The holidays are here, and Salem is dressing up for the season with trees, wreaths, and ribbons. As part of the festive fun, downtown businesses decorate their windows especially for the holidays. Judges nominated by Salem Main Streets will make the rounds to vote on the best windows. Award categories typically highlight good retail design – use of store products or display of a business’ services – or types of design, like most traditional. Participating windows must all be decorated by Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022 – please contact elise@salemmainstreets.org to let us know you are interested in participating by Nov. 24.
With a bustling Halloween season behind us, we at Salem Main Streets are feeling jolly when we think about our upcoming holiday initiatives geared towards bringing neighbors together and beating Winter darkness with twinkling lights, ribbons, and wreaths!
Contrary to local lore, all this decoration is not completed by fairy folk. Salem Main Streets has a tremendous team of volunteers willing to stand on ladders and wrap light poles with ribbon even on freezing cold mornings!
Please consider supporting this effort to make downtown festive and encouraging for folks to resist the appeal of hibernation and come enjoy their downtown.
$100 Wreath Sponsor
$250 Tree Sponsor
$500 Lighting Event Sponsor
All sponsors will be recognized on our website and social media. Tree Sponsors will be individually featured in the Facebook event. Lighting Event Sponsors will have additional 30 second video features on our social media as well as recognition in the press release.
Please contact Elise@SalemMainStreets.org with any questions. If you are feeling inspired to lend some sparkle, checks can be made payable to Salem Main Streets 265 Essex Street Suite 101 in Salem.
Stay tuned for the upcoming announcements about dates and times!
Salem
Main Streets is looking for local Salem enthusiasts to help greet visitors at
the October Information Booth. Volunteers will staff two booths at
central locations in the downtown district, handing out maps and sharing
information about Salem’s wide variety of attractions, events, and businesses.
All volunteers are asked to be available for a minimum of two shifts for two hours each and are required to complete a one hour (in-person or virtual) orientation session.
The in-person orientation will be held on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 10 am and the National Park Service Visitor Center. Registration will open at 9:30 am. Please complete the SignUp link below if you are interested in volunteering even if you cannot make the in-person orientation. If you cannot make the in-person orientation for any reason, select the make-up option on Sept. 14 (even if you cannot make that exact date and time, the meeting will be recorded) so we know that you are interested.
Volunteers
are needed for two hour shifts throughout the day each weekend in October, as
well as Friday afternoons and some additional days as needed. If you have
availability some of these days, enjoy helping visitors by showing them your
enthusiasm for our cultured and historic city, and want to make it fun and safe
for visitors to explore all of Salem’s sites and attractions, please join
us!
For
more information or to become a volunteer, please contact Elise Towle Snow at Salem
Main Streets at (978)744-0004 x115 or elise@salemmainstreets.org.
This program is organized by Salem Main Streets in partnership with the City of
Salem, with support from Destination Salem.
Salem Main Streets (SMS) is seeking candidates for a farmers’ market manager. SMS manages the Salem Farmers’ Market in Salem, MA to help promote local farmers, to support the needs of the local community for fresh local produce, and to create an even more vibrant atmosphere in downtown Salem. The market runs on Thursdays from 3 – 7 p.m. in Derby Square, on Front Street, around Old Town Hall and the Salem Marketplace, from June to October. The market manager is responsible for on-site management during the market season and numerous pre-season and post-season tasks to further the success of the market.
This is aseasonal, hourly position
offered for $20 an hour.
Specific responsibilities of the Market Manager include,
but not limited to the following:
Market Activities:
Set up and take down or oversee the set up and take down of market tent, tables, signs, road blocks, and other market day items.
Collect and deposit stall fees, commissions, and other market receipts.
Communicate space assignments to vendors.
Enforce market rules, local and state sanitation and food safety guidelines, and other pertinent laws and regulations.
Handle emergencies, complaints, and customer requests.
Maintain positive, non-discriminatory relations with all market vendors.
Oversee the market as an on-site coordinator from set up to tear down approximately 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday evenings in June through mid-October. Two possible weekend events before Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Other duties as required.
Market Organization and Development:
On a weekly basis, create a basic layout of the market with the goal of providing optimal product variety and balancing regular offerings with new vendors and products.
Work with SMS to manage supporting volunteer committee.
Maintain market data and help update Market databases.
Assist in recruiting and building a strong vendor base.
Help implement the Market Entertainment & Music Program, including selection of a diverse mix of performers.
Train and supervise market volunteers.
Organize and conduct a fundraising event for the Farmers’ Market in collaboration with SMS Events Coordinator.
Financial Management:
Work with SMS to establish an annual budget and monitor budget compliance.
