By Vicky Taylor
The Public Opinion
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Franklin Volunteer Fire Company will bring country music star Dierks Bentley to Chambersburg this summer for a fundraiser concert in the Chambersburg Area Senior High School stadium.
The fire company hopes to raise at least $50,000 on its July 15 concert to help buy equipment for its West King Street station, but that is only part of the goal, according to organizer Mike Ebersole.
“We want this to be a family event, and we are keeping the ticket prices low enough to make it possible for most people who enjoy this kind of concert to attend,” Ebersole said. “If it is successful we hope to make concerts like this an annual event.”
Bringing a big name country singer to town has been a major undertaking for the local fire company.
Bentley has had 14 singles on the country singles charts, seven of which reached number one status, since he signed with Capitol Records Nashville in 2003.
Singers like Bentley don’t come cheap, Ebersole said. The fire company initially put up $100,000 for a commitment from the country music artist to perform in concert in Chambersburg.
Ebersole expects the fire company’s costs to reach $200,000 when all is said and done, including the cost of renting Trojan stadium, but Ebersole said so far ticket sales have been going well.
Of the 5,000 tickets available for the July 15 concert, more than 1,500 have already been sold. Most of the tickets are being sold through Ticket Master’s Ticketweb website, but about 30 are still available directly from the Franklins.
As far as advertising goes, Ebersole has put giant posters around town and has arranged for advertising space in local newspapers and area radio stations. The fact that the concert will be listed on Bentley’s Web page and through Ticket Master should give ticket sales a big boost.
The stage for the event will face the high school, from the goal line to the 20 yard line. The huge stage will have a runway which will allow Bentley to walk down into the audience.
Tickets for space in the front field, where the stage will be located, will go for $55, and Ebersole said most of the tickets for that section are already sold.
There are some tickets available for that section, and lots of tickets still available for the rear part of the field, which sells for $50 each, and the grandstands, which sell for $45.
Although the fire company has a permit allowing 10,000 people in the stadium, the committee putting the event together decided to sell just 5,000 tickets in order to give concert-goers room to spread out.
People buying tickets in the field should expect to stand. Seats will be available in the bleachers.
The stage company that will set up the 30-foot high, 55-by-40 foot stage will bring in three tractor-trailers of equipment for the concert. Bentley’s organization will bring in one tractor-trailer with equipment for him and his band, including the runway that will take him into the crowd.
The singer, his band and entourage - 22 people in all - will come in on their own bus.
Bentley’s headliner performance will run from 9 to 10:30 p.m., or perhaps a little longer.
He will be preceded by independent artists Keith Burns and Michelle Poe of Burns and Poe. Burns and Poe are a new duo that was named 2010 Artist of the Year by Music Row Magazine.
Burns and Poe will start at about 8 p.m. and perform for about an hour.
The event is a major undertaking for the Franklins and their volunteers, but Ebersole believes the hard work and months of preparation will pay off in a big way for the fire company.
Fundraisers and donations from the public are the only way the company, made up entirely of volunteers, has of financing its operations, Ebersole said. In addition to the usual bingo and gun raffle fundraisers, the company has sponsored events such as performances by country music star Aaron Tippin at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Chambersburg.
“This is how we survive,” he said.
Ebersole and the Franklins fundraising committee have been working on the Bentley concert for about seven months, doing several months of research before deciding it was a feasible project to undertake and signing Bentley in February.
“We did a lot of homework to decide who to bring in,” he said.
The decision to limit tickets to 5,000 instead of the 10,000 approved on the permit for the concert was made to make it an enjoyable event for those who attend.
“We decided we weren’t going to cram a lot of people in there,” Ebersole said of the stadium location. “We want it to be an event that will be a positive experience (for those attending).”
The concert is co-sponsored by radio station WAYZ, which is providing publicity for the event.
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