History – Page 21 – Salem Main Streets

House of Seven Gables Closed For Two Weeks

Jan 022015

If you tried visiting the House of Seven Gables at any time over the past couple of days you discovered that you could not get in. But no need to worry. Nothing is wrong.

In fact, according to Kara McLaughlin’s Executive Director comments in the Gables newsletter, everything is fine.

“We saw 25,000 guests in October alone. On September 21st, more than 250 people attended our annual fund-raising event, Taste of the Gables. On November 15th, more than 120 Salem residents took part in our Salem Residents Appreciation Day party as we launched a program to offer free museum admission for Salem residents. Salem residents can now enjoy our historic house museums and waterfront gardens on a complimentary basis year-round, with the exception of October.”

So why close down?

In their own words….

Dear Friends,

The House of the Seven Gables Annual Shutdown will take place from January 1 – January 15, 2015.

From January 1 – January 15, 2015, The House of the Seven Gables will be closed for our annual shutdown. During the shutdown we will be working on maintenance projects and housekeeping, to ensure that we are ready to welcome in the new year. We will continue to be active on social media, and update our website as events and programs become scheduled.

2015 is sure to be an exciting year here at The House of the Seven Gables, as we have a lot planned for the months ahead. Be sure to check facebook.com/7gables, and our website www.7gables.org for updates.

We will reopen on January 16, 2015 at 10:00 AM. Check our website for the most current hours and schedule.

Be sure to have a happy and safe New Year, and we will see you in 2015!

Sincerely,

The Staff of The House of the Seven Gables

Over the past few months they have also completed some highly visible projects, including the installation of a new, wooden shingle roof on the Hooper-Hathaway House and the construction of a new, architecturally appropriate porch on The Settlement House.

The House of Seven Gables is located at 115 Derby Street, Salem MA.

Salem Does Not Rest; Downrigging Weekend Next Event

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Nov 012014

Halloween has come and gone, but Salem does not roll up the sidewalks. We move on to the next big event, which in the case of this weekend, harkens not to our “witchy” past, but our maritime history. Salem’s first annual Downrigging Weekend is set for November 1 & 2.

The Essex county sailing community marks the end of the sailing season with this two-day event. And you benefit!!! Half-price public sails on the schooners Thomas Lannon, Ardelle, and Fame and downrigging demonstrations aboard Friendship are just some of the elements of this festival.

The Thomas Lannon is a beautiful representation of a turn-of-the-century Gloucester fishing schooner.
The Ardelle is a representation of the handsome and seaworthy pinky schooners that dominated the fisheries in the 1820-1840 period.
The Fame is a representation of the Salem privateer that captured the first prizes of the War of 1812.

Inspired by the Sultana Downrigging Weekend, the Salem Downrigging Weekend is a celebration of not only the end of the sailing season, but also a tip of the sailor’s cap to maritime culture, wooded boats and the sailing heritage of the Essex county.

The Captains of the Fame, Ardelle & Thomas Lannon, along with the Salem Maritime National Historic Site and Essex National Heritage Area are partnering together to offer this weekend of activities – both on land and sea.

There will be 6 public sails, 6 live demonstrations, 2 films, 3 Q&A sessions with captains, ship tours and more! Public sails require a reservation and fee, but all other activities are free and open to the public.

Then you can follow-up your stint on the water at Finz Restaurant from 7-10pm on Saturday night for drinks, free appetizers, music, raffles and plenty of salty sailing wisdom.

Schedule of Events

Make sail reservations online for all vessels via the Schooner Fame website
Please make a note of the individual trip times (see below) for each vessel. When making a reservation, choose the reservation time that matches the vessel you’d like to sail.
Fame sails: 10:30am, 1:00pm, 3:00pm.
Ardelle sails: 11:30am, 2:00pm.
Lannon sails: 4:30pm.

Saturday, November 1st

10:30 – 4:30pm. public sails aboard Fame, Ardelle, Thomas Lannon.
11am – 4pm. Friendship open for public visitation.
11am – live demonstration aboard Friendship.
12:30pm – free screening of the Thomas Lannon movie, plus q&a session with captain.
2:30pm – live demonstration aboard Friendship.
4:30pm – free screening of the Fame movie, plus q&a session with captain.
7pm – 10pm. “downrig or die” evening event at Finz Restaurant.

Sunday, November 2nd

11am – splicing workshop aboard Fame.
12pm – Ardelle downrigging demonstration.
1pm – Lannon downrigging demonstration.
2pm – Friendship downrigging demonstration. q&a session with captain on the ongoing preservation and maintenance program for Friendship.

All vessels will be docked at the Salem Maritime National Historic site (173 Derby Street) or Pickering Wharf Marina (23 Congress Street). Free film screenings will be held in St. Joseph Hall, 2nd floor. (160 Derby Street). Visit www.nps.gov/sama for the complete schedule and updated information.

The “Other” Salem Court Case Presented as Interactive Murder Mystery

Haunted Happenings, History, Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Oct 182014

If you’ve enjoyed the excellent performances by History Alive! Inc. with the interactive and “moving” production of Cry Innocent, then we are here to advise of a 2nd production it presents in Salem, titled Goodnight Captain White. But— this is just a bit different.

