SALEM — The councilor-at-large forum Tuesday night at the Moose Family Center was unusual for a lot of reasons.
For starters, candidates for the second-highest political office in the city ruminated about Salem's future and their own municipal dreams while gazing across a crowded room and staring directly at a giant moose head mounted on the wall.
Hey, it worked for Teddy Roosevelt.
The forum was a little late getting going, but there was a good excuse: Half the city was lined up at a chow table put on by the Mack Park Neighborhood Association.
Rosemary O'Connor and Beverlie McSwiggin — think Julia Child and Rachael Ray — rose at 5:30 that morning to start cooking. With help from a legion of Mack Park sous chefs, they made stuffed shells, eggplant calzone, American chop suey, chili, deviled eggs, meatball calzone, corn chowder, pasta salad, spinach and feta calzone ... Well, you get the idea.
There was so much great food, it was hard to hear our future leaders' pearls of wisdom over the chomping and swallowing. The lifetime award for Best Hosts of a Political Forum has to go this amazing neighborhood association.
Closing remarks
The Moose Hall forum ended on a sad note, and a surprising one.
In his closing remarks, Councilor-at-large Tom Furey announced he has prostate cancer and is having surgery next month.
Asked later about the decision to make such a personal announcement then and there, Furey said it was spontaneous.
"I was surprised I decided to do it myself," he said. "It was one of those candid moments when I said, 'Should I say it or should I not?'"
Furey insists he was not looking for sympathy or votes, but just felt it was something people should know.
"It was spur of the moment," he said. "I don't have any regrets about it."
Day to remember
The funeral Mass for Mieczyslaus "Mashie" Miaskiewicz has been tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 12, at St. Thomas the Apostle Church.
He is the 27-year-old World War II veteran from Salem who was shot down over the former Yugoslavia in 1944 and believed to have been buried long ago in Long Island National Cemetery. This summer, his remains were found in a hillside grave in Bosnia, wrapped in a parachute. They are being flown home for burial in St. Mary's Cemetery.
Nov. 12 was chosen because it has some significance for the Miaskiewicz family. Mashie's mother, Anastasia, died on Nov. 11, and his brother, the Rev. Stanley Miaskiewicz, died on Nov. 13.
Coyote scare
The cat killings and disappearances in North Salem have a lot of people concerned. The area where cats have gone missing and coyotes have been spotted is growing larger, one resident said.
"It's not just Kernwood (Country Club) and the Greenlawn Cemetery area," said Peg Cornacchio, a North Salem resident.
Cornacchio said her daughter was driving home from a friend's house last Saturday night when four "huge coyotes" ran across Felt Street right in front of her car.
Coyotes, she said, have been seen in neighbors' backyards.
"They're getting closer and closer to people's property," she said.
Sick pay
A recent City Council meeting packet contained this request for funds: sick-leave buyback for 11 School Department employees, $243,827.
Miss Salem
Shaniqua Clark, 26, of Salem is a contestant in the Miss Massachusetts USA Pageant, which will be held Nov. 19 to 20 at Lowell Memorial Auditorium. The winner goes on to the Miss USA Pageant in Las Vegas — a Donald Trump event.
The daughter of Georgia Clark and Charles Goodridge, she is employed by Blue Vase Marketing in Beverly.
Haunted hotel?
We don't know whether to be proud, peeved or puzzled.
Travelocity just ranked the Top 10 Haunted Hotels in the U.S.
The Hawthorne Hotel was ranked fourth. No. 1 was the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo., the inspiration for Stephen King's "The Shining."
But back to the Hawthorne. How can a hotel in Salem finish anywhere but first?
And who even knew the Hawthorne was haunted?
Travelocity, the online travel agency, cited the "phantom hands in Room 325 and the spectral woman on the sixth floor."
And we thought it was room service.
While we're on the subject of the Hawthorne, they're hosting a big event on Saturday night: the Vampire Ball.
In case you haven't made weekend plans yet, here's an enticing promo: "Witness the ravenous bloodlust of undead circus performers, led by their sinister ringmaster ... Jezebel!"
Sure beats the World Series.
Witches vs. zombies
There is a familiar name in the middle of the so-called haunted house "war."
John Denley, the operator of Witch Mansion on the pedestrian mall, is the same John Denley who made his mark here several years ago.
He used to run Terror on the Wharf and Boris Karloff's Mansion on Pickering Wharf. He also is the former owner of Spooky World.
Denley opened Witch Mansion in July.
Pumpkin proud
The 150 entries in the city's pumpkin-decorating contest are proudly displayed on Salem Common.
The first-place winners are as follows: age 11-14, Andrew Mosko, Collins Middle School; age 7-10, Isaiah Robbins, Carlton School; and 6 and under, T.J. McCarthy, Bates School.
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