Three generations of Crowleys make festival a family affair

By Vicki Stevens
Staff Writer

The Great American Brass Band Festival always draws families out for its good music and festive atmosphere, but the event also has become a family affair for some of the volunteers.

Three generations of Crowleys - Bruce, 61, son Terry, 39, and grandson Richard, 12 - are among the dozens of volunteers who each year spend the weekend working behind the scenes to make the festival a success.

``It's really fun to see something as classy and as well done as the festival come off each year. It's really just an unbelievably well-run event. It brings a lot of notoriety I think to the town and certainly to Centre College and to the folks that organize it. It's fun to be involved in something that's that successful and that prominent, and it just takes a ton of people to make that happen,'' says Terry Crowley, who's been a volunteer each year since the festival began eight years ago.

``The comments we hear from people coming from out of town are always `Boy this is just the best festival,' and `Everything is just so well run,' and `It's all done first class,' and to know that you're helping do that is just kind of fun.''

For the Crowleys, the work starts Friday morning with the setting up of the stage and doesn't end until midnight or later on Sunday when everything is finally taken down and trucked away.

In between, they help set up tables and chairs for the concerts and picnic, move the musicians' equipment from one performance area to another, and generally just pitch in wherever needed.

Seeing that the festival flows smoothly involves a lot of coordination, says Terry.

``There's generally chairs to move from one site in town to another. A bass drum has to be in Weisiger Park one minute and to the main stage the next.

``Every band has a different number of players, so there may be 40 chairs for one and only 10 for the next. We just shuffle around, in and behind the stage.

``Primarily it's making sure that the bands' equipment is transported and put on stage properly and the number of chairs that are supposed to be there are there.''

Some of the volunteers carry radios, which helps to coordinate the work.

Terry, who's vice president of research and development at Sellers Engineering in Danville, works with Jerry Boyd, the festival's logistics director.

``He's actually the one that invited me to get in on the party,'' says Terry.

Bruce joined the volunteers the next year, and Terry's son, Richard - a 7th grader at Bate Middle School next year - has helped out each of the last two.

Community service is important to the Crowley family.

``It's neat to have my son involved because volunteers make an awful lot of things happen, and I think the earlier that young folks get a taste of volunteering and taking pride, the better off it's going to be,'' says Terry.

``My father was a Scoutmaster for years here in town, and he had an influence on dozens and dozens and dozens of young men, and that's all volunteering. It's something that you can do to give a little something back. Yeah, it's hard work, but it really is kind of fun, too. It's not like it's all just work.''

Bruce, who's facilities manager at Square D in Lexington, says he enjoys volunteering because it's a departure from his regular job.

While Friday, Saturday and Sunday are all three long days for the volunteers, the Crowleys find time to enjoy the music, the hot-air balloon race and other festivities.

A hot-air balloonist, Bruce flies with Ed LaFontaine of Frankfort, who brings his balloon to the race each year.

Sunday is usually pretty relaxed so the family gets to spend time together at the festival and celebrate Father's Day. Other family members are usually around, too.

``You can lay on a blanket and relax and not have a whole lot going on. That's generally what we do,'' says Terry.

``We'll generally be somewhere near each other on the hill there, trying to find a shady spot. It's a nice relaxing day. It's not specifically a big Father's Day celebration, but it turns out pretty nice. It's a good way to spend a Sunday.''