Doug Clark: Need street musicians for charity event

The sixth annual Spokane Street Music Week – which last year raised a record $2,750 for the food bank – is less than a month away.

And you all know what that means.

That’s right. It’s time I beat cheeks down to City Hall and start sucking up to our latest mayor.

It’s also time to put out the call to any and all musicians.

It doesn’t matter what skill level you’re at or what instrument you play. You can take part one day or every day. It’s up to you. This is about adding some sizzle to the Lilac City – and for a very worthy cause.

So listen up. If you’d like to make music on our downtown city sidewalks during the noon hours June 9-13, contact me via the information below.

But first things first.

Priority 1 is persuading Mayor Mary Verner to agree to bless this year’s Street Music Week with a proclamation.

Oh, sure, the fundraiser could probably survive without such a document.

But having the official City Hall stamp of approval could make the difference between a cop digging for spare change and one reaching for the ol’ Taser.

Plus there’s a matter of tradition.

Since its inception, Spokane Street Music Week has been proclaimed by all of our mayors.

Let me revise that.

John Powers was mayor in 2003. That’s the year Street Music Week began with just me plunking on my guitar.

Powers, as I noted in a column at the time, walked past where I was playing and kept on walking without tossing “so much as a Corker for Mayor button into my gaping guitar case.”

What a piker.

See? That’s the problem with me and mayors.

I just don’t have the best track record when it comes to getting along with them.

Most of them don’t understand my sense of humor.

So in an effort to change that (at least for a day or two), I dropped in on the fifth floor of City Hall Monday afternoon with some really cool bribes – I mean gifts – for Mayor Verner.

My treasures consisted of …

“A genuine Expo ‘74 peel-and-stick decal for her car window.

“A genuine Expo ‘74 ashtray for her desk. (This is the ultimate Expo conversation piece. Nothing says environmental world’s fair like a plastic ashtray.)

“A trailer-festooned baseball cap just like the one I wear.

Plus a card with a photo of me and the following note:

Dear Mayor Mary. The 6th Annual Spokane Street Music Week is approaching (June 9-13)!

This is to let you know that we could use another mayoral proclamation. (Hint! Hint!)

Yours for street music,

Doug Clark.

P.S. I’m sorry I referred to your inauguration ceremony last November as the “Changing of the Blowhards.”

The mayor, alas, wasn’t in when I arrived. Which meant I had to leave the items with some of her staffers.

So it’s essentially a crapshoot whether my keepsakes will wind up with Verner or on the City Hall black market.

Street Music Week has proved to be great fun. Last year’s event drew more than 70 performers and even some rare mayoral praise.

“It’s become part of the culture, now,” then-Mayor Hession said of the event. Street Music Week “is a real positive thing. It changes the atmosphere downtown.”

So let’s do it again, bigger and better than ever!

NOTE: Anyone wishing to take part in the sixth annual Spokane Street Music Week should contact me at (509) 459-5432 or preferably by e-mail at dougc@spokesman.com.