KANSAS CITY, MO (CelebrityAccess) — Goodwill of Western Missouri & Eastern Kansas helped to return a lost piece of rare Americana – a fiddle once owned by Country Music Hall of Famer Roy Acuff – to its rightful owner.
The fiddle, which was made by Acuff’s uncle Evart Acuff, who crafted the instruments and numbered each one. The Kansas City Star reported that the donated fiddle had a sticker that said that the fiddle, no 19. was handmade in August 1945 in Maryville, Tenn. (which the sticker identifies as “Merryville”).
After normal processing of the donated item that included authenticating its provenance, the fiddle was placed for auction on GoodwWill’s website at the end of December.
However, after the bidding commenced, a person, who asked to remain anonymous, and claiming to be the rightful owner of the instrument, contacted Goodwill and said that the fiddle was a family heirloom mistakenly donated by a family member.
Upon verification of the instrument’s ownership, Goodwill suspended the online bidding process, removed the fiddle from Goodwill’s inventory of for-sale items and returned it to the owner.
“We would like to thank all of those who have expressed interest in this rare, wonderful musical instrument, especially those who have seen fit to place bids to purchase it,” said Kevin Bentley, interim president and CEO, Goodwill Western Missouri & Eastern Kansas. “Goodwill appreciates how valuable this fiddle is to music lovers. It is also a family heirloom that came into our possession by mistake. Because of that, we have honored the request to return the item. We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused for any of our shoppers. And we thank you for your understanding.”
