Photos by Kim Welsh.  Posted to Facebook.  See her entire photo set here.

This is the list of the people who contributed to the fundraiser to save the 2017 New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival. Due to a couple of key sponsors backing out last minute, C. B. Gitty was left as the only major sponsor, and the fest was on the brink of being cancelled. Rather than let it die, Ben "Gitty" Baker started a Kickstarter fundraiser to give the CBG community a chance to save it... and within 3 hours, the money was raised and the festival was saved. But it didn't stop there, people continued to give until almost double the original amount was raised, helping to ensure the festival's ongoing success.

From Ben Baker, Shane Speal, Cigar Box Nation, C. B. Gitty, Collins Kirby of the NOLA CBG Fest and all of the performers, we want to send the deepest of thank-yous to the folks listed below, who stood up and pitched in to save this fest, and in doing so made Cigar Box Guitar history.

(All names are listed here exactly as they were provided to Kickstarter when the donation was made. Names are listed in no particular order.)

Bronze Level ($10 to $25)

Tom Smith, markxus25, Douglas Botkin, Jeff Tinsley, Logan Cartwright, Lee Connah, Craig C Hopkins, Mark Caples, Richard Brandt, John Bernyk, Ed Choate, Brian, Gary Reichel, Geoff Reinhold, AJ Goltermann, Adam Harrison, Steve Round, JL Laine, Joe Caruso, rob_crow, Scott Kohanek, Jack Jones, Elio, Bill Bartels, Ray Peltzman, Tony Ferreira, Winston Farrow, jerry toft, Van Kevin Huey, Don Fitzpatrick, Joe Richardson, Walter Minkel, Lisa Palattella, Jonathan M. Greiner, Charles Fricke, Mélanie Lord, James Newell, Kim Starling

Silver Level ($25 to $50)

Rich, Jill McCarley, Donald Randolph, Jason Hill, KC Smith, Alan P., Dano Schultz, Dan, Archie Storey - Mississippi Blues Box, cewallac@consolidated.net, Richard Ferrell, Walter Pegram, James McFadyen, Phillip Hibbs, Nicholas Lanciano, Rich Kennedy - Deepseed Guitars, Alain Bally, Richard Owen Murdoch, Scott Heller, Daniel White, Don Cima, Andy Burick, Russell Wetzel Sr., Patrick Hughes, Bill Broman, Pete Graham, Joe Cerroni, Wayne Wollslair, Tim Sanders, MAPS Appliance Repair Svc LLC, Clifford Eise, George Luther, Ben Chapman, Kevin Rodger, Steve Rerucha, charles morrill, Gary Lamb, Kimmer Olesak, Roberto vasquez, Denise Peterson, Eric Lettau, Michael Walker, Joseph Miller, Ricardo Icassatti Hermano

Gold Level ($50 to $100)

Steven Wurgler, Todd Treadway, Brett gardner, Patrick Wiseman, Michael Reilly, Tom Varnon, Bruce Blakeslee, jay heathman, Charlie Rehfeld, Brent Robitaille, John Lafayette, John Sawyer - Sawyer Cigar Box Guitars, Martin

Platinum Level ($100 to $250)

Hal Somervill, Ryan Clarke, Janet Baker Hughes, Rick Woodhouse, Joseph Kochansky, swamp witch guitars, Rick Valles, Brian Forrest, Ricky Baker, Melissa Scott, Russell Bland

Sapphire Level ($250 to $500)

Scott Griepentrog - Magic Music Mill, Larry Pearson, Gina Hughes

Diamond Level ($500)

Paul Pannell

Ed Roudebush (Uncle Ed and the Gator Boys)

David Kennedy

Bill Jehle

Mike Turner

Special Thanks To: Anonymous Pick of Swamp Witch Guitars for donating a custom guitar as a reward for the kickstarter; Russell Bland for donating a signed cigar box guitar for raffling off as a fundraiser for next year's event; Shane Speal for donating his time and expertise to running the builder's forums at the festival and John Nickel for bringing his full recording rig and putting many hours into recording and mastering a live album from the festival performances. Also thank you to everyone who attended the festival or watched our live broadcasts on the Cigar Box Nation Facebook page.