Downtown Salem – Page 71 – Salem Main Streets

Sounds of Silent Martial Art Film at Next PEM/PM

Oct 132013

Our friends at the Peabody Essex Museum had a long way to go to top last month’s PEM/PM monthly evening party series involving Steampunk. And it looks like they have. All the way to China of 1929. This Thursday, Oct. 17 from 6:30 – 9:30pm enjoy a live performance by Devil Music Ensemble as they play their original score for Red Heroine, one of the only remaining feature-length martial arts films from China’s silent era.

Made at the height of the martial arts craze in 1920s Shanghai, this lively tale features the genre’s blend of pulp and mystical derring-do.

As noted in a summary of a NY Times review:

This silent Chinese film serial consisted of 13 chapters. The story featured orphan Yun Mei (Fan Xueping), who survives a brutal attack by a warlord that killed her grandmother. She is taken in by a monk (director Wen Timin) who schools her in martial arts. When she masters her talents, she seeks to exact her revenge on the warlord, who spends much of his time cavorting with concubines. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi.

Enhancing the visual performance, will be the sound provided by Devil Music Ensemble. Founded in 1999 by Brendon Wood, Devil Music Ensemble explores many facets of music — rock, electronic, orchestral, folk, improvisation, incidental, etc. The band’s original scores have been credited with enhancing the film-watching experience for all.

The trio recently finished a European tour, giving live soundtrack performances to Red Heroine in 12 countries in Western and Eastern Europe.

The PEM/PM evening events also include a Lion Dance followed by Kung Fu demonstrations led by Grandmaster Winchell P.C. Woo, founder of Chiu Mo Kwoon, the first traditional Kung Fu school in the Boston area. There will, as often does happen at these PEM/PM events, be a food tasting and chef demonstration. Try your hand at art making.

Admission is free of charge for PEM members and Salem residents (with ID); nonmembers pay $10 at the door. For more info, call 866‐745‐1876 or visit pem.org. The Museum is located at 161 Essex St, in Salem Ma.

Green Halloween Scene

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Oct 092013

What exactly are you planning to do with last year’s costumes? Will you arrive again at cousin Jerry’s party as Bigfoot? And what about little Jack & Jill? Maybe they’ve outgrown “Toy Story.” If you’re like most people, as much as you don’t want to, you will end up tossing the costumes into the trash and buying new ones. But there is an economic and ecological alternative: swapping costumes. And you can do it Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week, right here in Salem.

The City of Salem Recreation Department will be accepting costumes for its 2nd Annual Salem Costume Swap at the Salem Senior Center. You may drop off gently used adult, kid or pet costumes Thursday from 8am to 7pm and Friday from 8am to 4pm. They will also accept Halloween accessories.

In return, you will receive one swap ticket to claim a new-to-you costume at the actual Salem Costume Swap on Saturday, October 12th at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem, 13 Hawthorrne Blvd.

No costume to swap? Still want to shop? No Problem! Stop by the Salem Boys & Girls Club that day from 10am to 1pm to purchase any costume for $5. Proceeds will benefit Salem youth programs.

Green Halloween®, a non-profit community initiative set up to create healthier and more sustainable holidays, began sponsoring National Costume Swap Day in October 2010. In partnership with Kiwi Magazine and Swap.com, parents, young adults and kids across America can come together to swap out once-used Halloween costumes and walk away with something new.

According to their website “Swapping half the costumes kids wear at Halloween would reduce annual landfill waste by 6500 tons, equal to the weight of 2500 midsize cars.”

So, make it an eeek-ological and eeek-onomic Halloween.

Haunted Happenings Kickoff Weekend

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Oct 062013

Bargains were there for the taking at the featured event this weekend, The Haunted Biz Baz. The Salem Chamber of Commerce produced a lively market atmosphere that motivated visitors and residents to move from one booth to another, charmed and delighted.

There were also plenty of activites for children during daytime hours such as the Salem Common Family Fun Day or The Big Draw at Peabody Essex Museum.

Adults faced their fears at night at The Terrifying Haunted House, Terror at the Village, and some terrifying Tales at the Witch House.

