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.