Salem News – Page 7 – Salem Main Streets

Salem Cable Replacement Project Getting Underway

History, Salem Event, Salem Shopping, Uncategorized No Responses »

Mar 102015

It’s been said there is a great deal of history buried within the bricks and cobblestones of Salem, MA. Some of it good, some not so good, and some just the kind that needs to be updated. National Grid will be working to replace two aging underground electric transmission lines, located through a small stretch of Salem. These lines transmit electricity used by hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses in Salem and throughout the North Shore.

This of course means a slight bit of inconvenience to motorists driving and parking in the City.

A small number of “no parking” signs will be posted in advance of construction, and those restrictions will remain in effect until construction is complete for that day. Police details and signs will always be present to assist everyone through the work zone and to facilitate traffic management.

The Salem Cable Replacement Project will install new cables in a duct bank and manhole system, which will eliminate the need to dig up Salem streets for regular repairs. The new, modern cables will also address capacity limitations and maintenance issues with the current system.

The weekday work hours for the Salem Cable Project are 7 am to 4:30 pm (which includes the last hour given over to work site clean-up),

The first two work sites for the project, beginning on/or around March 11: Hawthorne Boulevard, just north of the Derby Street intersection, and Congress Street, on the north side of the South River Bridge.

Hawthorne Boulevard : contractors will be installing a large manhole. This work is expected to last for approximately two weeks, weather permitting.
Congress Street : contractors will begin installing the duct bank that will house the new underground electrical transmission cable. This installation will continue northward, towards Derby Street, ending at the newly installed manhole described above. Due to the nature of this type of work, it is estimated to be completed in five to six weeks, weather permitting.

Also, during the construction activities, one National Grid Gas crew will be finishing gas line installations on Hawthorne Boulevard between Derby Street and Washington Square South; and along Congress Street, on the north side of the Congress Street Bridge.

A project map including the approximate location for the Hawthorne Boulevard and Congress Street work sites is available on their website’s Blog: www.salemcableproject.com/blog .

In fact, to stay up-to-date on each phase of the Salem Cable Replacement Project, just sign up for email updates, like it on Facebook, and to follow on Twitter and Instagram. You can also call the toll-free hotline at 1-844-SALEMCABLE (1-844-725-3622).

Behind the Scenes: Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne

History, Salem Event, Workshops No Responses »

Mar 092015

Local historian and lecturer Jim McAllister (who recently was designated as the “Official Historian of the City of Salem Ma”) will present the latest installment of his “52 Lectures, 52 Weeks” series Tuesday, March 10 at the Salem Witch Museum. The subject is Nathaniel Hawthorne, Salem native and well known author of The House of Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter. But, McAllister has a twist on the normal Hawthorne/book discussion. He will focus on Hawthorne as a partner in one 19th century America’s greatest romances as it unfolded in the shadow of Washington Square. (The Salem Witch Museum is coincidentally at 19½ Washington Square North.)

Apparently it was “bizarre” and involved compacted romantic entanglements with Mary Silsbee and Elizabeth Peabody in the year that preceded his involvement with his future wife, Sophia Peabody, sister of Elizabeth.

Sophia, also born in Salem Ma, was an accomplished painter, illustrator, and an author of articles.

McAllister’s talk will chronicle important moments in Nathaniel and Sophia’s courtship. He will escort you on a journey through the couple’s good days and bad ones over the course of their two-decade long marriage.

With the weather showing no snow in the forecast, if you’re looking to venture out of your “cabins,” this discussion offers a warm invitation. It will run from 7:30 – 9 pm. But, due to space limitations, most of McAllister’s lectures require reservations. For more information please write to culturecorner@gmail.com or call 978-979-5907.

And the Nominees for the Best Salem Film Fest Windows Are…

Contests, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, SMS News No Responses »

Feb 242015

With the Oscars out of the way, you can now focus up close and personal on the Salem Film Fest (March 5-12). Entering its eighth year, Salem Film Fest is one of New England’s largest documentary film festivals; it attracts submissions and attendees from all over the world.

We’ll have more on the SFF in an upcoming blog, but if you want a sampling of SFF, Creative Salem produced an Oscar worthy profile page. But there is a visual problem with being the home of SFF, and we’ve come up with a solution that requires your assistance.

“The only drawback of a festival like Salem Film Fest,” explains Kylie Sullivan, Salem Main Streets Manager, “is that, by necessity, the vast majority of the action happens behind closed doors. The Film Fest gets bigger and better every year, but sometimes it’s hard to see that if you’re just walking down the street.”

She continues, “Therefore, we started the Film Fest window decorations last year because we wanted people to walk into town and KNOW that there was a film festival in town! In addition, we have many filmmakers and guests from out of town who are exploring the city for the first time during the festival. The Salem community gets so excited for this festival, and we wanted to have a visual representation of that excitement to welcome our visitors.”

Merchants, if you’ve got a downtown storefront window, we want to see your best film-inspired window! While the festival focuses on documentaries, your window does not have to be documentary-specific (windows inspired by Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, or The Avengers are absolutely encouraged).

This year, we will have a jury select a winning window. The winner of the competition will become the underwriter of a single film for the 2016 Salem Film Fest ($300 value)!

