Ciara Benham
Staff writer
Photo by Mackenzie O’Donley/The News
Once again, Lee Clark Residential College brought all the music, food and fun of Woodstock with none of the cost.
On Saturday, April 13, Clark hosted its 10th annual Clarkstock music festival in the commons of HC Franklin Residential College, after being moved inside to avoid rain.
Chris Trzepacz, the college head of Clark College, said this year’s Clarkstock was the biggest and best yet.
“For the 10th anniversary the student leaders assembled five local bands to perform throughout the day, tie-dyed over 100 10th anniversary Clarkstock shirts and solicited over $500 worth of gifts from local merchants to raffle, and recruited noted local amateur chef Nile Shemwell to serve as grillmaster,” Trzepacz said. “The 10th anniversary of Clarkstock is the largest to date.”
While Clarkstock is an all-day entertainment event, it is also used for philanthropy. The event benefits an organization called Main St. Youth.
“All proceeds from raffles and t-shirt sales are donated to Main St Youth, a local nonprofit that provides a safe, supportive and nurturing after-school environment for local children,” Trzepacz said. “We are proud to support their efforts, and our goal was to raise at least $1000.”
Clarkstock included a variety of musical genres and acts in their lineup including Molly Lovette, Abigail Paschall, the Murray State Police Band, Andrew O’Rourke, Lauren Edwards and Haleigh Martin.
Molly Lovette, freshman from St. Louis, Missouri, performed a mix of country classics and original music.
Lovette said the event went wonderfully.
“It was my first Clarkstock, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought they had a great turn out,” Lovette said. “It is so important for performers like me because we are always looking for exposure, and this event in particular was special because I got to introduce myself and my music to a new audience.”
Since August, the students of Clark have worked hard to prepare for this event.
“This event is completely student run – they recruit the bands, they plan and prepare the menu, they assemble the stage, they solicit donations, and they produce all the promotions,” Trzepacz said. “While Clarkstock itself is just a single successful day, it requires a yearlong focused commitment, and this experience is invaluable to developing skills in time management, organization and collaboration.”
Kirsten Farley, co-chair of the Clark philanthropy committee, is one of the students that worked on this event. She said the event went better than she imagined.
“I think the event went surprisingly well for the fact that we had to move it indoors last minute,” Farley said. “We were worried that we wouldn’t get as much foot traffic as we normally do with it outside, however, I’d say that we probably had around the same number of people as usual! With the gift cards and certificates being really amazing this year and the t-shirt design, we had such a great turnout.”
Clarkstock was a huge success that entertained the campus and community and raised over $900 for Main St. Youth.