Some of us try to find time to give back to the community — namely by way of volunteering. It could last a few weeks, months or even years. For Hans-Dieter Mandt, its been 15 years since the first time he donated his time to one of Northeast Florida’s most prominent auto shows — the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
“Bill Warner contacted me in 1995 and told me about the show he was starting and he told me we needed to round up some troops to help,” Mandt said. The inaugural year of the Concours d’Elegance attracted 50 or so volunteers. A decadeand- a-half later, nearly 400 volunteers lend their time to the show — something Mandt says could not be possible without them.
“It would be totally impossible — it absolutely couldn’t be done,” he said. We are a nonprofit and have a budget with a lot of expenses. Without the volunteers, the show simply couldn’t go on.”
Mandt, a Sandalwood High School and University of North Florida graduate, had a significant interest in cars before Warner approached him for help. The Germany native was treasurer of the Porsche Club from 1986 to 1996, and his father raced Porsche race cars.
Mandt, 54, now serves on the board of directors and has also served as volunteer chairman helping founder, Bill Warner, with the show’s operations. The organization employs three full-time employees year-round. But it’s the 400-plus volunteers who handle ticketing, retail sales, silent auctions, field operations, road tours, auction house support, administrative tasks, guest accommodations, seminars, book signings, crowd control, parking and postshow activities leading up to and during the event that make the success of the affair possible.
Concours volunteers are essentially the show ambassadors — charged with making sure that every guest has a pleasurable experience — and that is no easy task. “It can be challenging,” Mandt said. “I give 110 percent and it’s hard to get every single volunteer to grasp the scale of this experience. We do whatever it takes to make it a positive experience for the public.”
The activity is at its highest in the first three months of the year, but a handful of volunteers do come in a few times a week year-round. “We never turn anyone down … there is always a need for volunteers to come in and do tasks around the office or on a case-by-case basis,” said Mandt.
In addition to rubbing elbows with racing legends such as this year’s grand marshal, Richard Petty, and getting the best views of the show cars, volunteers also walk away with a few perks for their hard work. Free tickets to the show, golf shirts, meals, overnight accommodations, free parking, free admittance to the Saturday seminar, a show program, special trinkets and a postshow appreciation party are among the many perks.
Volunteers range in age from 20 to 70 years old, though Mandt’s daughter is only 16 and helps her dad when March rolls around. He said the majority of volunteers are car collectors and run in the same circle as he and Warner. But don’t count out the women volunteers, many of whom are department heads for the volunteer force.
Though his love of cars is what originally attracted Mandt to the organization, the reason goes much deeper than a shiny set of wheels. “The reason we even have this event is to support hospice. My mother was in hospice last year, and I had to personally use their services. Community Hospice of Northeast Florida is a phenomenal organization, and I am proud to be involved in something that supports it.”
Mandt said it’s hard to beat that feeling, in addition to being within arm’s length of his childhood heroes. “These guys were larger than life when I was younger. Pair that with an incredible array of cars and great friends and colleagues who share the same interest … you just can’t beat it.”
