A little old time country music

FLOYD - A few things change with every running of the Floyd Country Jamboree, but most remain the same.

There's a new Floyd citizen of the year every year, but they're usually greeted at the stage by a former citizen of the year. There's a new artist debuting, but they're being cheered on by a parent who used to take the same stage. And the jokes may be different - well, they're probably just as old as the Jamboree songs - but they still get a laugh every year.

"Last night, a bunch of people made requests," emcee Dave Nash said before strumming his guitar, "but I'm going to play anyway."

The Jamboree, a fundraiser by the Floyd Lions Club, concluded its 69th year Saturday night at Floyd Schools. The night largely consisted of old-time country music, while the intermission saw the club auction off items and honor one of Floyd's favorite couples by naming Jim and Judy Chandler its co-citizens of the year.

The Chandler presence in Floyd dates back more than a half-century, as Jim Chandler moved to the family farm north of Floyd when he was an eighth-grader in 1965. He met Judy later that year at church, they were married seven years later and they now live on that same farm where he grew up.

They have three children, all Floyd High graduates, and 10 grandchildren. But the honorees impacted the lives of countless other Floyd children through Jim's 25 years on the school board and Judy's 30 years of service to the school with time as a bus driver, substitute teacher and school librarian.

"All of you have been a big part of the school, the district," Jim Chandler said. "It's great to see my grandchildren going to school and graduating here. It's a great place to be."

For 360-plus days, people in this place refer to the performing area as the Floyd Schools auxiliary gym. But for two days, it's the home of old-time country. The floor where kids have gym class is covered with a large blue tarp and more than a dozen rows of cushioned folding chairs - even though most are still more comfortable setting up on the sideline bleachers. Just past the stage, what's normally the Bronco weight room becomes the hospitality room, with half-empty cookie trays and a mostly untouched veggie tray on the table and a performance schedule on the wall.

For longer than many of its current participants have lived, the Jamboree is the way the Floyd Lions Club has funded its work for the community. The event started to raise money for Bronco athletic uniforms and now funds a trio of $1,000 college scholarships and eye care for Floyd, Elida, Dora and Melrose children through a traveling nurse and free eye exams and glasses. Leftover money also go toward families when hard times hit, and to each of the area schools to cover something that wasn't in the budget.

"This little group gets a lot done," said Club President Paul Benoit, who first arrived in Floyd to fill a superintendent vacancy in 2005 and never needed a Plan B for life after falling in love with the community, the school, the club and of course the Jamboree.

Like Benoit, plenty of others couldn't quit the Jamboree if they tried. For Shelby Essary, it's always been a part of her life - well before her stage debut as a nervous high school junior in 2014 who was eternally grateful for a band focused on the performer's success. She's pretty much only missed it for state cheerleading competitions, and even in some of those years she could find a radio broadcast of the festivities.

"I don't know how old I was, 6 or 7," Essary said of her favorite Jamboree. "All of the seats were filled, Will Banister would play. It was a big event. Everybody would come to it."

The Jamboree isn't as big as it was in years past, when it stretched four days and included a Sunday Gospel performance. But it still matters if your last name is Essary. Shelby's great-uncle Joe auctioned off items during intermission. Her father Jeff is a longtime member of both the Lions club and the school board. And you can't leave without visiting her mother Jenny at the concession stand.

Even an Essary who wasn't there was still there; Shelby performed "Brand New Key" using the guitar her younger sister Ch'ree won at a Jamboree more than a dozen years ago..

That's a big reason the Jamboree endures, because of Essarys, Chandlers and so many others. Plenty of people with plenty of last names could say, "The Jamboree couldn't function without my family," and they'd be right.

And sometimes, the best thing a family does is keep a secret. As the Chandlers arrived on stage for their citizen award, Judy couldn't help but look back with a grin to the southeast corner of the gym and the 18 family members who made a point to come to this year's show.

"There are so many of us back there," she said, "and I think that many of them knew about this."

And then the show resumed, with "Just Call Me Lonesome" and "All That's Left for You to Do Is Leave" still on the run sheet.

"It's old-time country. It sticks with tradition; it bonds you as a community," Shelby Essary said. "You heard the Lions Club talking to the school board, the school board talking to the community. It ties everybody together."