Salem’s Fall Fun Day puts spotlight on city

By D.A. WILKINSON

wilkinson@vindy.com

SALEM

The city’s new Fall Fun Day is designed to give people a look at the city.

Desirae Monaco, the chairwoman for the event headed by the Salem Retail and Business Association, said Monday that those attending the festival “can see what Salem has to offer.”

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Many of the activities are free. The Salem Historical Society will be involved Saturday with tours of old homes that will continue Sunday for a fee.

Monaco said the day is more family-oriented than the former Heritage Day event it replaces.

She said the event allows people to relax. “We hope they make a day of it,” she said.

The fire department will be offering hay rides through the downtown.

Most of the events are going to be at the city park on East State Street just west of Troll’s Jewelry, 581 E. State St. That happens to be the locale of the Salem Farmers Market.

Mike Hudock, the general manager at Stadium Chevrolet Buick Pontiac GM Cadillac, said he will have a new Cruze there if he has one in stock.

If he does, he said, “I’ll leave it there and let people climb all over it and do what they want.”

Jeanne Martinelli, a docent of the Salem Historical Society’s Freedom Hall, will dress as a Quaker to help people better understand the plight of slaves, the workings of the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist movement that flourished in Salem before the Civil War.

The society’s trolley will take people to view the outside of private homes and see more than 100 slides to illustrate the interior of the buildings.

Each tour will last approximately 80 minutes. The tour times are 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The cost is $10 per person.

For reservations, call 330-337-3035.

“We hope the weather cooperates,” Monaco said.