festival – Page 19 – Salem Main Streets

Visiting the History of “Visitors” to Historical House of Seven Gables

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Apr 282015

It goes without say that when something is nearly 350 years old and still functioning, it has a great deal of history to share. The House of Seven Gables, built in 1668 fits that bill, and the staff have now created a retrospective with a different perspective: A Gracious Host: Visiting the Gables through the Years, is an engaging exhibition showcasing the vibrant history of visitation at The House of the Seven Gables.

You are invited to journey through the past, and experience the history of one of America’s most famous homes as it transformed from a residence into a cultural icon. Through informational panels and object based exhibits, guests will see the house as they never have before.

The exhibit, running now through August 30th, is in the Visitor Center and is self-guided.

Dan Marshall, Manager of Visitor Services for The House of the Seven Gables explains, “We felt that this comprehensive exhibit highlighting our formation as a museum shared a broad overview of our history, allowing us to focus in on specific aspects of that story in the coming years.”

Most notably, he adds, “some of our upcoming milestones include: the 150th anniversary of our founder Caroline Emmerton’s birth in 2016 and The House of the Seven Gables (The Turner-Ingersoll Mansion) turning 350 years old in 2018.”

A Gracious Host will focus on key moments in the history of tourism at The House of the Seven Gables. From the last residents of the house until today, this exhibition will enthrall visitors of all ages. For more than a century, The House of the Seven Gables has been one of the most iconic historic houses in America. You will discover the beginnings of this historic treasure and how it came to be a popular tourist destination.

Marshall states, “I feel that The House of the Seven Gables offers a unique combination of philanthropic, literary, and architectural history. The museum was founded by Caroline Emmerton in 1910 as the financial support mechanism for her charity, The House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association. The proceeds from the mansion tours, funded the classes, daycare and healthcare that she provided to the Polish immigrant population of Salem. While the museum’s historical programs and the Settlement Association have both evolved over time, our profits still support the community through our annual grant programs.”

But the beginnings of The House of the Seven Gables as a historic site date back before the museum’s founding in 1910. The story begins with the construction of the house by John Turner in 1668. Every house has a story worth preserving, and without the early builders and inhabitants, there would be no story to preserve. Fortunately, the story of the early residents is told on the regular guided tour, but to this point has left a gap between that of Susanna Ingersoll, who died in 1858, and Caroline Emmerton who acquired the house in 1908.

During this 50 year period, the house was left to Susanna’s heir, Horace Connolly, then was owned for four years by a series of absentee owners, and was eventually purchased by the Upton family in 1883, who made it a home once again.

It was the Uptons who recognized the historic importance of the house and invited guests to visit for a fee. They took advantage of the house’s storied past and began to generate greater interest in the mansion as a destination. While this was a step towards the house becoming a historical and cultural institution, it would not be until 1910 when Caroline Emmerton officially opened the house as a museum and base for her Settlement Association that The House of the Seven Gables would become the iconic structure that it remains today.

In all that time there have been many visitors, perhaps you or even an ancestor of yours has walked the halls. Time to walk again and see what you may have missed.

As a reminder, Salem residents can visit the museum free of charge, year-round (except in October); just bring proof of residency. For more details, write to info@7gables.org or call (978) 744-0991. The House of Seven Gables is located at 115 Derby Street, Salem, MA

Salem YMCA Invites You to Join in Nationwide Open House: Healthy Kids Day

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Apr 232015

You don’t have to be a member to join the fun for Healthy Kids Day on April 25th, states Kevin Washington president and CEO of YMCA of the USA. It’s all part of the Y’s commitment of outreach to the communities served and the children that live there. The seven branches of the YMCA of the North Shore will be among over 1300 Y’s across the country taking part in the Healthy Kids Day national initiative to improve the health and well-being of kids.

Events are open to all children and families; they are filled with fun, active play and educational opportunities. For the full scope of Healthy Kids Day, check out this link and the embedded video.

In other words get your kids and yourself off the couch, away from the TV, computer, video games and mingle with others in a lively atmosphere where running and jumping are healthy alternatives.

In Salem, special events from noon – 2pm will include

Little Ninja Warrior obstacle challenge

Fun Camp Activities

Balloons, Facepainting

Family Membership Raffle and more!

The Y is all about more. The more support, guidance and opportunities it provides community youth…the more amazing qualities they’ll get out. The more your kids get out, the more they can achieve growing up. That’s why the YMCA provides kids a healthy, caring environment of fun, learning and belonging to help them reach their fullest potential. Reason enough to celebrate Healthy Kids Day — and for you and your children to join in.

The Salem YMCA is located at One Sewall Street. For more info, call 978.740.9622 .

Get Up, Get Out There, It’s YOUR National Park

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Apr 202015

Discover the treasure that is a National Park this week as visitors to Salem Maritime National Historic Site are being treated to free ranger-led tours, a Junior Ranger Program, the free award-winning film “Where Past is Present” and a comprehensive audio-walking tour of the 9-acre site. It’s all part of a USA-wide celebration (April 18-26) to encourage everyone to find their park and share their stories online at FindYourPark.com.

Salem Maritime National Historic Site offers 12 historic buildings, wharves, and a reconstructed tall ship which tell the stories of the sailors, Revolutionary War privateers, and merchants who brought the riches of the world to America. But it is more, as the video below explains, the Find Your Park program invites the public to see that a national park can be more than a place — it can be a feeling, a state of mind, or a sense of American pride.

Did you know that Salem Maritime was the first National Historic Site established in the United States (March 17, 1938)?

Beyond vast landscapes, this Find Your Park campaign highlights historical, urban, and cultural parks, as well as the National Park Service programs that protect, preserve and share nature, culture, and history in communities nationwide.

