Mac Sumner is the winner of a custom Wayne Henderson guitar.

Heartwood announces Henderson Guitar Winner

ABINGDON, Va. – Heartwood: Southwest Virginia's Artisan Gateway is pleased to announce Mac Sumner as winner of a custom Wayne Henderson guitar.

Henderson specializes in crafting handmade, custom acoustic guitars, mandolins and banjos. A nationally recognized luthier, Henderson is based in Grayson County, Va. Although his waiting list for guitars is more than three years, Henderson gifted the custom guitar to Heartwood in hopes of furthering the youth music education programs of Southwest Virginia and The Crooked Road: Virginia's Music Heritage Trail. The custom designed Heartwood guitar features Brazilian rosewood and abalone inlay.

Sumner, of Mt. Airy, N.C., placed the winning bid of $21,200 close to the auction's end on December 31, 2011 and was announced as the winner during Heartwood's New Year's Eve celebration.

As part of Heartwood's mission to further traditional youth music education in Southwest Virginia, $8,850 of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to Junior Appalachian Musicians, Inc. (JAM). The JAM program offers resources to students, traditional musicians, administrators and those members of the community interested in perpetuating old-time and bluegrass music, as well as heritage dance traditions, in the Southwest Virginia region.

"We are very pleased with the interest and final bid of the auction," said Todd Christensen, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation. "It's vital to our region to support youth music and to further the mission of preserving Southwest Virginia's heritage and tradition."

Heartwood: Southwest Virginia's Artisan Gateway is a 30,000-square-foot artisan gateway that features the best of Southwest Virginia's craft, music and food offerings. Located just off I-81's Exit 14 in Abingdon, Va., it is a convenient, unequaled stop for unique shopping and dining and a starting point for people to venture out and experience all that the 19 county, four city region of Southwest Virginia has to offer.