For a few hours Saturday night, Fort Dodge was the heart of rock and roll for Iowa.

Some 5,700 people gathered at Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex to hear Bret Michaels, Molly Hatchet and Lone Tree Revival. It was show full of energy and showmanship. The always enthusiastic Michaels made good use of kind of catwalk extending from the stage to get close to the fans, and the crowd seemed the energize him and the other performers. Jim Reed, the president of Shellabration, the local group that organizes the concerts, said he can’t recall a previous show in which there was such a connection between the musicians and the crowd.

The crowd that’s now happily remembering being there in person to hear Michaels, Molly Hatchet and Lone Tree Revival belt out their signature songs probably had no idea what it took to bring those musicians to Fort Dodge.

Behind the scenes, 510 volunteers worked hard to make the 2022 Shellabration show a success.

The vast majority of those volunteers were from Fort Dodge. Nearby towns like Badger and Lake City were also represented.

Those volunteers didn’t just show up to work. Shellabration functions like a small corporation with specialized teams organized well before show time.

Shellabration is led by a volunteer board with members who dedicate staggering amounts of time to put together a memorable concert for the community.

Then there are team leaders who specialize in specific aspects of putting on a concert. Team leaders are in charge of things like operating the front gates, parking, transportation and running the beer tents. Team leaders are involved in planning throughout the year, and work about a 10-hour shift on concert day.

The rest of the volunteers do all the myriad chores that need to be done on concert day. They work about five and half hours on that day.

The volunteers spend a lot of time and energy to put on the concert. Some of them are probably using vacation days from work to do so. They get to hear the concert, but their main reward is the satisfaction of knowing that they helped make the whole thing possible.

The Fort Dodge area is lucky to have such volunteers.

So the next time someone cues up a Michaels song on their playlist and remembers what a cool show he put on in Fort Dodge, they ought to remember the 510 volunteers who labored behind the scenes that night.