Street for over 200 years, its vast branches providing shade and comfort to generations upon generations of the Danville community.

However, by 2021, age and weather had taken their toll on The General. The judgment was made to remove the tree for the safety of cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

For many, it was a sad but necessary decision. For Clovet, it was the beginning of a unique journey.

Clovet joined the Centre College facilities team over 5 years ago as a zone mechanic, responsible for the vital upkeep and repair of Centre’s campus and buildings. When the workday ends, he steps into his garage studio and becomes a craftsman, channeling his passion for music and creativity into an instrumental art form.

“I love my job at Centre,” said Clovet. “It gives me the opportunity to come here and learn new things all the time. Then, I get to go home and work on guitars.”

Clovet has been “obsessed” with the instrument for his entire life, beginning as a child when he collected vintage guitars with his father. Years of playing, experimenting and learning about the uniqueness of each guitar cumulated when The General was taken down, and Clovet was inspired to begin an entirely new adventure with his beloved instruments: handcrafted guitars as unique to one another as fingerprints.

“I realized I can combine every guitar I’ve ever played,” said Clovet. “I can combine what I like about each instrument and create one that is completely unique to me.”

After some initial woodworking practice to iron out the kinks, Clovet used wood obtained from The General to craft a series of guitars for Centre College. Though slippery red elm is not typically used when creating guitar bodies, stepping out of the box rewarded Clovet with a series of one-of-a-kind pieces, each with its own rich, varying tone.

To date, Clovet has used the grand tree to create seven guitars in a series he named “Tears of the General,” each one drawn, traced, cut, laminated and assembled by his own hands. Even though they are made from the same materials, each guitar has a personality of its own in both sound and visual aesthetic.

Pieces from his Tears of the General series can be found around campus, including in the windows of the Centre College bookstore anda Stephen Powell-inspired piece in the Grace Doherty Library. His very first Tears of the General guitar now hangs right here, in the Norton Center Grand Foyer, ready and eager for its next moment in the hands of a musician.