For volunteer of the year Mike Smith, he hasn’t seen the work he has done in organizing Music on Main concerts as volunteer work, but rather as just something he loves to do.
“I love the music that we’re able to bring in with this concert series, and it has never felt like I’m doing work,” he said.
“I’m humbled by the recognition by the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group,” Smith said. “I know there are countless other volunteers who have done as much volunteering as I have who are eligible for this award.”
Smith has been organizing the Music on Main Streets for a number of years. The event started with Smith recruiting Johnny Krob to play in a concert series called Music on Main Street. It was something Smith loved helping to organize because he loved listening to the music, as well as seeing other people enjoy the concert.
“Just the level of interaction with the audience Johnny Krob had in his shows was terrific,” Smith said.
From those original Johnny Krob concerts, Smith has worked at finding other artists to be part of a concert series, approaching businesses for support for the concerts and doing a lot of networking.
“One of my other favorite memories as a volunteer was Silver Wings, a Beatles cover band, performing to a full First Street Community Center stage,” Smith said.
Another band he has loved having is Eddie Piccard’s bands — the group will be performing at the First Street Community Center stage this November.
And while Smith has put in a lot of time to organize these Music on Main shows, he commended the work of his wife, Valerie, and Fred Burke in helping organize the events, as well as Rick and Trude Elliott’s support with offering the First Street Community Center stage.
“There are a lot of moving parts and it takes a lot of people working together to let all of these concerts happen,” Smith said. “For me, it’s a labor of love.”
And while Smith isn’t ready to stop organizing the Music on Main concert series, if anyone is interested in knowing more of how the organizing work happens and wants to help learn the ropes, he’d be happy to help train them.
“It definitely takes a lot of networking and phone calls to make these shows a reality,” Smith said.
Volunteer of the year: Mike Smith
August 19, 2021
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.