An opportunity for making music in La Conner

Hey, now here’s a curveball for you, instead of larky snark about dikes and missing fish, music is the subject of the day. No, Sloughmander is not going to miraculously re-appear, unless he does, but don’t hold your breath. Heck, some of you only know me as a mean writer, when I’m actually a mean dancer, I kick everyone else off the dance floor (not really), I mostly share the space quite nicely.

Sunday music in Gilkey Square is not enough for this dancer man, the music in the Tav is okay, for coming from a box, but we have such great musicians in the region, that I have to leave town to get my fix. Arlington, Camano, Anacortes, Tulalip, Stanwood, Conway, Mt Vernon, yeah, why not much here?

So, here’s the good news, I’m bringing the best musicians in the region to our small town; we may become “cool” yet. Chris Eger and Savanna Woods, they’ve agreed to kick off the show, yeah, a fam night is in the works, a tentative date is April 25, at Maple Hall.

Unfortunately, Tuesday nights are the only time they’re available, so I’m in a quandary. Our three hour wish is 7-10 p.m., which puts us very tight with town council and other Tuesday night meetings. If those meetings could be done by 7 p.m., we’d be good to go, but business is business, it doesn’t always go as planned, or hoped for.

Maple Hall was built to be a multipurpose space, with music as a major part. If a renter wants to rent the space, and deposit cash in the town’s coffers, wouldn’t that take precedence over a non-renting town meeting? Especially when there are other meeting places in town that can’t accommodate music. We just built a new library, complete with a nice meeting space, and the civic garden club building could house the meetings, as could the museum (historical).

I’m trying to help our community raise money for future music, Braves Club, Rotary, etc. If I use the school, no alcohol, if I use the yacht club, my rent check goes to them. The Conway Muse is hoping that I’ll bring the fam to their venue, but the space is kind of small, and besides, why would they throw the proceeds in our coffers?

I want to help La Conner, please join me outside the box, see something as possible, until it’s absolutely not. This is not a one-off event, we’re thinking about weekly for the foreseeable future. I’ve been working on this for quite some time, please help me make it so.

Skagit Valley resident Glen Johnson has for years promoted fundraising through band concerts. Call him at 360-331-3099.