Sep 192017
 

Now here is a scary good deal! Salem Horror Fest Opening Night Party at PEM/PM featuring Metal Macabaret will take place on the 3rd Friday of the month (that’s this Friday, Sept. 22nd at 6 pm) instead of the usual 3rd Thursday for PEM/PM.

Hauntingly inspired by the current Peabody Essex Museum Exhibition It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection, PEM teamed up with Salem Horror Fest to make an event that will make you tingle all over, from head to toe and through your bones!

The Salem Horror Fest, if you have been locked away in a dungeon, underground somewhere, is a four-week festival of fear (9/21-10/15) here in the Halloween-capital of the world! Screenings, exhibits, parties, concerts, guests & more!

PEM/PM Activities

Creepily create your own horror poster, dance demonly to beats by DJ Zombi and live tunes by Scary Mary and the Audio Corsette. Carve out some time to check out works by locals featured in the Women in Horror expo and enjoy a feature performance by M Lamar.

And the highlight of the evening: you won’t want to miss the 9 pm screening of Night of the Living Dead to kick off the Salem Horror Fest (separate ticket required).

This is THE ultimate big bash opening to the Halloween season!  But while costumes and masks will abound on the streets of Salem during our month-long Haunted Happenings celebration, the Peabody Essex Museum asks that for this event you refrain from any full-face makeup or masks in the museum for security reasons.

As with all PEM/PM events, it will also feature after-hours access to the museum galleries, interactive and art-focused experiences, an informal atmosphere including live music or DJ performances, tailored culinary offerings and a cash bar.

The goal is to present to the community multiple opportunities to interact with artists and performers, tinkerers and thinkers.

Members, as well as college students & Salem residents (with ID) will be admitted free of charge. For nonmembers, there is a $12 fee.

The PEM is located at East India Square, 161 Essex Street, Salem, MA. For more info, call 978-745-9500, or toll free 866-745-1876.

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Sep 072017
 

Mid 70’s temperature and partly sunny skies; that is the forecast for today’s first Salem Farmers’ Market of September. It is also National Fruit & VeggiesMore Matters Month. What greater incentive to attend could you ask for?

Our Farmers’ Market here in Salem is well known for its diversity of offerings. From fruits to vegetables, from breads to lobsters. Entertainment for the kids. Entertainment for adults. And space reserved for community groups to share a message. No wonder the Salem Farmers’ Market is known as much for its produce as it is the conversations it produces.

For example, it is not that farfetched that someone might ask “What are the top 10 Reasons to eat MORE fruits & veggies?”

And among the answers would be (courtesy of the Fruits & Veggies More Matters org website):

  • Fiber in fruits and veggies keep the digestive system happy and functioning
  • Vitamins & Minerals can be found a plenty in fruits & veggies to help keep the body healthy & energized
  • Calories, can only be detected in low quantities in fruits & vegetables
  • Convenience as fruits & veggies come in many nutritious forms, such as fresh, canned, frozen, dried, etc.

But, of course, we would like you to focus on the best aspect and that is getting the fresh side of availability of fruits and vegetables, direct from a local farm at the Salem Farmers’ Market.

Presented Thursdays through October 12th, the Salem Farmers’ Market takes place in Derby Square from 3-7pm. Will we see you there today?

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Aug 202017
 

Do you wish to do some good for others in the community? If so, then you are part of the 62.8 million Americans who annually give of their time & skills volunteering. In our case, the community is Salem and we are Salem Main Streets in need of volunteers to help us staff the Visitors’ Info Booth during the upcoming Haunted Happenings Halloween season, which begins October 1st.

Yes, we know, it is still mid-August and summer is not over. But look at the calendar again from a staffing/training point of view. To be ready to go with scheduled volunteers by October 1st, we need to send out an invitation now.

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s already time to start planning for Haunted Happenings and the October Information Booth,” says Kylie Sullivan, executive director of Salem Main Streets.

A welcoming orientation will take place on Saturday, September 16 at 9:30 a.m. at the National Park Service Regional Visitor Center, 2 New Liberty Street, Salem, MA. Volunteers will be updated on new October events and there will be time for returning volunteers to share insights and information with those new to the program.

Kylie adds, “Our annual orientation will cover all the basics for new volunteers, and important updates and reminders for our returning ambassadors. Even if you have volunteered in the past, it is important to try to make this training!”

Registration will begin at 9:30 am, with the orientation starting promptly at 10 am. Please remember to bring your ID for the CORI process.

