"A story of 1,000 heroes"
Katie Watterson (left) addresses the Wallace City Council concerning the Wallace Music Fest. The council expressed their sincere gratitude for Watterson's (and many others' efforts) to put on a music festival after it was announced that the Wallace Blues Festival had been canceled. Also pictured (from the left) are Prosecutor Ben Allen, Councilwoman Michele Bisconer, Councilman Rick Shaffer, City Clerk Kristina Larson, Wallace Mayor Lynn Mogensen, Councilwoman Cindy Lien, and Councilman Elmer Mattila (not pictured is Councilman Rich Matrisciano).
JOSH McDONALD
WALLACE — City leadership expressed support for this week's Wallace Music Fest during the council meeting on Wednesday night.
Event organizers Katie Watterson and Barbra Strother had gone before the council seeking approval for a few street closures and detours to accommodate what they hope will be a large turnout this week. They left the meeting with both the council’s approval and gratitude.
“I just want to commend you guys for all the work you did in such a short amount of time,” Councilwoman Michele Bisconer said.
Watterson and Strother deflected much of the praise to the community and the collective of people who rallied together after the blues festival was canceled.
“It was really the most amazing thing to watch the entire community, the businesses, individuals coming together to make this happen,” Watterson said. “This is an important event for a lot of business. This is the weekend where they recover from an entire winter of losing money and this is the first weekend where they’re in the black again.”
Councilman Rick Shaffer, who manages the Wallace Inn, said people canceled reservations when the blues festival was canceled, but the new festival is drawing them back.
“The calls are coming back in for reservations, so the word is getting out,” Shaffer said. “It’s not where we want to be, but it is what we want — a community event.”
It was the galvanization of the Wallace community that impressed the council most.
“Barb, Katie, Marcy (Hayman), Siobahn (Curet) have all really stepped up and brought the community together,” Councilwoman Cindy Lien said. “In a week they have taken a disaster and brought it to something that everyone is looking forward to. Thank you so very much for doing this.”
The Wallace Music Festival is free. However, organizers are accepting donations to cover the costs. Beyond clearing hurdles like insurance, garbage and sanitation, the group put together a plan to mitigate traffic while also communicating with the businesses that could be affected by the street closures.
“There have been so many people who have played crucial parts, that if that one person hadn’t completed that one task none of this would’ve happened,” Strother said. “This is a story of 1,000 heroes.”
The Wallace Music Festival began Thursday and runs through Saturday.
Sammy Eubanks, Alison Joy Williams, Rusty and Ginger, and Kirby Ai will be playing sets during the new festival.
Each show is being hosted at Wallace businesses, including Cogs Gastropub, the 1313 Club, Albertini’s Gem Bar, The Metals, the Fainting Goat, 6th and Cedar and the Red Light Garage.
For more information or to donate, visit the Wallace Music Fest Facebook page.