Salem Festivals – Page 30 – Salem Main Streets

Poets and Poems to be Honored in Salem

Apr 292014

Letters become words, words become phrases, and phrases become ideas. Then gifted writers craft it all into messages for poems. Those writers, words and poems will be honored later this week as the annual Massachusetts Poetry Festival will be held from May 2 – 4 in downtown Salem.

Participating poets include Kim Addonizio, Lucie Brock-Broido, Rafael Campo, Oliver de la Paz, Carol Ann Duffy, Cornelius Eady, Rhina Espaillat, Forrest Gander, David Ferry, Li-Young Lee, Philip Levine, Marge Piercy, Susan Rich, Vivian Shipley, and C. D. Wright.

But more than just poems though, the Festival also offers workshops, panels, readings, music, visual arts presentations, and a book fair featuring small presses and literary magazines.

As stated on the Mass Poetry website: “It’s a perfect time to celebrate poetry, meet up with old friends that share your love of words, and make new friends.”

To find out more about the Festival go to their website.

Live from Salem MA it is Saturday!

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Apr 262014

Writing a blog about Salem Ma is fun, but it is even more enjoyable when there is more than one event going on during the same day. And in our community, that is quite often. For example among the activities today we have:

Healthy Kids Day, Noon-3pm
Salem Jazz & Soul Fundraiser, 8-10:30pm

Healthy Kids day is just what it sounds like. A day for kids to play and learn and have fun, fun , fun. The YMCA’s national initiative to improve families’ health and well-being, features games, healthy cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts and more to motivate and teach families how to develop a healthy routine at home.

Each area Y has different activities. For the Salem Y there will be:

Summer Camp games
Swim tests, swim safety, demos and family swim relays in the pool
Family Zumba
Theatre Games
Vendors:
Smoke House, with the Salem Fire Department
K9 Dogs, with the Sheriffs Department
McGruff Crime Dog, with the Police Department
North Shore Physical Therapy
Plummer Home for Boys
Walgreens
Energy assessments
Children Fingerprinting with New York Life
Woodworking workshop with Home Depot

The Salem Y is located at One Sewall St. Call 978.740.9622 for more info.

And then the night belongs to music. The sounds of Jazz and Soul will fill the air because… the Salem Jazz and Soul Spring Fundraiser takes place tonight in Ames Hall, 290 Essex St.

But more than just music, it is also a dance party featuring the band Combo Sabroso, (tasty combo) which presents “soul cleansing” Latin dance music and reggae. You will hear hard hitting “salsa dura” sounds of the 1970s (Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Oscar D’leon and Sonora Poncena), salsa arrangements of American R&B (Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and Santana) plus reggae versions of pop hits (Elton John, Steve Miller and The Police). The band’s members are from Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Saint Maarten, Venezuela and the United States.

And that’s not all! North Shore businesses and artists have also donated items for auctions and raffles!

Tickets are available from salemjazzsoul.org, as well as Pamplemousse, and In a Pig’s Eye; proceeds will fund the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival’s non-profit mission of producing free concerts and supporting music education causes on the North Shore.

From start to finish, Salem is a Saturday destination. And don’t forget in between to visit our diverse dining and shopping options in the downtown district.

Salem’s So Sweet Launch Party- A Delight for the Senses

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Feb 082014

Chocolate, wine and great conversation awaited a capacity crowd at Rockafella’s Colonial Hall, Friday evening. It was a successful Salem’s So Sweet launch party for the 12^th Annual Chocolate & Ice Sculpture Festival.

Kylie Sullivan, Manager of Salem Main Streets reported that “The room was absolutely bursting at the seams with good food and drink; you could see, taste, and smell delights from crepes filled with chocolate & strawberries to shrimp poached in chocolate stout, accompanied by everything from chocolate chai to pinot noir to honey mead.”

She added “Salem’s So Sweet really highlights how strong the Salem food scene has become.”

Salem Main Streets would also like to thank all the participating businesses:

62 Restaurant & Wine Bar, Artemisia Botanical, Caffé Graziani , Captain Dusty’s Ice Cream, Capt.’s Waterfront Bar & Grill, Finz Seafood & Grill, Flying Saucer Pizza Company.

Grapevine Restaurant, Gulu-Gulu Café, Harbor Sweets, Melita Fiore, Pamplemousse, Rockafellas, Salem Beer Works.

Salem Waterfront Hotel & Marina, Turtle Alley Chocolates, Victoria Station & Vic’s Boathouse , Village Tavern Grill and Oyster Bar, We All Scream Ice Scream Co., Ye Olde Pepper Co.

