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Salem Film Festival in Salem, OR Draws Crowds Around the Country
Salem Film Festival
Plenty of local talent helped inspire the Salem Film Festival in Salem, OR, but geography played a role as well. Located between the two culturally conscious cities of Portland and Eugene, Salem knew it needed something of its own to offer a crowd.
The Salem Film Festival began in 2006, which has since grown to include filmmakers from around the country, as well as honorees that include Salem native and Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder. That first year hosted 17 filmmakers... Read More »
Salem Film Festival Grows in Popularity and Expands Offerings
Plenty of local talent helped inspire the Salem Film Festival, but geography played a role as well.
“We’re in a funny place,” says Jeff Hart, co-coordinator of the festival. “We’re between Portland and Eugene, and both of those cities have a pretty jumping cultural scene. But we have a lot of people here who don’t want to drive there all the time, so we knew if we got a festival going, people would come out for it.”
That’s happened in a big way. Since morphing from a smaller event in 2006, the... Read More »
History Lives on at Salem's Mission Mill Museum
The former Thomas Kay Woolen Mill in Salem produced wool from 1889-1962.
It is no longer in the wool production business, but has been designated an American Treasure by the National Park Service.
Today, the site is home to the Mission Mill Museum, which offers a changing gallery of four history-related exhibits each year. The museum is also a popular community gathering spot, with about 275 annual events scheduled on its grounds.
The mill also welcomes hundreds of sheep each spring as part of... Read More »
Salem's Bank Museum Holds Forgotten Treasures
The U.S. Bank in downtown Salem keeps a nod to old ways of doing things with a store of old bank equipment.
From a century-old safe – still in use – to decades-old adding machines and bank equipment, the museum-in-progress keeps artifacts from bygone eras of banking.
Low on the technology scale, some of the old machines’ complicated systems of levers would probably stump most MBAs.
The bank is on the corner of Commerce and State streets. Read More »
Salem's Riverfront Carousel Still Delights
That’s a lot of horse rides.
More than 275,000 people have ridden the Salem Riverfront Carousel ever since it opened in June 2001.
The carousel features wooden hand-carved horses and plays old-time music. The cost of a ride is $1.50.
The attraction is open year-round and is decorated in the spirit of each season. It is located just blocks from the Oregon State Capitol on the banks of the Willamette River. Read More »
Elsinore Theatre Modeled To Look Like Shakespearean Castle
Art lover George Guthrie developed the Elsinore Theatre in 1926‚ and he modeled the building to look like the castle in Shakespeare’s drama‚ Hamlet. The cost to construct the Tudor Gothic structure in downtown Salem was $250‚000‚ and it was equipped with a 900-pipe Wurlitzer organ. Edgar Bergen‚ Clark Gable and the John Philip Sousa Band all performed on the Elsinore stage.
The theater eventually fell into disrepair‚ and there were plans to demolish it in 1980. Fortunately‚ a citizens group... Read More »
Salem's Blooms Are a Boon For Local Tourism
A number of farms are in the business of commercial flower production‚ with several farms open to the public for tours and shopping. For example‚ Schreiner’s Iris Gardens and Cooley’s Gardens are ideal spots for irises‚ while Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm obviously specializes in tulips.
For peonies‚ Adelman Peony Gardens grows more than 160 varieties. Read More »
