Jeanie Arnold (from left), Reme Privett and Olivia Strano are working to pull together the Milk Run Music Fest for May 2-3. Weather permitting, the music, food booths and other activities will be staged in front of the City Dock.
Without a real plan, Olivia Strano found herself in the right place at the right time.
When she walked away from her work as a yacht stewardess and onto a Wrangell dock last summer, she felt she had found her home. "I've been searching for my place for 10 years, and Wrangell is everything I've been looking for," she said.
While she was working a variety of jobs to make ends meet, she asked locals what was something that Wrangell needed but didn't have.
Music, music venues and more bands were the consistent answers.
Strano had worked for several years as a director of logistics and staffing, coordinating music festivals across the country, including a Willie Nelson music festival at his ranch, and so the idea for the Milk Run Music Fest was born, named after Alaska Airlines' daily flights that make the short hops between Southeast cities.
Strano put together a board of directors, including Dan Powers, Matt Henson, Bonnie Ritchie, Jeanie Arnold, Rolland Wimberley and Reme Privett. They checked calendars across Southeast Alaska communities to find a weekend that Wrangell could claim as its own that did not conflict with other annual festivals or activities.
Setting the dates for Friday and Saturday, May 2-3, meant everything had to shift into high gear - from getting permits to inviting bands to building community participation and anticipation.
Strano contacted two Montana bands, bluegrass band North Fork Crossing and folk-rock band The Dead and Down, to invite them up as guest performers. A third band might be added.
The event isn't just about bringing in outside musicians, Strano explained. "This is an opportunity for people to be as creative as they want, to have fun, to dance, to be expressive."
And there will be plenty of room for dancing and expressing.
"There will be space for vendor booths along the approach to City Dock and along Front Street, where people can sell their art, or whatever is creative to them. There will be open mic times when people can do music, or standup, or theatre, or drumming ... whatever sparks their talents, to share," she said.
"This is for the community, by the community. There's a lot going on in the world right now-what better way to have a day off from that?"
The plan is for all of the events to be free to the public.
The music fest board is working with Parks and Recreation to incorporate games and competitions, and is hoping vendor booths will offer an assortment of food, games and activities.
There will be a $20 charge for a vendor booth, covering both days.
One goal for the Milk Run Music Fest is to draw attendees from other Southeast communities, and a variety of sponsors are offering discounts for lodging and water taxi services.
"We want to make Wrangell a hub for people to come here, enjoy themselves, spend some money, and discover how wonderful this place is," Strano said. A possible longer-term goal might be for bands to stop in other milk run communities and then come together for a final festival in Wrangell.
The organizers are holding a raffle to raise seed funds for next year's fest, in anticipation of this becoming an annual event in town.
Raffle tickets are $100 each, and only 300 tickets will be sold. The drawing is April 26 at Rayme's Bar. Every 25th ticket drawn will win a cash prize between $200 and $2,000, and the grand prize is $10,000. Tickets are available from any board member, or at Rayme's Bar.
"We also have a number of sponsor levels" to help pay for this year's event expenses, Strano said. The King Salmon level is for donations from $250 to $499; the Sea Lion level is $500 to $2,499, and the Killer Whale level is for $2,500 and up.
The Milk Run Music Fest will run Friday, May 2, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. in front of the City Dock and 9 to 11:45 p.m. at Rayme's Bar, and continue Saturday, May 3, from noon to 8:30 p.m. at the City Dock and 9 to 11:45 p.m. at Rayme's Bar.
The Nolan Center is the alternate venue both days in case of rain.
"We're building this from the ground up," Strano explained. "Anything that happens this year will be better than last year, since there wasn't anything last year!"
For more information regarding the festival, fundraising, sponsorship or vendor booths, email info@milkrunmusicfest.com or go to the Milk Run Music Fest page on Facebook.
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