We posted last month about the scholarship fund established by Steve Huber (Huber Banjos) to raise money for the college education of Latham and Will Calveard.

The two boys are the sons of Sam Calveard, a former Huber employee and friend to the acoustic instrument world who left his position at Huber when his wife, Beth, was nearing the end of her battle with cancer, an intractable foe against whom she was unable to prevail. The fund was established to help Sam to recover from remaining medical bills without worries about the boys college costs.

Steve made a startup donation of $2500, and tells us that a number of other sizable contributions have been received, along with many more smaller ones.

Now, Huber has joined forces with The Banjo Hangout to offer a new Jim Mills model Huber banjo valued at just under $5,000 in a raffle to further benefit the Calveard Scholarship Fund. Raffle tickets are only $10 apiece, with no limit to the number any individual can purchase.

Tickets can be purchased online until June 15, and the winner will be announced on June 30. All proceeds will go to the Scholarship Fund.

It sounds to us like a great way to support a worthy cause in our own backyard – and maybe even grab a $5000 banjo for only $10!

We received a note recently from Shayne Bartley informing us that he and Ray Craft were in the process of reforming Unlimited Tradition. The band was a popular fixture on the festival circuit in the mid-to-late 1990s and officially disbanded in 2000.

During their tenure, the band has included such members as Scottie Sparks, Randy Kohrs, Steve Huber, Harold Nixon, John Lewis and Jason Hale in addition to Craft and Bartley. They released two CDs, Lost In Time (self-produced) and She’s Gone on Doobie Shea.

After the band broke up, Craft went on to perform with the short-lived Rock County, and Bartley did time with 1946 and Karl Shiflett – and spent the summer of 2003 on tour with country super stars Brooks and Dunn.

Shayne says that Bobby Hicks will be joining them on selected dates this summer, and that more details about the new band membership will be announced shortly. He also mentioned that they are in discussions with a number of labels now, and hope to have a new recording later this year.

There is no Unlimited Tradition web site at this time, but anyone interested in talking with them can find Shayne on MySpace, or reach him by phone (859-321-9874) or email.

UPDATE 3:30 p.m. Shayne just contacted us to say that they do now have a MySpace page for Unlimited Tradition. It shows that Shayne will be playing banjo, Ray will be on guitar and Nick Chandler on mandolin. You will also find their shows for this summer to date.

If you’ve done business with Huber Banjos in the last few years, chances are you had a conversation with Sam Calveard. Sam handled customer service at Huber from 2005 to 2007, and made a lot of friends during his time on staff. He has been a long-time friend to the banjo world in general, having worked for years at both Gruhn Guitars and Gibson.

Steve Huber is asking all his customers and friends to join him in reaching a hand out to Sam during a time of need. Sam’s wife, Beth, passed away on March 22 after a lengthy bout with cancer, leaving him with the sole responsibility of raising their two young sons, Will and Latham.

Huber has established a scholarship trust fund account for the boys’ eventual college education, so that Sam can attempt to recover from their crushing medical expenses without also worrying about college costs for his sons. Steve has made an initial donation of $2500 to set up the fund, and asks everyone who has done business with Huber – or who cares about banjos and the people who make them – to send along whatever donation they can to help Sam’s boys.

I think we all know that the folks who toil for years to bring us quality music and fine instruments rarely earn the sort of income that makes retirement and college planning easy. Steve Huber asks that you examine your finances and see if they allow you to make a contribution to this worthy fund.

Online (PayPal) donations are enabled on the Huber Banjos web site.

Banjo maker Steve Huber got a late Christmas gift yesterday – the birth of his son, Christopher Steven Huber.

Steve and his wife Heidi welcomed Christopher on Friday morning (12/28) at 9:18 a.m. (EST). He weighed in at 8 lbs., 6 oz. and was 20” long.

Steve said that he had been whispering “thumb, index, middle” into the baby’s ear all day.

Congratulations to the Hubers on the new addition to their family, and to proud grandparents Marty and Charmaine Lanham of Nashville Guitar Company as well.