We Volunteer!

As the waters from Nashville's historic and tragic Flood of 2010 slowly begin to recede, and the rest of the nation is finally becoming aware of what happened here May 1-3, the country is seeing a city of volunteers.

Literally thousands of citizens have joined organized efforts, or struck out on their own, to help those in need as overall damage estimates are now topping $1.5 billion and still rising as of Friday, May 7.

"The Volunteer State" was a nickname we acquired back in the nineteenth century when our soldiers volunteered in record numbers to fight both in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War in 1848. For very different reasons today, it is gratifying to see that spirit to volunteer to protect those in need or in danger remains quite strong in our community...

Those of us who were in Sing-Out South from 1966 to 1971 remember how important the concept of being volunteers was to our cast. Not only did all of us participate in practices and perform our shows as volunteers, we sang about it in our songs.

When Sing-Out '66 first came to Nashville in January, 1966, the cast created and performed the song "The Volunteers of Tennessee" which Sing-Out South immediately added to its run of the show.

The song details how Tennessee got to be the Volunteer State. In addition the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, it also mentions the exploits of Davy Crockett at the Alamo, the crack markmanship of Tennessee soldiers and the many battles fought in Tennessee during in the Civil War, and finally the gallentry and courage of Sgt. Alvin York in World War I

Sing-Out South had its own signature song about volunteering. Written by musical director Bill Cates it was called simply "We Volunteer" and it began with a line that surely echoes today as we see thousands of Nashvillians, and others across the state, taking it to the streets to help local flood victims. That first line to the song says:

"We Volunteer, to show America that we care."


Sing-Out South members learn the words and movements to "We Volunteer" during an early cast practice at Father Ryan High School in the winter of 1966.

2010 Flood photos used courtesy of THE TENNESSEAN