ROCKLAND — As he does every year, Alan Leo will help monitor the ‘Running of the Chairs’ at 6 a.m. Saturday morning, July 16. This moniker, dubbed by him for its likeness to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, describes the thousand attendees of the North Atlantic Blues Festival who will hustle to plant lawn chairs in desired locations along Rockland’s Harbor Park that day.

Leo, an emergency medical technician for Thomaston, former ambulance director for that town, as well as full-time EMT trainer for the state of Maine, will be ready for them.

By the time the first state-of-the-art, cup-holding canvas chair marks the turf, he will have surveyed that same territory for at least two hours, running on adrenaline and coffee.

When Paul Benjamin, founder and organizer of the festival, said Leo is “there every hour that I am Friday [setup day], Saturday, and Sunday,” the statement left room for skepticism. Every hour? Not a few hours here and there, or bankers’ hours?

No. Every hour. Two-, three-, four a.m. until as late as midnight.

The guy is the ultimate festival roadie, and has been for the past 16 years. To him, it’s a holiday. First he concentrates on Christmas, for his family’s sake. Then, along about January, his thoughts turn to his life’s second passion. “Bluesmas,” he calls it. His Christmas.

So enchanted by the Blues has this former rock fan become, that at the age of 60, he got a tattoo. The pin design, by Jean Benjamin, from the 2014 festival is now permanently displayed on his upper arm.

“That’s what this means to me,” Leo said. “It’s forever in my heart, and now it’s forever on me.”

His peers know. His cohorts at the ambulance base. His colleagues in Augusta.

“Everybody knows, when the vacation calendar comes out, that they don’t pick this weekend to take off,” he said.

In fact, his boss has already accepted that Leo will be pretty close to useless in these days leading to the festival, according to Leo. But that’s OK. The boss can appreciate a worthwhile passion when he sees one.

It took some time for Benjamin to get his friend to the festival grounds, according to Leo. Benjamin started a campaign of continuous urging for him to join the group of dedicated volunteers, which includes, among others, Benjamin’s wife, Jean, their family, and now, Leo’s family.

But 16 years ago, the deal breaker was in a particular incentive. Help backstage. Provide security around the musicians, haul and set up equipment. And as a perk, meet the bluesmen.

The bluesmen, according to Leo, are very accessible to their fans, unlike performers in the Rock arena. They’ll stay as long as needed to greet fans and sign autographs. Sometimes they play large venues, but then go back to playing small clubs, which keeps them humble, in Leo’s opinion.

One such musician is Elvin Bishop, whose album Leo happened to purchase in 1973 as a high school student.

As luck would have it, many years later, Bishop would play the Rockland Blues Festival, and need transportation from his hotel. Leo tried to pass on retrieving Bishop from the lodging. Benjamin knew Leo better than that. Go, he insisted.

As they drove, Leo expressed his appreciation for Bishop’s music. Bishop, in return, autographed a T-shirt for him — a T-shirt that Leo doesn’t like to wear. If he does, he’d have to wash it. Washing machines fade clothing over time.

“I’m a blessed man,” Leo said.

And so, for several years following the first, Leo contributed to more and more volunteer tasks. He does everything from gate security to picking up trash to briefing and hydrating the headliners.

He’s no longer as agile, he admits, but his knowledge of the festival production has expanded to the point of making decisions with the confidence of Benjamin.

Year after year, the crowds continue to grow. Some things have yet to change for Leo. Others changed quietly, unexpectedly.

So far, no arrests have been made inside the festival grounds, he said. No fights have broken out, nor any notable incidents of drunkenness.

On the other hand, Leo, known as “EMT on the Scene,” has a new contender as he awaits word of heatstroke sufferers and diabetics. Now attendees have cell phones. Instead of seeking him out to attend ailments, people press 911 into their devices.

“Sometimes I don’t know there’s a problem until I see the ambulance coming down the hill,” he said.

Fortunately, these emergencies have only occurred about a half dozen times over the past 16 years. Which leaves Leo to concentrate on his passions: Volunteering with the community, promoting the Blues, making new friends, and rekindling previous heartfelt introductions.

One such introduction about to rekindle will be with Elvin Bishop, who returns this weekend for an encore performance.

Click here for more information on North Atlantic Blues Festival 2016.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com.