Ukulele Raffle … and the winner is …
Each year NC luthier Jay Lichty builds a handcrafted guitar or ukulele to be raffled to benefit LEAF Community Arts. For the 2014 raffle Jay built a lovely oak ukulele out of primarily recycled materials. It has quite a story to tell! We are thrilled to learn that the lucky winner is a ukulele player and he seems just the right kind person to bring this ukulele’s songs to life.
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* Congratulations to Bob Stepno – the lucky winner of the 2014 ukulele raffle to benefit LEAF Community Arts programs! *
and many many thanks go out to all the great folks who purchased tickets, helped to spread the word and who support all the great works of LEAF Community Arts. We know that many of you support the raffle each and every year and a special nod of appreciate goes to each of you.
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Visit Bob’s Blog is watch a fun video of him playing his new uke –
The song he plays is PERFECT!
(may not be able to view the video on a tablet)
And folks who live near Radford, Virginia – keep your eyes and ears out for a chance to catch Bob and his uke on stage.
Here is one example for November 15th, 2014 –
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Some background … While Jay builds handcrafted guitars and ukuleles with beautiful, resonate woods from around the world, we’ve been on the hunt for good sources of local woods. Some species found locally include sycamore, cherry, walnut, beech, maple and oak. We also love the idea of building with salvaged materials whenever possible. Recently we had the good fortune of finding a few select pieces of oak that had once been the flooring of an ancient western North Carolina mountain cabin.
Jay had been dying to build something with the oak and he also wanted to keep with the idea of repurposing. To that end, he crafted a ukulele for the 2014 LEAF raffle out of the “mountain cabin oak” for the back and sides, the soundboard is Sinker Cedar (wood reclaimed from naturally fallen trees in western Canadian that were sunken in the temperate forest bogs) and the neck is carved out of an old mahogany bedpost.
How does it look, sound, feel and smell? Like a dream!
Retail Value: $4,135
Ukulele Raffle Audio/Video samples
Hope (Jay Lichty)
Out on the Kalahari (Jay Lichty)
There's a Kind of Hush (Les Reed and Geoff Stephens)
I've Got Rhythm(George Gerswin)
Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell)
Saturday Afternoon (Jay Lichty)
Learn more about an organization making a meaningful difference is so many lives …
Where do your dollars go when you support LEAF Community Arts?
Here is a snapshop 2004-2013 – Learn more
41,000 + youth served through LEAF Schools & Streets since 2004
Annually providing 40+ programs to over 5,000 participants through LEAF Schools & Streets
900+ youth served through LEAF International since 2006
Currently serving in 10 countries through LI
LEAF now operates the Easel Rider, a mobile art lab, owned and previously operated by the City of Asheville’s Parks & Recreation Department. The Easel Rider serves over 5,000 individuals per year.