~story and photos by Bob Gustin
At every performance at the Brown County Music Center, dozens of people wearing red vests, white shirts, and blue jeans handle all sorts of tasks, welcoming patrons with a smile, spreading Midwest hospitality.
Known as the Red Vest Army, all the members are volunteers, and all are working for free, spending up to five hours a night on their feet, through muggy summer evenings and snowy winter nights. Forty or more volunteers are needed for each show.
The venue on the eastern edge of Nashville attracts an array of nationally known acts and gives back thousands of dollars to the Brown County community. The efforts by the volunteers help make it possible for the center to function as it does.
“It takes an army of volunteers from the parking lot to the stage to ensure our guests enjoy the music they’ve come to hear,” said Martha Smith, who has been a volunteer since a Vince Gill concert opened the music center August 24, 2019.
“I like being around happy, enthusiastic people who take pride in representing the Brown County Music Center.
“I have made lasting friendships with other volunteers, and I’ve enjoyed genres of music that I would never have experienced,” she said. “I’ve been in the theater with Grammy winners, hall-of-famers, and music idols.
“My favorite thing about volunteering at the Brown County Music Center is the excitement and thrill in the concertgoers’ eyes when they walk through the door. Maybe they saw this band in their youth. Maybe the music was played at their wedding. Maybe they traveled to Nashville, Indiana, for the first time to see a band that they follow.
“But for everyone, volunteers and concertgoers alike, we all come for the music,” Smith said.
Christian Webb, executive director of the music center, said volunteers are “literally the key ” to the nonprofit status of the center. The music center is unique when compared to music venues of similar size because of its use of volunteers instead of paid employees in many roles.
“Volunteers mean everything to us,” said Webb. “They are the backbone of the operations we do here. They handle all touchpoints in the venue —parking, greeting, bag checks, ticket checks, and escorting patrons to their seats.”
As established, the music center gives back to the community all “excess revenue,” the money that remains after all bills and obligations are paid. That has meant thousands of dollars going back to the county government and the Brown County Community Foundation in the past two years. Volunteers, Webb said, are a big reason the center is able to do that.
Money sent back to the community totaled $74,780 last year, and $267,000 the year before. According to the terms of the center’s management agreement, each was done with the foundation getting 75 percent of the total, and county government 25 percent. The community foundation redistributes the funding it receives to a variety of nonprofit organizations in Brown County. Beyond the agreement, the center also gave county government $54,000 in 2022 and in 2023 and $55,000 in payments in lieu of taxes.
Local businessman Kevin Ault, who has been on the music center’s board of directors since its inception and is currently co-president, said the board estimates that if volunteers were paid $15 an hour, their labor would cost $780,000 to $800,000 annually.
If the music center were to be sold to a private entity, instead of giving back up to $300,000 to the county and the foundation, it would be operating in the red after paying for the work that volunteers do.
Volunteers are important to the community as a whole, Ault said, citing the work also being done at other local nonprofit entities.
Dale Wedel, who heads the parking attendant crew, has been a volunteer at the music center for about six years, and estimates he has signed up for more than 500 shows. But he doesn’t watch most shows, instead waits in the lobby before directing exiting traffic.
If he were getting paid the going wage for parkers, Wedel said he probably wouldn’t be doing it. Instead, it’s something he chooses to do for different kinds of rewards.
He said he enjoys the challenge of directing the parking, and the music center is close to his home. He enjoys getting out of the house, getting some exercise, and interacting with volunteers and patrons. Though he doesn’t watch most shows, he said he has enjoyed the music from the lobby.
His wife Michele is the paid photographer for each show.
“I could either stay home alone or come out here. It’s kind of a nobrainer,” he said.
Along the way, Wedel said he has learned how to work with patrons or volunteers who can sometimes be difficult. The key, he said, is to let people do what they want until it becomes a problem for others.
Duane Szymanski has been greeting patrons at the music center for about two and a half years and has worked at more than 40 shows this year.
“I enjoy being with people, enjoy being with volunteers, and it supports the community,” Szymanski said. “And the music’s good too, by the way.”
Likewise, volunteer Ed Wrightsman said he just enjoys the people he meets at concerts, and the exercise he gets as a volunteer parking attendant.
Volunteers are “massively important,” said Braden Buehler, operations and engagement manager for the music center.
He said from 250 to 300 volunteers are currently active, and the number continues to rise. Volunteers are fairly evenly split between men and women, and most members are aged 45 or older, with retirees making up a good portion of the crew. In some cases, married couples volunteer together. But younger people sign up too, Buehler said, some as young as 16.
Many volunteers live in Brown County, but the geographic range is expanding to Columbus, Bloomington, Franklin, Greenwood, or even as far away as Muncie and Anderson.
Volunteers are recruited through a tab on the BCMC website. Prospective volunteers are then invited to an orientation session, and if they sign up, they are then assigned to shadow experienced volunteers. Safety information and responsibilities are outlined in the orientations.
Buehler said most volunteers get to see a portion of the concerts they attend, though that is not guaranteed. Volunteers are usually allowed to sit in folding chairs near the balcony during the show, and are entitled to free popcorn and soft drinks. Two volunteer parties are held each year, which can include prizes.
“We have a lot of fun,” Buehler said. “It is my pride and joy to work with volunteers.”
He said the volunteers form a community and often respond to events in the personal lives of its members, celebrating births or marriages, for example.
“They’re also there when things are difficult,” he said. “To watch the group rally around volunteers is incredible,” he said.