Maintain updated records of all market expenditures.
Collect seasonal vendor fees at market and assist SMS with payment records
Conduct SNAP program in accordance with state regulations
Track all EBT transactions
Reimburse all vendors for EBT transactions
Ensure EBT device is updated, secure and usable before the market starts.
Stay up to date on latest aid initiatives to better serve the customers.
Qualifications:
Experience with project management, program coordination, or event planning.
Excellent ability to communicate verbally.
Conflict resolution skills.
Working knowledge of computer programs such as Word and Excel.
Experience working with diverse stakeholders.
Strong organizational skills
Ability to lift at least 50 pounds on a regular basis in varying weather.
Interest in farmers’ markets, agriculture, or food system issues.
This position will work closely and collaboratively with
existing Salem Main Streets staff – a full-time executive director and
part-time events coordinator. For more information or if interested in this
position, contact Kylie Sullivan, Salem Main Streets, 265 Essex St., Salem, MA
01970, (978) 744-0004, or kylie@salemmainstreets.org.
Interested applicants should submit a resume and brief cover letter for
consideration.
August has turned into fundraiser (friendraiser?) month for Salem Main Streets, and
First off, what is Salem Main Streets again, and why should you support it?
Salem Main Streets’ nonprofit mission is the continued revitalization of downtown Salem as a vibrant, year-round retail, dining, and cultural destination through business retention, recruitment, and promotion of the downtown district – a district of over one square mile that includes over 250 active storefronts, multiple cultural attractions and historic assets (including a National Park Service site), and almost a third of the city’s population.
We work with businessowners when they are first starting out, when they’re beginning to vend at events, when they’re ready to find their first storefront, when they’re ready to expand, and when they hit any number of setbacks along the way. We operate events that drive foot traffic to the downtown to support existing businesses as well as events that encourage new small business development. We weigh in on public art decisions, city policy improvements and construction projects, we even provide support to other peoples’ events! We strive to make downtown Salem a place where people can live, work, and play all year-round.
Much of this work is unseen and not particularly flashy – but it all pays off. In addition to a full calendar of community-focused events, from the Salem Arts Festival to the Howl-o-ween Pet Parade to the Salem Farmers’ Market, the downtown district now boasts an incredibly low commercial vacancy rate of ONLY 2%, and 90% of our storefronts are locally-owned and operated!!! Every little dollar we can raise makes that happen, and this month we have a ton of different ways you can help.
SMS Virtual 5K, all month – we are so excited to try this for the first time! For a pledge of just $25, participants may choose to complete a 5K at their own pace, on their own schedule, and in their own way (run, jog, walk, scoot, glide, bike, horseback ride, etc.) any time during the month of August. When you prepare for, progress along, or celebrate completion of the 5K, post photos to all social media platforms and be sure to include this hashtag #SMS5k2022 — and tag us using @salemmainstreets on Facebook or Instagram; or @salemmainstreet on Twitter — so Salem Main Streets staff and everyone else can follow along with you! Sign up here – https://justgiving.com/campaign/SMS5k2022
Ice Scream Bowl, Aug. 3 – did you know that the Ice Scream Bowl is actually (not-so-secretly) a fundraiser for Salem Main Streets? That’s why we’re extra grateful for everyone who comes to buy a ticket, and all the ice cream vendors who donate their product and their time!
Landing at Salem Ferry Fundraiser, Aug. 10 – one of the coolest views in the city! Our friends at City Experiences have offered their very first nonprofit fundraiser night to Salem Main Streets! Swing by for a drink on your way home, on your way out, walking the dog…
American Flatbread Fundraiser, Aug. 16 – when Flatbread re-opened this summer, they immediately brought back their nonprofit fundraiser evenings. Who were we to say no? A portion of proceeds from every pizza sold that night comes back to Salem Main Streets!
Peabody Stop & Shop community bags – last but not least, someone was kind enough to nominate us for a local Stop & Shop fundraiser (thank you, whoever you are)! For this entire month of August, SMS will receive $1 from every $2.50 Community Bag sold at the Stop & Shop located at 19 Howley Street in Peabody (the one close to Harmony Grove). Reduce your impact on the environment while supporting Salem Main Streets at the same time!
Whether you can give a little or a lot, whether your taste is more for a scoop of chocolate ice cream or a glass of Merlot, August is full of ways to help make Salem Main Streets even better! And of course, you can always donate directly to Salem Main Streets by clicking the Donate button on our Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/SalemMainStreets
Salem Main Streets' mission is the continued revitalization of downtown Salem as a vibrant, year-round, retail, dining and cultural destination through business retention, recruitment, and promotion of the downtown district.
