Salem Happenings

The August 2021 discussion includes the selection of Native American artist Chris Pappan to create a portrait of a Naumkeag leader for display in Salem City Hall, the Salem Race Equity Task Force Report as well as the opening of the Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center.

Panelists include: Will Dowd, Deborah Greel, Rebecca Hains, Dustin Luca and Gwendolyn Rosemond.

The Salem Happenings crew discusses the fast-pace world and national changes in between each show: Protest and demonstrations, the Black Lives Matter movement on the North Shore and reopening under strict COVID-19 limitations.

The Salem Happening's crew interviews the North Shore Alliance of GLBTQ+ Youth's new executive director, James Giessler, who succeeded Steve Harrington in April. Panelists also discuss the origins of and historical significance of Juneteenth, the incoming Salem police chief and the Salem Sound Coastwatch's Collins Cove salt marsh restoration project.

The Salem Happenings crew interviews Cheryl Crounse, vice president of Salem State University Institutional Advancement, on the news of a $6 million gift to, in part, help "assist undergraduate seniors in overcoming their final financial hurdle before graduation." Also on this episode: The South River Revitalization Project by the North Shore CDC; Salem's new police chief and hiring trends in local law enforcement. And a cute story about children creating and distributing window art in panelist Deborah Greel's neighborhood on Boardman Street.

The Salem Happenings crew discusses race equity, the growing housing crisis, the COVID-19 response and a proposed gunshop eyed for Salem.

From September 2020 to April 2021, the Peabody Essex Museum put extremely rare and original documents from the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 in its care on display. It was the first time the invaluable collection was exhibited in public in nearly three decades.

Our panelist, Will Dowd, toured the exhibition with the PEM's head librarian of the Phillips Library, Dan Lipcan, whom he interviewed along the way.

Artifacts, in part, owned by people involved in the 1692 episode flanked the tenuous documents. The show featured iconic 19th century paintings by the American artist Tompkins Harrison Matteson: The “Trial of George Jacobs of Salem for Witchcraft” and "The Examination of a Witch." 

A centerpiece among the documents: The return of Chief Justice William Stoughton's carried-out warrant, confirming the execution of Bridget Bishop. She was the infamous trials' first victim, hanged in June of 1692.

The Salem Happenings crew’s final and reflective episode in 2020, a year that many described as being like none other. 

Panelists dig into the main issues, current events and topics over the past year: A cultural awakening over race, a nail biter of a presidential election, a groundswell of protests, the city and local businesses fight against a once-in-a-century pandemic.

The Salem Happenings crew offers a post-mortem on how the Halloween season played out for the Witch City amid a raging pandemic. Other topics discussed: The 2020 presidential election, voting in Salem and the ways COVID-19 has impacted daily life.

The Salem Happenings crew discusses the challenges of reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the city's ongoing housing crisis.

Meanwhile, Creative Collective's John Andrews fills panelist in on the creative and colorful Jersey barriers arranged on Salem's downtown streets, expanding restaurants' seating capacity...and giving people a reason to get out and walk around the city's downtown.

This episode capped with panelists showing off their pets cats and dogs and birds.

After a COVID-19-related hiatus, the Salem Happenings crew reconvenes virtually over Zoom. The global pandemic and the city's response dominates panelists' discussion.