Even with the skies threatening rain throughout the day on Sept 21, about 3,800 people crammed into the intersection of Central Avenue and Ninth Street for a few hours of live country music called the Downtown Country Jam.

The rain stayed away and performers Casey Muessigman, Brad Morgan, and the headline act, Chris Janson, put on an electrifying show.

Making it all possible was Jim Reed, the leader of Shellabration Inc., and his team of hundreds of volunteers.

”It’s a total team effort, all hands on deck,” Reed said shortly after the show. ”And so the thing that is always paramount is this doesn’t happen without collective support.”

The work starts long before concert night, when the volunteers start scouting prospective talent for the show. Then they have to negotiate with the performers to get them to come to Fort Dodge.

The physical work to set up the Downtown Country Jam started on Sept. 20. That’s when volunteers went to work building the stage and setting up every other needed facility.

Then on Sept. 22, the volunteers took it all down.

The exact number of volunteers hard at work on any given concert varies, but Shellabration Inc., which also puts on a rock concert in the summer at Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex, has had amost 450 people involved in producing some shows.

No matter how many volunteers there are, they take time out of their own lives to provide a special event for Fort Dodge and the surrounding area. That’s worthy of praise.

We join music lovers from throughout the region in saying thank you.