The New England Pirate Faire and Pioneer Village: Salem 1630 Bid Farewell to Gordon College

 















Pastimes’ beloved family-friendly show returns to Salem June 29 & 30

Pastimes Entertainment of Revere returns to Pioneer Village: Salem 1630 for the New England Pirate Faire, the most popular event in the historical attraction’s 83-year history.

Families traveled from across New England to attend the 2012 Pirate Faire, a swashbuckling adventure that took place within the charming recreation of a 17th Century Salem settlement and became the most successful event for Gordon College’s Department of Public History, which this month ends its stewardship of the site.

“We want to send Gordon College off in grand style,” said David Stickney, executive producer of Pastimes Entertainment of Revere. The department’s management of the village ends on June 30, and on July 1 the City of Salem assumes management duties.

Pastimes will present the original adventure, “Felicity Dane and the Diamond in the Rough.” In this family-friendly interactive adventure, a plucky young girl finds herself an unlikely ally to Captain Anne Bonney as she searches for the legendary Windjammer Diamond. Unfortunately for them both, several other pirates are also hunting for the lost treasure -- among them, none other than Blackbeard himself.

In addition to the thrilling story, the day will feature interactive scenes that will make the audience part of the adventure, black powder and cannon demonstrations, pirate games, the unique merchants that make up the Tortuga Marketplace, food and refreshments, and live music.

The New England Pirate Faire will be held on Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30 from 10 AM to 6 PM both days. General admission is $14 ages 12 and up, youth admission is $10 for children ages 4 to 11, and children 3 and under are free. Members of the military and seniors receive a $2 discount at the box office with proper ID. Free on-site parking is available.

2012 Season Concludes

The regular tourist and post-season school tours at Pioneer Village have ended, and the Village is closed for the winter. The Village officially closed on November 16 and will re-open in the spring.

Labor Day Weekend Potluck

Friday September 31st marked the occasion of the first Pioneer Village/History Alive! staff potluck.
 Administrators, directors, historical interpreters and their families and friends all gathered for an evening of period food, drink and music. There were several 17th-century Puritan delicacies to be enjoyed including a cucumber sallet, sweet chicken stew, beans and sausages, pumpkin pie, and roasted pork.

Village blacksmith Mr. Snitch (Kevin Sternweiss) and Director of Museum Studies and Scholar-in-Residence with the Institute for Public History, David Goss, provided period sea-chantys on the guitar.

The event was organized by Pioneer Village site director, Marc Ewart. Hopefully this will become an annual tradition!

New England Pirate Faire Draws Record Crowds

The New England Pirate Faire which ran last weekend (August 11-12), drew some of the largest crowds in the park's 82-year history with well over 1,000 people in attendance over the two-day weekend, according to David Goss, Director of Museum Studies and Scholar-in-Residence with the Institute for Public History at Gordon College. This in spite of the somewhat dodgy weather forecasts for both days.
Crowds of people, many of them families with young children, came from as far away as New Jersey to celebrate all things piratical. The combination of scripted scenario, variety acts, merchants and food vendors, plus the historical setting of Pioneer Village itself, helped to make the weekend a success.
Talks are already underway for a 2013 show.

A Primer for the NEPF!

 The New England Pirate Faire Facebook page has been getting hit with a lot of questions from people who have never been to this kind of show before, so as a public service to their patrons, Pastimes presents an overview of the faire and what to expect. The blog page is here:
http://pastimesentertainment.blogspot.com/2012/08/nepf-primer-for-first-timers.html

Anne Bradstreet Promo Shoot

On the shoot at Pioneer Village

A promotional movie for the play "From the Author to My Dear and Loving Husband"
written to celebrate the 400th birthday of America's first published poet, Anne Bradstreet was shot at Pioneer Village and other Salem locations last week.
The play, written by Kristina Wacom-Stevick, was recently performed at Pioneer Village, and will be performed again September 15th, 16th, 2012 at Pioneer Village .
A portable show with 4 actors and minimal set, it is hoped that the play can be performed at schools, festivals and other venues.