Running Oct. 24th, 25th, 31st and November 1st. at Old Town Hall, this comedic-mystery retells the not so well-known true event of the 1830 murder of Salem Sea Captain Joseph White:

It’s 1830. “All friends and well wishers are invited to attend” the retirement party of Captain Joseph White’s favorite ship, the Caroline. But this magnanimous invitation lures a host of enemies and ill-wishers into the perfect opportunity to murder the rich, old captain. Allegiances twist and turn. Foibles are exposed, depravities revealed. It’s up to the audience and an under cover Daniel Webster to figure out whodunit and how.

Written by Mark Stevick and directed by Kristina Wacome Stevick, the tale is about the real Captain Joseph White, a rich, elderly, retired shipmaster, who was murdered while sleeping in his Essex Street home. It has all the elements of good book, movie or TV episode: local folks among the accused & guilty, and a high-profile prosecuting attorney in Senator Daniel Webster, hired by the White family to prosecute for the Commonwealth.

But where is the comedy? Goodnight, Captain White is not a reenactment like Cry Innocent. “We’re not sticking to the exact history here,” Mark Stevick has commented previously. “We follow the original story, but we’ve cut and combined to make for a more high-energy, comic period piece.”

Kristina Wacome Stevick has also stated “Is it right to laugh about terrible behavior? To do so doesn’t mean we endorse murder, adultery, slavery, betrayal. In our laughter we release the tension of recognition. As we watch these extreme fellows careen toward their comeuppance, we’re relieved they are not ourselves and we cringe at the thought that they could be, were our circumstances less privileged or graced.”

Use of innuendo, double entendres, a bit of improv from the actors, and even input from you, the audience, to help uncover & define the clues makes for a lively evening— that has nothing to do with ghosts, goblins or ghouls. Just a nice murder mystery.

Doors open at 7:15pm for “noshing and revelry.” Show begins at 7:30pm. The price of admission includes soirée fare and a “Crowninshield Punch.” For more information email historyalive@gordon.edu or call 978-867-4767.

Stoker and Price to Speak in Salem

Haunted Happenings, History, Salem Event No Responses »

Oct 122014

Obviously neither Bram Stoker (creator of the popular Dracula character) nor Vincent Price (celebrated actor in many a macabre movie) can be here. Both have passed on. But descendants are keeping the memories, stories and work alive… and will be sharing with you this month during Haunted Happenings: Dacre Stoker on 10/16 and Victoria Price on 10/20.

Dacre Stoker is the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, and himself an author, having written Dracula: The Un-Dead (with Ian Holt) said to be based on handwritten notes of Bram Stoker’s for characters and plot threads. He will be in Salem to discuss the Stoker family perspective on all things Dracula as part of a film screening of the award winning documentary Vampires of New England at CinemaSalem, 7pm on Oct. 16.

Canadian by birth and now living in South Carolina, Stoker has been a teacher and an athletics coach (in fact he is a former Pentathlon world champion and coached the Canadian Pentathlon team in Seoul at the 1988 Summer Olympics). And from this clip, you can hear he is also an engaging speaker.

Dacre Stoker – Garlic and Vampires from Historical Haunts on Vimeo.Called “The Blood is the Life: A Night of Dracula and New England Vampires” the event is presented by Historical Haunts LLC and Cinema Salem. Stoker will be available for photos and autographs afterwards.

For more info go to www.histhaunts.com or www.cinemasalem.com.

This month has also been a celebration of another author, Edgar Allan Poe. Of course one could not visit the written works of Poe without the visual memories of the stories as presented by Vincent Price in many movies. Rounding out the celebration of all things Poe will be a special appearance by Victoria Price, the actor’s daughter on Oct. 20th.

Price will make herself available in three different areas of Salem:

5:30 pm, a walking tour of Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery
6 pm, a lecture/talk at the next-door STV studios.
After the lecture ends, Price will meet with participants at The Scarlet Letter Press & Gallery for an evening of wine & words (she will sign autographs).

Victoria has established herself as a lively, popular public speaker (as you will see in the below clip) on topics ranging from the life of her famous father, to interior/industrial design to the role of the art collector in society.

Victoria Price from thesoundofvincentprice.blogspot.com.Her stories about her dad will charm, entertain and give you insights to the man that we loved to have scare us.

For more info go to The Scarlet Letter Press or The Nightmare Gallery.

Sanderson Sisters Return to Salem Rescheduled; Hocus Pocus on the Common Oct. 18

Haunted Happenings, History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Oct 092014

Come little children, I’ll take thee away; into a land of enchantment. Come little children, the time’s come to play: here in my garden of magic.

Hauntingly chanted by a Sanderson sister in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, that is something as children we learned was a bad thing to hear echoing in the cloud-filled skies— be you in Salem Ma or elsewhere. But, after all it was just a movie. And that movie is fondly recalled every year here in Salem, where the producers actually took the time to film several scenes.

Radio 92.9 is presenting a free, weekly Haunted Movies Series in Salem during October; this week Hocus Pocus, rained out last week (perhaps the burning rain of death?) has been reset for Saturday, October 18 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm on the Salem Common under the stars.

Bring a blanket or beach chairs to watch this movie, which picked up 2 wins and 11 overall nominations during the 1994 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA awards.

Last year was the 20th anniversary of the movie. Here is a bit of trivia: did you know that the actor playing Thackery (not Zachery) Binx was Sean Murray who now plays Tim McGee on NCIS? You did? Well, did you also know that he was the voice of neither Thackery nor the cat? Movie Magic.

Hello Salem! My name’s Winifred, what’s yours? I put a spell on you…

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