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BY TYLER RALEY | PHOTOS BY JEREMY RAINES

Behind many of the events that the residents of Helena attend year after year, they come to find many constants, among those being the smiling face of Bob Van Loan.

The city’s festivities always include the work of volunteers who go behind the scenes and help to create a lively and friendly atmosphere for those who attend. It requires a lot of operation, something Van Loan is no stranger to.

When he moved into the city with his wife following his retirement, he wanted to find something to do. Luckily, it was an easy thing to step into, but little did he know, it was going to set the stage for the foreseeable future.

“Almost immediately, I realized that I needed to get some structure, like I had a job,” Bob Van Loan said. “I needed to fill my time with something. I just looked around the community and saw some opportunities to volunteer on either a one-off or a continuing basis, and just sort of jumped in with both feet.”

That jump became very beneficial for him, ultimately allowing him to be awarded as the 2024 Helena Lifetime Volunteer, serving as a gift of gratitude for all of his work as a Helena resident.

Van Loan moved to Helena in 2007 after retiring from a lengthy career with the United States Department of Defense. With a lengthy military background, Van Loan was stationed in numerous places that were similar to the type of small-town environment that Helena provides.

As soon as he arrived, Van Loan and his wife were confident that Helena would be their last stop. Wanting to become immersed in the city and all that it had to offer, they immediately took the chance to help out, knowing it would be good for both of them.

“We knew this was going to kind of be our last end as far as where we’re going to live, so we really wanted to quickly integrate into the community and get involved with it as much as we could,” Van Loan said. “When the volunteer opportunities came up, my wife and I both jumped on it.”

Over the course of his time in volunteer work, Van Loan has been involved in many of Helena’s most popular annual staples such as Movies in the Park, the farmers market, Buck Creek Festival, the Helena Business Association and so much more.

Volunteering for the city’s events requires a hefty amount of work. Whether that be setting up, cleaning out, serving at stations or other duties, each opportunity comes with its own set of needs and perks.

While the work is sometimes long and hard, what helps is the individuals who Van Loan has gotten to do it with. As he sees it, it is what drives him to continue with his service.

“There’s kind of a core group of people here in Helena,” Van Loan said. “When we go out and get together to do these things, in many cases it’s as much a social event as it is a job. Obviously there’s the mission, we want to do something constructive for the community, but it’s more enjoyable because we get to do it with people we really like and admire, and we’ve been doing the same thing for a long time.”

Van Loan shared his immense amount of joy for getting to do what he does, saying that for him, he hopes that his involvement helps influence others to volunteer as well.

“There’s great personal satisfaction in seeing people coming back year after year,” Van Loan said. “I think the thing that I enjoy most though is when people see what we were doing want to do the same thing with us, so we’ve got this self-perpetuating group, people who may not have even ever considered volunteering to work at an event or some other occasion that suddenly become more interested in serving this community.”

After years of service, Van Loan earned the distinction of being Helena’s volunteer of the year for 2024, an award that is given out by the city to an individual that has provided exceptional service to Helena, going above and beyond to give back.

However, Van Loan never thought the award would end up in his hands. Despite the surprise, he still saw it as an honor to be recognized.

“Never in a million years did I expect this award because traditionally, it’s been given to people who are more prominent in terms of their reputation around town,” Van Loan said. “I guess what happened with me is that I really got myself spread out. Some people, they’ll get involved with one or two events and that’s really all they have time for. Me being retired and being able to set my own schedule, I can jump on just about any opportunity that comes up.”

Throughout the time he has lived in Helena, Van Loan has learned many things about how the area operates and what it needs. One of those things has been realizing how much Helena’s festivals need volunteers, knowing how many people are needed in order to perform a smooth operation.

Van Loan understands and wants people to know that without the work that volunteers provide, Helena would not have the exact same charm that it is known for today.

“Without volunteers to get a lot of this work accomplished, the city would not have a lot of the amenities that it does have or has had in the past,” Van Loan said. “A lot of people would look to the city to do that, but our city, and most cities our size, would just not be capable of that– it’s out of the question from a budget standpoint or a manpower standpoint. Without people willing to step up and donate their time and their effort to fill those gaps, people who live in cities like Helena wouldn’t have the satisfaction of living here.”

As time continues on and the events keep rolling into season, Van Loan is happy that he gets to keep doing what he does: serving Helena’s residents.

However, his main goal is to be a truly valuable volunteer, hoping to make the environment for Helena residents that much better with every event they attend throughout the year.

“Everything that we do is to try to make the quality of life better for the people of Helena,” Van Loan said. “I think people who would not otherwise volunteer to do anything, or very little, if they see that you are really enjoying yourself, doing what you’re doing for the city for no pay and no recognition, it hopefully would inspire them to, at some point in their lives, to do the same.”