Amelia Haas plays the young Anne Bradstreet

In an effort to raise awareness of the piece, a well as Anne Bradstreet's 400th birthday, Kristina, who works for Gordon College's Institute for Public History, History Alive! and Paul Van Ness of Van Ness Creative, and Cinema Salem worked together to shoot the piece.Van Ness and History Alive! have collaborated before on the film, The True 1692. Using local actors, the movie will flesh out more details of the life of Anne Bradstreet who arrived in Salem in 1630 at the age of 18. The film will also be shown at Cinema Salem.

Erik Rodenhiser and Mark Stevick

Anne Bradstreet play at Pioneer Village

Portraying Anne Bradstreet at different stages of her life are.(from L-R)
Kim Lamoureaux, Emily Cox, Amy Courage, Amelia Haas

"From the Author to My Dear and Loving Husband"
--a play to celebrate the 400th birthday of America's first published poet, Anne Bradstreet is being performed at Pioneer Village.
In 1630, eighteen-year-old Anne Bradstreet was heartsick about exchanging her genteel English life for the perils of New England. In the years to follow, Anne would surmount an abundance of hardships to become America’s first published poet. How did this physically challenged mother of eight find the time and inspiration to write her popular collection of poems known as The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America? “From the Author to My Dear and Loving Husband” makes a guess by way of four Annes at different stages of her life. 

June 30th, July 1st and September 15th, 16th, 2012 at Pioneer Village .
School and other group performances may be privately arranged.
Suitable for audiences high school age and up.
Tickets will be available at BrownPaperTickets.com or at the door on a first come, first serve basis. Space will be limited.

For more information call 978.867.4767, email historyalivegordon.edu .

Pioneer Village Officially Opens for the Season!

Pioneer Village 1630. All cleaned up and ready to open!

Pioneer Village opens this Friday, June 22! In celebration of our 2012 season, for THIS WEEKEND ONLY, all Salem residents receive FREE admission! (valid identification required) Come for the first time, or for the hundreth!

A Brief History of Pioneer Village

 

Pioneer Village has a long and interesting history. Built at Forest River Park in 1930 for the tercentennial celebration of Salem's founding in 1630, it was host to a day-long reenactment of the arrival of Governor John Winthrop, which included a replica of his ship the Arbella (seen in an old postcard below) arriving in the harbor. The re-enactment showed the Governor's arrival, the transfer of authority from Roger Conant to Winthrop and the pageantry of daily activities in a Puritan village. 

Originally built like a stage set (the reason the cottages and Governor's house have no windows on their backside) the village was scheduled to be torn down after the pageant, however a Salem commission decided that it might serve well as a permanent attraction. 

Pioneer Village was the first living history museum in America, and served as a model for other museums such as Plymouth plantation, which it preceded by almost 20 years. The village has been in almost continuous use since June 1930. 

Very popular until the 1960's, the village started falling into disrepair in the 1970's for various reasons including declining attendance, a fire, and escalating costs.

 By 1985, the City of Salem Park Commission voted to raze the village. However within the year the Commission signed a contract with Pioneer Village Associates, headed by Peter LaChapelle of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site and David Goss of the House of the Seven Gables, to restore and manage the once-popular site. Through their fundraising and restoration efforts the Village was refurbished and re-opened in 1988. A grand reopening of Pioneer Village was held in June, 1990.

The museum underwent another renovation under the supervision of Salem Preservation, Inc. from 2003 until Spring 2008 when Gordon College  took over its management along with the Old Town Hall. The Gordon College Institute for Public History and their theater group History Alive! stages performances of their popular re-enactment of the Salem Witch Trials Cry Innocent at the Old Town Hall and manages the village's use as a set for hire for special events, festivals, television shows and movies.