And a special thanks to our hosts, Colonial Hall at Rockafellas!

Salem Main Streets and the Salem Chamber of Commerce, along with local retailers, restaurants and businesses also invite you to attend events within Salem leading up to Valentine’s Day.

This year there will be more than 14 large ice sculptures, chocolate samplings and great discounts around downtown Salem the weekend of February 8-9, with some continuing until February 16th in celebration of Valentine’s Day!

The beautiful ice sculptures will grace downtown Salem starting February 8, with themes including a seahorse, a rubber ducky, a sailboat, a film projector, and more!

Many downtown businesses will offer discounts and special offerings during the festival. With over 60 places in which to dine, downtown Salem is the perfect place to have a romantic dinner or casual lunch.

Highlights for this weekend:

Salem Trolley from 12 to 4, will leave on the hour and half-hour, $1 / person;

Chocolate fountain at Maria’s Sweet Somethings;

Make your own Valentine’s at Mud Puddle Toys – 12 to 3pm;

Chocolate tea samplings a Artemisia Botanicals 11am to 6pm;

Pamplemousse – Wine and chocolate tasting Saturday 2 to 4pm, mead tasting Sunday 1 to 3pm;

PEM Shop giving away Harbor Sweets Saturday while supplies last;

Phillips House – 2 for 1 admission all weekend, Love Letters Saturday at 2pm

Once again, Golden Tickets will be available in downtown Salem for a chance to win the Salem’s So Sweet Gift Basket. Pick up your Golden Ticket at a participating location and have it validated at participating businesses (no purchase necessary) to enter to win a Salem’s So Sweet Gift Basket which features many fine items from area retailers.

Salem Provides Valentine Event To Bring Together Community And Merchants

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Jan 082014

Sweet deal coming up in Salem Ma! We don’t have to sugar coat this event. The next project that Salem Main Streets presents to the community is the Annual Salem So Sweet Chocolate & Ice Sculpture Festival.

This decadent tradition of delectable chocolate, sparkling ice sculptures, chocolate sampling and Valentine’s Day shopping draws crowds from near and far.

So much so that we want to invite local businesses to take advantage of opportunities to participate in the Salem So Sweet Chocolate & Ice Sculpture Festival; offer a promotion, sponsor an ice sculpture, or showcase food/wine at the kick-off event.

It may be cold outside but chocolate warms the heart and invites customers into stores as we head into the month of February.

Wine & Chocolate Tasting Kick-off Event: Friday, Feb. 7, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Colonial Hall at Rockafellas
Ice Sculptures around Town: Starting Feb. 8
Shopping Promotions, Events and The Golden Ticket Raffle: Feb. 8 – Feb. 16
…and much more!

The application for participation is due Friday, Jan. 10.

For more information or to participate, contact Kylie Sullivan at kylie@salemmainstreets.org or 978.744.0004 x15.

New Year’s Resolution: Open A Business In Salem Ma

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Jan 042014

You have been talking about launching your own business for the last year; you’ve been dreaming about it for longer than that. We are of course biased in support of the diverse Salem Ma Downtown District as your future location. So don’t take our word for it. However, Small Business Trends has mapped out the “Top 50 Small Business Shopping Destinations to Visit” and not one but six Massachusetts communities are on it— including Salem:

“… retail has become big box stores and moved to strip shopping centers and malls. But there are still communities across the United States that have thriving small business districts where local entrepreneurs abound. We’ve identified 50 of the standouts…”

While the survey may have as its purpose to give shoppers a bird’s eye view of small business friendly destinations, it is also a close-up on communities which are successful incubators for budding owners of such businesses— notably Salem Ma.

From the January 2012 report of the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy:

“Small businesses continue to be incubators for innovation and employment growth during the current recovery. Small businesses continue to play a vital role in the economy of the United States. They produced 46 percent of the private nonfarm GDP in 2008…”

That could be your business.

And, according to the US Census Bureau Data (2009):

“There were 5.8 million employer firms in the U.S. Firms with less than 20 workers made up 89.7 percent of these businesses.”

Salem stands ready to support you. Salem Main Streets. The Salem Chamber of Commerce. The City of Salem. Destination Salem. We are rich in organizations to answer every question and help you along the way. We actively support and work with our businesses through festivals, events, and national activities such as Small Business Saturday.

And then there are the businesses along the Downtown District themselves. Best resources of info. Don’t take our word for it. 2014 is here. Resolve it’s time to stop thinking and time to act on your dream.

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