Window Boxes – Salem Main Streets

Creative Window Boxes To Be Honored For Helping Beautify Salem

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Jul 202015

Windows have an artistic value beyond the utilitarian of keeping cold out and letting fresh air in. Walk down any street in Salem and you’ll see windows as the backdrop and support for creative & colorful flowered window boxes. To honor the businesses and homes that go the extra mile to help beautify Salem, the City has been holding an annual Window Box Competition since 1993.

Modesty aside, did you work hard on your window box design and placement? Then you deserve recognition and an award. The Salem Beautification Committee, along with The Salem Garden Club and Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, have issued an open invitation for submissions.

Or if you are very creative, you’ve got time to make one very quickly for the Window Box Competition.

Wood of course is the traditional material with which to build a window box. But what kind of wood should be used? For example you might want to remove pine, which rots relatively quickly (and we do get a lot of rain & snow) from your options. And add cedar or redwood because of their rot-resistant qualities.

Of course people have gone away from wood totally with fiberglass, brick, metal, vinyl, and cellular PVC!

But time is running out! Registration for the Window Box Competition concludes Wednesday, July 22, 2015. Judging will take place July 25-31. Then the Awards Ceremony & Reception will be held during Heritage Days on Thursday, August 6th at 5:30 pm. in the garden of the Brookhouse, which is located at 180 Derby St.

For more information, rules and to register, call 978-619-5676. Or email: etalkowsky@salem.com with the subject: Window Box Competition registration. Please include your name, street address and telephone number.

The mission of the Salem Beautification Committee is to assist the City in developing and pursuing initiatives that promote the beautification of the City. The goal of the Committee is to create civic pride and to motivate the City’s diverse population to participate in the beautification process.

(Photo courtesy of the Salem Beautification Committee Facebook page)

Contest Looking to Grow New Crop of Window Boxes

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Jul 212014

Photo Courtesy of the Hawthorne Hotel

Window boxes are next up to be honored in Salem. Window boxes? Yes, the long narrow box in which flowers and other plants are grown and then placed on an outside windowsill— Salem has been holding an annual Window Box Competition since 1993. And this year is no different as Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, The Salem Beautification Committee and The Salem Garden Club have issued an invitation to residents and businesses to “help beautify our City and show off your gardening talents.”

Wood of course is the traditional material with which to build a window box, but people have used fiberglass, brick, metal, vinyl, and cellular PVC!

The simple container brings life and color to a vintage home, no matter the season. For example, in the summer go with brightly colored flowers and vegetables. But by autumn switch to small pumpkins and gourds. Definitely adds some spice to the look of the home’s exterior.

Registration concludes Wednesday, July 30, 2014. Judging will take place July 31st – August 3rd. Then the Awards Ceremony & Reception will be held during Heritage Days on Thursday, August 7th at 5:30 pm. in the garden of the Brookhouse, which is located at 180 Derby St.

For more information, rules and to register, call 978-619-5676. Or email: etalkowsky@salem.com with the subject: Window Box Registration; include your name, street address and telephone number.