This Wednesday we lost a truly lovely soul. Ed Aliverti passed away at the age of 76 on February 3rd, after battling pancreatic cancer.

Emcee Ed Aliverti kept thing rolling at the 1998 Patrons’ Preview Party as artist Cathe Gill presents her original of the poster art to patrons holding the winning ticket.

Those in the Edmonds Arts Festival Association and Foundation will miss him. Ed and his wife Shirley, life patrons of the EAF sponsored awards for artists:

“At that time the Arts Festival was looking for sponsorships, and not to belabor the point, beginning teachers don’t exactly set the world on fire financially. But my wife Shirley and I felt that we would like to do something for our community. We’ve always been community oriented. And we decided that we would give a $100 award if the Arts Festival wanted it. We did that for several years.”

Ed Aliverti, May 2007

Ed volunteered Master of Ceremonies duties for both the Festival and Foundation events and performed at the close of the Festival with the SnoKing Chorale for 7 years.

In 2007, Darlene McLellan sat down to interview Ed for a book she was writing for the 50th Anniversary of the Edmonds Arts Festival and Foundation. Ed shared many stories about his time with the Edmonds Arts Festival and we would like to share one of those stories in Ed’s own words.

“Yes, in the early years of the Sno King Chorale and the Arts Festival, you just kind of did it where you could do it. And this one year, they were just getting Milltown cleared away. They had cleared the top floor and had this grand idea of turning it into a market or whatever. And so we tried to do our last performance up on the second floor of Milltown. Well, we quickly found out that it couldn’t hold the people. So what to do?
Put it out in the street! Well, we put it out in the street. We put it on Dayton. But you know, you get all excited about doing things and you forget about some things, like that fact that Dayton is on a little hill. And we put our risers on Dayton facing Fifth Avenue, with my piano player on my left as she always was, and we’re ready for the first number. Well the first number was a rouser so she just pounded the bejessus out of the piano. And the next thing I know, she says “Whoa!” Well I’m looking at my choir and I looked over toward her and she wasn’t there. She wasn’t there any more! And I looked down the line and the piano was rolling and she was going right with it. She was still playing. And I looked at some of my basses and finally they got down from the risers and stopped the piano from going down to Fifth Avenue. They brought it back and propped it up and we started over. And that was – what a memorable afternoon that was for us.”

Ed Aliverti, May 2007

Shirley and Ed were among patrons celebrating another great Preview Party in 2005.

Ed was always an advocate for community service. Not only was he a volunteer for the Festival and Foundation, but was also on the first Edmonds Arts Commission in 1975.

For more about Ed Aliverti please visit any and all of the following links.

Edmonds Beacon

The Examiner

Herald

For information regarding his memorial services please visit:

The State of Ed