SALEM — Get on your best shoes and head downtown tomorrow for the grand opening of the Salem Museum, a labor of love — and hard work — by Gordon College's Institute of Public History and a cast of thousands, or at least dozens.
The museum will present a broad overview of the city's history, from Native American days to the present. And, unlike some of our other "museums," which will remain nameless. everything in this place is actually true.
It will open Saturday at Old Town Hall at noon. A special reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m.
And here's the best news. For the first day, it's free.
A great cause
The first time she felt numbness in her feet, Brianna Roy was at Victoria Station, where she has worked as a server the past two years.
"I just brushed it aside because I had been working a double shift," said Roy.
When the 24-year-old Salem State graduate started seeing spots, she went to an ophthalmologist, who ordered an MRI. The test showed she had multiple sclerosis.
That was in March.
Since then, she has started medical treatments and received love and support from family and friends.
On Monday, her work family at Victoria Station is hosting a fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and for Brianna. It starts at 7 p.m. at the 86 Wharf St. restaurant.
Celebrity bartenders are coming from Major Magleashes, the Lobster Shanty, Finz, The Witches Brew and other nights spots. They weren't hard to recruit — Brianna's boyfriend is Ryan Laffin, a bartender at Finz.
There will be lots of food and tons of raffles. They're auctioning Red Sox tickets and a stay at the Salem Waterfront Hotel.
"A lot of restaurants donated gift certificates," said Katie Parker, the general manager at Victoria Station. "We have over $1,000 worth of prizes. The restaurants from the town have been incredible."
There's even music by the Ross Livermore Band. That's Ross Livermore, as in a fellow waiter at Victoria Station.
Donations at the door are $10.
Head on over. It's a great cause for a great employee.
Welch scholars
In case you've forgotten, those generous scholarships Salem native Jack Welch established a few years ago are still paying dividends.
Salem State University just announced that full, four-year Welch scholarships were awarded to McKayla Figueroa and Mya Shutzer, both Salem High graduates. They are enrolling in the university's Bertolon School of Business.
Over at UMass Amherst, Welch's other alma mater, two Salem High graduates were awarded John and Grace Welch Scholarships, named for the former GE chairman's father and mother. This year's winners of the awards, valued at about $15,000 a year for four years, are Shawn Emelian and Tuan Dinh.
Run, Teasie, run
Her name wasn't on the candidate list that the city gave The Salem News earlier this week, but Teasie Riley-Goggin assures us she is running for city councilor-at-large. With her in the race, it makes 10 possible contenders for four open seats.
Riley-Goggin, a past critic of the mayor, made an unsuccessful bid for a council spot in 2009.
When you come to think of it, she really should be elected — she goes to every meeting in the city anyway.
Super praise
Superintendent William Cameron did something unusual the other day for a school boss.
He publicly praised the Salem Teachers Union.
Cameron thanked the union for its cooperation in working out contract issues for staff at the new Salem Community Charter School, slated to open in the fall.
Cameron made his comments at a School Committee meeting with Joyce Harrington, the union president, in the audience.
Peace of news
Did you know there is a Salem Peace Committee?
Yup, and they meet the first Tuesday of every month at St. James Church.
They've only got about eight members, but their arms are wide open if you want to join. Hey, give peace a chance.
Good gamble
Who said gambling doesn't pay?
The Salem Rotary Club raised $5,000 at its recent Texas Hold 'Em Poker tournament. The Rotary Club, in case you didn't know, raises tens of thousands of dollars for college scholarships and other good causes.
Jim Shea was the big poker winner.
Naming a road
Chapter 41 of the Acts of 2011 was approved last Friday by the state Legislature.
Doesn't sound like much until you realize it's the official designation, or renaming of the bypass road the "Sgt. James Ayube Memorial Drive."
Ayube, 25, the combat medic who was killed in Afghanistan in December, lived on Bridge Street, right around the corner from the new road.
Hangar time
Did we hear the city is about to commission a study of the old Coast Guard hangar on Winter Island?
Didn't Willie Hobbs, a local engineer, do a study of that old building a decade ago?
Taking fight to D.C.
Jacqueline Donnelly of Salem, whose father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, is one of hundreds of private citizens heading to Washington, D.C., on Monday to lobby members of Congress to pass a bill that will ensure more funding and research is spent on curing one of the deadliest forms of cancer.
Jacqueline, 28, the oldest of nine children, is part of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Heavy hitters
Has anyone taken a good look at the new board members for Historic Salem Inc.?
What a lineup.
It includes award-winning author Brunonia Barry; Dean Lahikainen, the noted curator of American decorative arts at the Peabody Essex Museum; and Dr. George Brandenburg, director emeritus of the Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology at Harvard.
Sounds like a Mensa meeting in Harvard Square.
Lunch hike
Parents won't be thrilled to learn that school lunch prices are going up 25 cents next fall. Elementary students will be paying $2.50 a lunch, while high school kids will be forking over — no pun intended — $2.75.
Here's some good food news: milk prices are staying the same.
First ferry
After much ado, the Salem Ferry will launch tomorrow. It may be a few weeks late, but it's still our favorite ferry.
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
