The Guitar Man of south St. Louis had his set cut short on Monday by thieves.
Roger Ulrich, 57, has played nearly every day for the past four years at the corner of Gravois and Hampton avenues. He performs next to the Steak N Shake, and most days, he takes a quick break inside the busy burger shop.
He leaves his guitar — most recently an Esteban — propped between light poles while he cools off.
Terry Austin eyes his opponent across the chessboard, then deftly captures his knight.
A few moves later, opponent Ed Rataj admits defeat.
The two play in the communal living area at Biddle House, a shelter for people who are homeless near downtown St. Louis. Austin is a resident. The Biddle House chess club began in 2016, the same year the shelter opened. Twice a week, shelter residents gather to play chess with volunteers from the community.
It started as a class on developing leadership skills, but it turned out to be God’s hand working to bring people together through the game of soccer while raising awareness of homelessness.
Junior Tony Petruso had signed up for Leadership, a semester-long elective course for juniors and seniors at St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon. On the first day of class, students received the assignment to design a service project that would take the entire semester to plan and execute. Focus on something you’re passionate about, teacher Nancy Holden-Nims told the class.
So Petruso took his passion for soccer and organized a game between the St. Dominic boys’ soccer team and the St. Louis Roadies. He planned for donations to go to Peter and Paul Community Services, an ecumenical agency that provides housing and supportive services to people who are homeless, including those with mental illness or HIV/AIDS.
