If you know John Boyd, or have just been to one of his Jammin' at Johnboy's yard concerts, you know his workshop was a sacred place. It was destroyed by a fire on New Year's night.

John and a small group of friends built it by hand, pouring the foundation and using barn wood salvaged from other sacred places around the region, for about $50,000 — not counting sweat. Besides the jobs he was working on, the lumber for those projects and his modern woodworking machinery, the shop held countless antique tools he'd collected over his 40-year career as a craftsman in Kansas City.

What John created was irreplaceable, but those of you who know him know he'll recover one way or another. In the meantime, he has an immediate need for machinery, tools and supplies so he can get back to work. If you can help at all, John and his family and friends would be forever grateful.