Essex Happenings September 30, 2011

Essex Happenings September 30, 2011

The National Park Service and Essex National Heritage Commission Announce the Premiere of Salem Witch Hunt: Examine the Evidence

A New Interpretive Film at the National Park Service Visitor Center in Salem

The Essex National Heritage Commission, in partnership with the National Park Service, will premiere Salem Witch Hunt: Examine the Evidence, on Tuesday, October 4 at 7:00 pm at the National Park Service Salem Visitor Center at 2 New Liberty Street, Salem. Reservations are required.

The Opening Night will begin at 7:00pm with refreshments and a brief presentation followed by a 7:30pm showing. Scholars, the director and many others involved in the making of the film will be on hand for questions and a discussion. For reservations contact Essex Heritage at 978-740-0444 or at www.essexheritage.org,

The film about the 1692 Salem Witch Trials is based on the most recent scholarly research of the causes, events and aftermath of these famous trials. Award-winning director Tom Phillips, in association with Professor Benjamin C. Ray of the University of Virginia, wrote and directed this film, which draws on a reexamination of nearly 1,000 manuscript records and published material associated with the witchcraft trials of 1692. The movie reveals newly found documents and research which shed new light on the trials, with reenactors speaking the documented words of the accusers and victims, and analysis by scholars who have studied the trials for many years.

“This film, offers many new insights into a story that has been told and retold for hundreds of years. The history of these infamous trials is one of the most frequently asked questions by visitors at the National Park Service Visitor Center in Salem,” said Annie C. Harris, Executive Director of the Essex National Heritage Commission. “When we were offered the opportunity to re-examine this period of history with the benefit of the latest scholarship, we jumped at the chance.”

“While many visitors know of the trials, few know the history of the events that cost the lives of twenty innocent victims,” said Rita Hennessy, acting Superintendent of the Salem and Saugus National Historic Sites. “This historically accurate interpretation of the Salem witch trials will be a centerpiece at our Visitor Center in Salem.”

This film was shot on location at Massachusetts sites associated with the events of 1692, including the Rebecca Nurse Homestead and the Parris Parsonage foundation in Danvers and the Corwin House (Witch House) in Salem.

After the premier showing, the film will be shown four times daily (11.00, noon, 1:00, and 2:00) at the National Park Service Regional Visitor Center in Salem, These showings are expected to be a visitor favorite during the month of October and all through the year.


Essex Heritage Photo Contest Deadline Fast Approaching!

2010 Grand Prize Winner "Full Sails At Sea" 
by Rod Parker
Photographers get snapping! All photographers are invited to submit images that capture the essence of the Essex National Heritage Area to Essex Heritage's 2011 Photo Contest. All submissions are due by October 1, 2011. Any photograph captured between October 1, 2010 and October 1, 2011, and assigned to one of four contest categories is eligible to win. The 2011 Photo Contest categories are: "People & Places," "Urban Landscapes," "Experiencing the Essex Coastal Scenic Byway" and "GreenSpaces."

Sponsored by the Essex National Heritage Commission and Hunt's Photo & Video, the 2011 Essex Heritage Photo Contest will award 13 prizes to 13 individual photographers! Award winning photographs are exhibited for one year at the National Park Service Regional Visitor Center in Salem, Mass.

Learn more about the 2011 Essex Heritage Photo Contest and download an entry form here.


Salem Free Bike Share Program is in place and operating now.

As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, the City of Salem and Salem State University has started a free of charge bike sharing program for both visitors and residents. The program is free and bikes can be obtained at a downtown location at the historic Hawthorne Hotel or at the school at the campus police station on Loring Avenue. Access to the bikes can be obtained by offering a credit card that will not be charged and a valid ID card. Bike programs are springing up in many communities, but most have charges associated with the program, but the one in Salem is free of any charges, This is a program designed to help move people around the city and at the same time get a few vehicles off the roads.

Bike programs are proliferating in this part of the country, but the one in Salem is most unusual. The local daily paper in Salem recently offered an editorial opinion about bike safety, so it is becoming most clear that bike programs that help move people efficiently and economically are here to stay and should be managed to obtain that most benefit from the programs.

I am pleased to be providing remarks about my relationship with Spaulding Hospital after a Golf Tournament at Salem Country Club next week.

Next Monday evening, I am pleased to have been offered the opportunity to provide some after dinner remarks about my recovery at a golf tournament to support the work of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Salem. I am pleased to have this opportunity, because I received wonderful care at that facility, and am pleased to offer my observations about the care that was provided.

City of Salem Announces Winners of Green Company Competition

The City of Salem recently presented awards in their recent green contest at a ceremony at Old Town Hall. The Winners selected were picked from a group of fifty participating companies based on the size of the business focusing on the number of employees. The winners included the Picklepot for a single employee or owner, Ben and Jerry’s, North Shore Community Development Coalition for businesses, and Salem State University based on the number of employees
The awards were presented to all of the winning organizations by Salem’s Mayor Driscoll. All of the winners received a window sticker for display, designating their achievement, and should all be congratulated for their commitment. to the concept of the preservation of energy.




Danvers Committee on Diversity to offer Series of Free Movies on three Thursday evenings at Library.

Starting on October 6, 2011 and continuing for the following two weeks the Town managed committee will offer free films in the Gordon Room at the library at 7;00 p.m. The films will focus on discrimination issues, and the films will be followed by a discussion about that issue. It is expected that the film presentations and the subsequent discussions will prove to a wonderful opportunity to continue ongoing conversations about discriminations in that community.



Peabody Artsworks Community Arts Center Seeking Artists

Several weeks ago, in this space we noted the opening of an arts center in Peabody, managed by Northeast Arc, which provides services to residents from around the region with developmental and physical disabilities. The new facility that features a gallery for local artists as well as for people served by ARC is now sending out a call for artists that might like to have their work exhibited at one of eight to ten exhibitions scheduled for this year. The first of these exhibitions is scheduled to be held next month. For more information on this program and to begin the process of participating in one of these exhibitions contact Director Merritt Kirkpatrick at mkirkpatrick@ne-arc.org or call her at 978-531-0666.

Marblehead Chamber to Hold Annual Meeting and Announce Awards

The Marblehead Chamber recently held its annual meeting at the Landing restaurant. At the meeting they are expected to name their 2011 community awards winners. . When those awards are announced we will certainly provide the names of the winners to you.

Professional Sports in Boston

The last week or so in the City of Boston, sports have not been kind. The Patriots suffered a recent upset at the hands of the Buffalo Bills after an long winning streak against that team and then last night around midnight the cruelest loss of all took place. The home team baseball team suffered the worst collapse of all time as they capped off the worst September in baseball history by losing the final game of the 2011 season, thus missing the playoffs. Using the life goes on theme, tonight the first Bruins game of the season appears on TV, as they try to fill the void after the Red Sox loss.

The last decade has been a golden one as far as professional sports were concerned in this area, starting with the Patriots Super Bowl win in 2001 and concluding with the Stanley Cup win by the Bruins this year. Let’s hope that this latest loss is not the first link in a new down sports cycle for the City. If I had to bet on a city that might replace Boston as title city, I would be watching Detroit, and they are certainly long overdue for some level of success and have experienced a resurgence of a couple of their sports teams.


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