Thank You Once Again for a Successful Salem Chamber Haunted Happenings Grand Parade!
This past Thursday, October 3th, the Salem Chamber of Commerce hosted another exciting and fun Haunted Happenings Grand Parade. The theme for this year’s parade was “It’s Our Future.” We are always honored to host the kick-off event for the Haunted Happenings celebration. The excitement, participation, and incredible ideas of Salem’s elementary, high school, and college students, the future of our city, is essential in keeping this nearly quarter-century long tradition continuing.
On behalf of the Salem Chamber Board of Directors, we would like to first say thank you to all the businesses in and around Salem who have been so generous with their time and support of the Haunted Happenings Grand Parade. Banner sponsors of this year's parade included, Coffee Time Bake Shop, Eastern Bank, Lotus Gifts, Magika, Markos Taverna, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem Five, Salem State University, Salem Witch Museum, and St. Jean's Credit Union. Additional supporters of the parade included Atlantic Toyota, Coon's Card & Gift Shop, Hawthorne Tours, M.R. Shaw Insurance Agency, New England Security, Power Crunch, Run-A-Muck Child Care, Salem Waterfront Hotel & Suites, Schulte Staffing Solutions, ServPro of Salem, Spaulding Outpatient Center Salem, Wicked Jeeps of Massachusetts, and Witch Pix. We also thank all the students who participated in the parade and managed to make their parents, teachers, and peers proud while continuing to maintain order and maneuver the parade route.
Further, another large thank you goes to all the volunteers who helped organize the set-up including INSA of Salem, MINI of Peabody for convertibles in the parade, and to Shetland Park, Salem Police Department, City of Salem, and the Salem Department of Public Works, who all did a fantastic job with helping facilitate the safety, logistics and cleanup of the parade. Additionally, we would like to say thank you to many of Salem's dignitaries and elected officials who walked with the parade including Grand Marshall Mayor Kimberly Driscoll, State Representative Paul Tucker, Salem School Superintendent Kathleen Smith, and many City Councilors and School Committee members. We were happy to begin a new feature on the parade route, a Sensory Friendly Area, which ran along Central Street between Derby Street and Front Street. In this section, we asked all parade participants to refrain from playing loud music or sirens and shut off any flashing lights in order to create a welcoming environment for those who may have a sensitivity to loud noises and bright lights. We are looking forward to continuing this in the future. The parade finished with a party at the Salem Common with DJ Doug who entertained the crowd. We thank you all for such a successful event and hope to see you next year, Thursday, October 1, 2020!
Rinus Oosthoek
Executive Director
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