In fact, the National Parks initiative works with local agencies to build trails and playgrounds, return historic buildings to productive use, revitalize neighborhoods, expand affordable housing, protect watersheds, recognize and promote local history, and introduce the next generation to stewardship opportunities.

A National Park is more than grass, trees, and some old buildings.

Visit www.NationalParkWeek.org to learn more about how you can join parks, programs, and partners in celebrating National Park Week across the country.

And then visit our own National Park, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, located at/and around 160 Derby Street. For more info, go to http://www.nps.gov/sama/index.htm or call 978-740-1650.

Global Event ‘Record Store Day’ to Have Salem Connection

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Apr 162015

Vinyl, wax, platters, discs…. all names for the LP, more lovingly recalled as a ‘record.’ Yes, the round thing that rotated on a record player your parents or grandparents talked about from their youth. To celebrate the continued existence of records and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding independently owned record stores in the US and world-wide, Record Store Day was created. Locally the Salem Theatre is partnering with Salem’s own independent record store, The Record Exchange, to promote an entire weekend, April 17-19. (Record Store Day usually takes place on the third Saturday of April. )

The day is for the people who make up the world of record stores to celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role these independently owned shops play in their communities. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day.

The Record Exchange advises from its Facebook page: Come and celebrate records, music & YOU, our amazing customers & friends, this Saturday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Yup…it’s RECORD STORE DAY! We’ll have Ziggys and Sons Donuts for all, some very cool RSD limited edition records, and we’ll be putting used CDs & DVD sets on sale just for the day.

As for the live musical contribution from the Salem Theatre, kicking off the weekend on Friday, April 17 at 7:30pm is a returning favorite Don White with opening act Julie Dougherty.

Saturday, April 18 at 7:30pm is a CD Release for Justin Goodrich. Justin is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Independently he has released two solo-acoustic EP’s, “A Revenant Affair” and “Fallen Angels, Tears of Stone”. Each ticket purchase for the Justin Goodrich concert will include a free copy of the new album “Steadfast Hearts and Borrowed Time”.

Wrapping up the weekend on Sunday, April 19 at 5pm is An Evening with Chris Noran and Kevin William. Chris and Kevin are Indie Folk artists from Salem and Boston respectively. Together these two will play two full sets of Bon Iver-esque, ambient rock-folk in a warm and intimate space.

To give you an idea of how the “culture” of a record store can have an effect on someone, David Grohl of the Foo Fighters, who is the 2015 Ambassador for Record Store Day, recalls: “I found my calling in the back bin of a dark, dusty record store.

1975’s K-Tel’s Blockbuster 20 Original Hits by the original Stars featuring Alice Cooper, War, Kool and the Gang, Average White Band and many more, bought at a small record shop in my suburban Virginia neighborhood, it was this record that changed my life and made me want to become a musician. The second that I heard Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” kick in, I was hooked. My life had been changed forever. This was the first day of the rest of my life.

I believe that the power of the record store to inspire is still alive and well, and that their importance to our next generation of musicians is crucial.”

Record Store Day is managed by the Department of Record Stores and is organized in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) and celebrates the culture of independent record stores by playing host to in-store events/performances, signings and special product releases on a global scale.

The Record Exchange, located at 256 Washington Street, is one of the oldest used brick & mortar record stores in the United States; it was founded in Salem, MA in 1974.

Founded in 2002, Salem Theatre aims to enrich the artistic, cultural and economic life of the Greater Salem region and build connections with new, diverse audiences and theatre artists through the performance of classic, contemporary, and new works of exceptional theater as well as through the arts education outreach. It is located at 90 Lafayette Street.

For more info on the concerts, either call The Record Exchange at 978-745-0777 or directly contact the Salem Theatre at www.salemtheatre.com or call 978-790-8546 .

(Record/turntable photo courtesy of J Fry from FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Dig Out the Delorean, Peabody-Essex Museum Party Reliving the 1980s

Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Workshops No Responses »

Apr 122015

“Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?” one of hundreds of quotes that filled the 1980s that still may pop up today. So it’s no surprise that PEM/PM after-hours party for April is a look back to the art, fashion, music, etc. of that decade.

Of course there are bigger quotes such as “I am your father” and “May the Force be with you” from Star Wars. Dozens must be coming to mind right now. Lots of memorable movie quotes and song lines. Lots of memories.

Remember Fuzzy Navels, Pina Colada and Tequila Sunrise?

For this month’s party, April 16 from 6-9 pm, the Peabody Essex Museum team suggests you let your inner Madonna or Boy George come to life with glam makeovers by experts from Salem’s Rouge Cosmetics. Try your hand at designing Flashdance inspired sweatshirts, or create your own friendship bracelets.

For those brave enough, there is a photo booth to show off your creativity.

Speaking of creativity, there will also be a Graffiti Wall, express yourself.

As always, the Atrium will be the base for a lively dance party as this time DJ Amphibious spins the greatest hits of the ’80s on vinyl. There will be a small plates menu from the Hawthorne hotel. You’ll also get a taste of signature ’80s cocktails served up by the talented staff of the Hawthorne.

The concept of the 3rd Thursday of the month PEM/PM parties is to have fun, learn a little, and of course provide visitors a chance to explore all of the museum’s galleries after hours.

Test yourself: the following are the 10 top-grossing films of the decade according to Wikipedia. BUT don’t click the link just yet. See if you can guess the order!

1. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
2. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
3. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
6. Batman (1989)
7. Ghostbusters (1984)
8. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
9. Back to the Future (1985)
10. Return of the Jedi (1983)

No admission charge for PEM members, Salem residents and Salem State students with an ID. Otherwise there is a $10 fee for non-members, payable at the door. For more details, go to pem.org or call 866-745-1876.

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