Texas Teacher Wins A Golden Era From IBMA Raffle

Congratulations to Steven Ware from Waco, Texas! He's the lucky Deering Golden Era banjo winner from the 2024 Strings for Dreams Bluegrass Raffle. This raffle raised an impressive $20,890 for the IBMA Foundation.

The funds will support the foundation's mission of nurturing bluegrass music education and philanthropy. Ware, a banjo player for over 40 years and a math teacher at a Waco technical school, is ecstatic about his win. “I just cannot overstate the joy and elation I feel upon having won this beautiful Deering banjo! I fit the stereotypical ‘never won anything before’ guy stereotype!” 

His prize is a beautiful 2011 Deering Golden Era banjo, valued at $4,000, which Casey Henry donated to the raffle. This marks the fourth year the Strings for Dreams program has successfully raffled an instrument to raise funds for bluegrass initiatives.