As a sign that this is indeed a group effort, if you need some inspiration or materials, Paul Van Ness of CinemaSalem will again be donating old celluloid film and film reels (and popcorn!) to anyone who wants to decorate a window. Stop by the Main Streets / Chamber offices at 265 Essex any time after 12:30 pm for film, popcorn, and Salem Film Fest posters (while they last)!

Participating businesses must notify Salem Main Streets of their interest and have window decorations completed by Friday, Feb. 27. So don’t delay. Any questions should be sent to kylie@salemmainstreets.org or go old school and call 978-744-0004.

(Photo courtesy of Social Palates)

Open Invitation to Join YOUR Salem Main Streets

Contests, New Businesses, Salem Event, Salem Farmers Market, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping, SMS News, Volunteer Opportunities No Responses »

Feb 212015

There are many exciting things happening behind the scenes at Salem Main Streets, and we want to bring them to light. So——

You are invited!

Please join us for Salem Main Streets’ Annual Meeting

Tuesday, February 24, 2015
5:30 pm to 7 pm
at the Salem Five Community Room, 210 Essex Street

– Celebrate Salem Main Streets’ (SMS) achievements over the past year
– Learn more about SMS mission and goals for the coming year
– Enjoy an evening with SMS supporters, volunteers, committee members, and constituents

Free
Cash bar and light refreshments
Open to all who live, work, and play in downtown Salem

Explains Kylie Sullivan, SMS Manager, “For many nonprofits, ‘annual meetings’ are primarily a function of the board and those concerned with the administration and governance of the organization. We are throwing the doors wide open for this meeting – inviting all our board and committee members, volunteers, downtown businesses, partners, sponsors, residents, municipal officials and employees, you name it. The message we want to send is that this is YOUR Main Streets and that everyone who cares about the downtown community should feel invested in the operation of Main Streets.”

Frankly no one can remember the last time Main Streets held an annual meeting. It’s time! We have so many great achievements to celebrate and recognize. Yes, we are talking about the Volunteer Booth, and the Farmers’ Market and the Holiday Tree— and so many more. And we are talking about you!

“We have so many great partners involved with Main Streets,” continues Kylie, “and we want them to be able to understand how their contribution fits into the larger Main Streets picture. Many of our partners and volunteers may only be involved with just one part of Main Streets (the info booth, the Farmers’ Market, Salem’s So Sweet) and they don’t really know how it connects to the larger mission and goals for SMS.”

To that end, while there will be a “speaking” portion of the meeting, it will be noticeably short; greater focus will be devoted on mingling with each other and visiting “stations” manned by committee members around the room to learn more about the different aspects of Main Streets and give feedback.

Consider this is to be more an interactive ongoing conversation, rather than a passive presentation.

We look forward to seeing you and listening to your input, and hopefully your participation sometime during the next year with one (or more) of our projects.

(Photo courtesy of Social Palates is of the Hula Art Project, an example of “board and committee members, volunteers, downtown businesses, partners, sponsors, residents, municipal officials and employees,” working together)

Going Above & Beyond During Salem Snowmageddon 2015

Salem Event, Volunteer Opportunities 2 Responses »

Feb 192015

Although Winter is far from over and we can expect more depressing bouts with snow, something positive has emerged. We have seen a number of good Samaritans come out of the woodwork— or rather snow banks to help fellow Salem residents get through this record-setting season. And Mayor Kimberly Driscoll has an idea on how to thank them.

‘Salem Snowmaritans’ will be honored with limited edition ‘I Survived Salem Snowmageddon 2015’ t-shirts.

You’ve seen them. Strangers shoveling someone else’s sidewalk. Motorists stopping to help push a stalled car or jumping a battery. Teens going shopping for the elderly. Snow plowers working into the late hours of the night or early morning.

Residents can nominate ‘Salem Snowmaritans’ by sending an email to Mayor@Salem.com with their name and phone number, name of the nominee, reason for their nomination, and the nominee’s recommended t-shirt size. Mayor Driscoll plans on sharing stories of ‘Salem Snowmaritanism’ on social media throughout the next few weeks.

“Nasty weather can’t beat Salem’s sense of community,” points out Mayor Driscoll. “The storms have actually created shining examples of neighborly love throughout our city and we want to hear all about them. We’ll share these stories and help turn cold frowns into warm smiles by remembering what a great City we live in, even when the wind chill is 20 below! We hope folks will spread the good word through social media and help us beat back the blizzard blues by celebrating our undaunted community spirit.”

Additionally, the Mayor’s Office will be selling these limited edition t-shirts for $15 per shirt for those who would like to purchase a Snowmageddon t-shirt as a keepsake. And the best part of that is all proceeds from the sales will go directly to the winter fuel assistance program for needy Salem residents administered through North Shore Community Action Programs. Residents can also submit their orders to Mayor@Salem.com until March 1st.

Local designer Brent Leland of Leland Creative, along with Gorilla Printing, both of Salem, helped design and print the t-shirts, with the assistance of Kate Fox, Executive Director of Destination Salem.

“This ridiculous amount of snow has given us good reasons to be grumpy, but it has also brought out the best in Salem as we’ve witnessed folks going above and beyond to help others during this unprecedented cold, hard winter,” states Mayor Driscoll.

Surviving Salem Snowmageddon 2015 has not been easy. But we will get through it together.

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