Or you could just take a break from it all. The Salem Theatre Company is presenting “The Crucible,” while Gordon College/History Alive is offering “Goodnight, Captain White.”

Our Info Booth volunteers helped nearly 2000 people this weekend. Check our calendar for events during the week, and mark your date books to join us next weekend when we do it all over again.

Biz Baz, Toyota and SMS

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Oct 042013

BizBaz…. ZabZib….. Forward and backward, it’s an annual event that for many a visitor and resident alike is as much anticipated as the entire Haunted Happenings celebration. Where else can you walk through Salem Ma. to see booth after booth after booth of vendor after vendor after vendor?

This weekend, The Salem Chamber of Commerce will be hosting this Bizarre Bazaar (hence BizBaz) which showcases more than 80 vendors selling products that range from handmade jewelry and art, to uniquely Salem gifts. You can shop on Saturday from 10am to 8pm and on Sunday from 10am to 6pm .

Just walk along the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall and you can’t miss the sights and sounds of intriguing delights for children and adults.

This year’s event is also driven by a special appearance (full disclosure and product placement) by Toyota that benefits Salem Main Streets. For each test-drive taken, Toyota’s Drive for a Cause campaign will make a donation to support Salem Main Streets.

We are not trying to sell cars, although we do strongly suggest test drives, but if you’ve been thinking about buying a new vehicle, this is your chance to get behind the wheel of a Camry, Rav4, Prius c, and Prius for an extended test drive experience. With all the wild things going on at BizBaz this has got to rank as a low or no-pressure environment.

The Toyota Let’s Go For A Drive event will take place on Hawthorne Boulevard (just south of the Hawthorne Hotel) on both Saturday and Sunday.

Keeping the Kid in Halloween

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Oct 012013

Before the Halloween celebration is ravaged by the hordes of grown-ups and the wild costumes, we in Salem make sure the children get their day in the sun (so to speak…).

The Haunted Happenings Grand Parade. If you know anything about Salem Ma and our month-long Haunted Happenings celebration, you have heard of this march around town.

This year step off is at 6:30pm on Oct. 3; it begins at Shetland Park, ambles through Salem, and ends at the Common. The theme is “Books Come Alive.” Most any resident in Salem can tell you they were either a parent, relative or neighbor of some child who marched in the parade— or they were in the parade themselves.

According to Rinus Oosthoek, Executive Director, Salem Chamber of Commerce, “It is a night-time tradition that brings out the entire city and people from all of the surrounding cities and towns to kick off the Halloween season. It is filled with color, pageantry, music and the enthusiasm of thousands of Salem’s students from kindergarten to college age and local business owners.”

To mount such an undertaking, though, The Chamber of Commerce is still looking for volunteers to help.

Volunteers will be helping with:

Helping participants find their spot in the parade
Lining up the 8 parade line-up sections
Finding banner carriers in their section (or walking/carrying the banner in the parade themselves).
All volunteers can join the VIP’s at the end of the Parade on the Grandstand in front of the Common.

It’s fun and we call the event “organized chaos” from start to finish…., and we hope you can help.

Volunteers should be at the entrance to Shetland Office park between 5-5.30pm to receive their assignment and pick up their volunteer T-shirt.

Contact the Chamber at info@salem-chamber.org or call 978-745-3855.

If that wasn’t enough, Friday night, Oct. 4, there are two more events in which the little ones can participate.

The Mayor’s Night Out (3-10pm) is when Mayor Kimberly Driscoll, in partnership with Salem’s attractions and museums, welcomes Salem residents to check us out on our dime. Salem residents (kids too) with ID, are admitted free to attractions and museums. ID also provides free parking in the East India Mall garage after 4pm. Look for “Mayor’s Night Out” signs at participating businesses.

Our mayor is a busy person…. you can Join Mayor Driscoll for Trick-or-Treating at the East India Fountain. We will Trick-or-Treat along the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall, The Museum Place Mall Shops, and beyond. Trick-or-Treat Bags provided. Costumes encouraged. Parents bring the kids. Kids bring your parents.

For more information on these two events, call Salem City Hall at 978-745-9595.

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