Please don’t be a passive by-stander when it comes to community celebrations! They provide a wonderful opportunity for you to be seen as a leader who cares about local history. You WILL catch people’s attention if you go about it strategically!
ARMORY PARK DEDICATION DAY
For the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, we oversaw the planning and promotion of Armory Park Dedication Day. The park was the first completed part of the museum’s multi-million dollar expansion. The day’s events involved working with the National Guard, City of Salem, veterans groups, historical societies, and local businesses. “Everyone” was part of it. Components included VIP receptions, ceremonies, a muster reenactment, review of troops, fly-over, concert, and formal ball. The event brought thousands of people to Salem. Traffic to local businesses was high. The public relations benefits from being associated with a military event AND the Peabody Essex Museum set participating businesses apart from those who did not join in. People noticed, and remembered. Two months later, we planned the dedication of Armory Park’s Walkway of Heroes, a brick walkway in the park listing the names of men, women, and organizations serving Essex County for over four centuries during times of war and peace.
IPSWICH, MA 375TH ANNIVERSARY
We worked with the town and a large group of dedicated volunteers to plan and promote a year-long celebration of Ipswich during its 375th. Components included a parade, town picnic, walking tours, lectures, a community project to build a replica colonial house, and more. The results? Hundreds of people “discovered” Ipswich for the first time and spent money, and residents got to know their town as never before. It was tremendous!
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Thanks for stopping by!
Harrison Bennett
“I was chief representative of the Massachusetts National Guard in the effort to debut Armory Park in Salem Massachusetts in 2001. Ms. Bonnie Smith was my counterpart on behalf of the Peabody Essex Museum. Due largely to her extensive expertise, energy and tact, the project concluded with complete success. The dedication, parade and black tie social event shed much positive publicity on the City of Salem, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Massachusetts National Guard.”
—Brig. General Albert A. Mangone,
Massachusetts National Guard
Armory Park, Peabody Essex Museum
“Bonnie brings knowledge, people skills, a cooperating persona and deep technical competence to her projects … the 375th was a much better celebration for melding Bonnie’s ideas into the year long program in 2009.”
–Nat Pulsifer, Chair, Ipswich, MA 375th Anniversary Celebration
Ipswich 375th Parade
