The IBMA Foundation will raffle off a top-of-the-line Huber Truetone Banjo in the second annual Strings for Dreams Bluegrass Raffle. Tickets are on sale now and the drawing is set for May 20, 2022. Proceeds will benefit the foundation’s grants and other charitable projects that support bluegrass music. Only 5,000 tickets will be sold at $20 each or 6 for $100. The drawing will be live streamed at facebook.com/bluegrassfoundation.
The IBMA Foundation is affiliated with the International Bluegrass Music Association. The Northern California Bluegrass Society is a longtime organizational member of IBMA. The first raffle held in 2021 was won by a Bay Area bluegrass musician!
The IBMA Foundation supports programs and initiatives fostering the growth of bluegrass music. The Foundation helps donors create a legacy for future generations of musicians and fans by connecting resources to projects that focus on bluegrass music-related arts and culture, education, literary work, and historic preservation
The prize is a mint condition 2010 VRB-3 Truetone Huber Banjo, valued at $4,100, with two cases and straps. The banjo was donated by longtime IBMA Foundation supporter Richard Spratt. There is no limit to the number of tickets each person may purchase. Raffle tickets may be purchased at stringsfordreams.com from April 1 (9 a.m. ET) to May 19, 2022 (midnight ET. )
The VRB-3 is Huber Banjo’s recreation of the pre-war style-3 banjo, the most common of all the 1930s flatheads. It features a mahogany neck and resonator with a 1930s style Huber HR-30 tone ring and Huber engineered rim. The mahogany neck imparts a sweetness to this model, with a warm blending of notes for a classic bluegrass sound. The rosewood fingerboard and double-cut headstock overlay are inlaid with a vintage style-3 wreath pattern. It is finished with a natural mahogany stain, with antiqued binding and antique metal finish on the nickel parts. Grained ivoroid tuner buttons complete the vintage look.
The Huber banjo comes with its original hard-shell case, a Reunion Blues banjo case, a leather strap designed by Huber, a cloth strap, an electronic tuner, and a Blue Chip thumb pick.
Your ticket purchases support the work of the IBMA Foundation year-round, including project grants for bluegrass camps and afterschool programs for kids, bluegrass academies at festivals, bluegrass academic conferences, mini-grants for band presentations at schools, college scholarships for students focusing on bluegrass-related studies, the Neil Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholar Award, the annual Bluegrass College Band Showcase at World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, Arnold Shultz Fund grants to encourage participation in bluegrass music by people of color, and a variety of educational resources for educators and students of all ages.
The IBMA Foundation is offering sequentially numbered digital raffle tickets. The purchaser will receive an emailed receipt for verification purposes. Purchasers must be living U.S. residents, 18 years of age or older, to participate and win. If fundraising raffles are illegal in your community, you will be unable to participate (states that prohibit raffles altogether are Hawaii and Utah). Tickets may not be purchased by members of the IBMA Foundation board or those involved in conducting the raffle—including staff members or immediate family members of these individuals. “Immediate family” is defined as spouse or partner, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, or spouses of children.
Although all proceeds will benefit the IBMA Foundation, purchase of raffle tickets is not a tax-deductible expense (IRS regulation). The drawing will take place in North Carolina and will be livestreamed on the foundation Facebook page. This raffle has been organized in compliance with North Carolina General Statutes 14-309.15—Raffles. The giveaway is conducted by and benefits the IBMA Foundation. For more information on the Strings for Dreams Bluegrass Raffle, go to bluegrassfoundation.org/raffle/ or stringsfordreams.com.