Whoop whoop

Bud Clark, the most colorful mayor Portand has ever had, and in my 40-plus years here one of the better ones, has died at age 90. Many remembrances are being written elsewhere, and Clark's life story is well worth the many pages.

One thing I hope won't be left out is his signature event, the Mayor's Ball. It was held every year at the Memorial Coliseum. The first one was to pay off Clark's campaign debts, as I recall, but it went on for several years thereafter. All the great local musicians played, and there were many. All sorts of people showed up to see and be seen. KBOO Radio covered it live. There was a real sense of community, positive vibes galore. There's never been anything like it since.

Here's a wonderful behind-the-scenes account. 

We gathered at the Coliseum at 10 A.M. The sound guys had already loaded in and Gary Ewing was setting up his light show. As the day rushed on the chaos slowly became order. The mix of enthusiastic volunteers and seasoned professionals worked well together. When the sun started to go down the lines outside started to grow. We opened the doors at 5 P.M. and it seemed like everyone in Portland streamed in. I must have walked fifty miles that day trying to find and solve problems.

It was the largest gathering of musicians under one roof in the history of Oregon.

The first big moment of the night was Bud's entrance. I had to fight very hard for my idea. Most people just wanted Bud to appear on stage and say a few words. I wanted him to walk from one end of the room to the other, through the crowd, greeting the people. Security went nuts! They said they would need a flying wedge to get him through and he'd still be mobbed. That's where the Marine color guard and the bagpiper came in. Maestro James DePriest was on the north stage in the main room and was introduced by Phil Thompson, who stood on the south stage. DePriest said some kind word about Bud, and as the Imperial Brass played its special piece, he directed the now capacity crowd's attention to his right, where a spotlight was focused on the flags of the United States, Oregon and the Marine Corps.

Then, behind the color guard the piper began. Security was trying to move the crowd, but when the Sergeant of the Guard barked his command, "Forward, march," and moved out in a slow, measured pace, the crowd just parted on its own. Bud and Sigrid followed the piper and waved and shook hands as the procession move toward the south stage. When they reached the south stage, Bud made a short speech thanking almost everyone in the world.

RIP, Bud, and let's hope we get some new leaders like you to save our city before it's too late.