What if you’re neither a native nor a long term transplanted resident and don’t know exactly “where everything is?” You will. Between support from the people in the booth with you during your shifts, to the repeated questions (where are public bathrooms, where can I see something really scary, where did they burn the witches, where can I get a good burger or fish meal), you will.

Purely as a side note, volunteering has been known to help new people in a community make new friends who share common interests & values.

And if you speak more than one language, we clearly could use your help, as many Haunted Happenings attendees are from foreign lands.

For more information, contact Kylie Sullivan, Executive Director, Salem Main Streets at 978/744-0004 x115 or email at www.salemmainstreets.org

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Aug 172017
 

Summer is almost over. Fun stuff done. No need to visit Salem until October. Right? WRONG!!! Here are just three things set for the next few days.

Farmers’ Market

Our successfully diverse Farmers’ Market continues its 2017 run (every Thursday now through Oct 12) with a host of regular vendors and a rotating batch as well.

For 8/17/17 come check out:

Cauldron Fermented Foods
Pour Man’s Coffee
1634 Meadery
Bare Cheek Beauty

Who is providing entertainment this week? From 5-7pm, Radio Scotvoid will be spinning vinyl jams. So, bring your dancing shoes. Or just a chair to set a spell and tap your toes!

Also, as an FYI… The Salem Farmers’ Market accepts the SNAP/EBT card. Just head for the Farmers’ Market table, located off Front St, on the Lobster Shanty side, and ask for the Market Manager. Use your SNAP/EBT card to “purchase” $1, $2, and $5 tokens. For more info on this program, go to http://salemfarmersmarket.org/ebt-info/

Salem Farmers’ Market operates Thursdays from 3-7pm in Derby Sq.

End of Summer Blues at PEM/PM

Does the thought of days getting shorter and darker earlier, and temperatures dipping bring out the end of summer blues in you? Put aside your trepidations. The Peabody Essex Museum has a festive alternative. This month’s PEM/PM late night party (also on 8/17/17) from 6-9pm will indeed be a party.

Enjoy local blues bands, lawn games and backyard BBQ food while enjoying a selection of beer. Be a part of the music with instrument making and blue jean art workshops to end the summer with a bash.

All that at a Museum? Yes, if it is the world-famous Peabody Essex Museum, located at East India Square, 161 Essex Street, Salem, MA. For more info on this month’s PEM/PM event, please call 978-745-9500.

The Salem Flea

Regional and local artisans/vendors will again be on hand from 10am-5pm on Aug. 19  to showcase and sell their work this third Saturday of the month as they have all season (May-September) in historic downtown Salem at Derby Square on Front Street. This area of the city was originally built as a market place and continues to be an important public plaza and pedestrian walkway.

The Salem Flea features a juried selection of vendors of vintage and up-cycled furniture, vintage clothing, collectibles, antiques, architectural salvage as well as a select number of jewelry, art, and handmade goods by local artisans.

Just three events with more than enough activity to keep you busy as the days of summer gently breeze away.

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Aug 082017
 

When you walk across Derby Square on Thursdays from 3-7pm you think you are at the local Salem Ma Farmers’ Market. And you are. But you are also participating in a shared national experience. To that end, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has proclaimed Aug. 6-12 to be National Farmers’ Market Week

This is the 18th year in which the United States Department of Agriculture has put its stamp of approval on Farmers’ Markets; it has supported local producers by encouraging families to meet, and buy from, the farmers and other vendors at their local Farmers’ Market.

The proclamation points out that Farmers’ Markets and other agricultural direct marketing outlets contribute approximately $9 billion each year to the U.S. economy and serve as significant outlets by which small-to-medium, new and beginning, and veteran agricultural producers market agricultural products, generating revenue that supports the sustainability of family farms and the revitalization of rural communities nationwide.”

There will be accompanying celebrations as thousands of U.S. Farmers’ Markets will highlight the range of produce, fruit, meat, dairy and specialty products available from their local and regional farmers.

As we have said in previous blogs, buying directly from farmers and ag-entrepreneurs has a significant regional impact by helping to diversify farm incomes while at same time supporting neighborhood businesses by keeping more money in the local economy.

In addition to being good for the farmers and convenient for consumers, Farmers’ Markets prove every week to be a gathering place that helps build a sense of community.

When you walk across Derby Sq. this Thursday at the Salem Farmers’ Market, besides looking at the fruit, veggies, breads, lobster, etc. also look at the people. You and they are enjoying the afternoon doing the same thing that other people are doing across the USA: having fun, looking for bargains, buying healthy food alternatives, and talking to each other.

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