SWAG had our first community outreach event at Salem Common on Saturday, June 3, 2023. Nine intrepid volunteers gathered in the rain to help escort pedestrians in crossing Hawthorne Boulevard and Brown Street, near the Roger Conant Statue and Salem Witch Museum. Many of these pedestrians were tourists and city visitors for the Salem Arts Festival, and we received many words of appreciation from people who otherwise would have had difficulty navigating a very confusing pedestrian intersection. It was so inspiring to hear their words of thanks! We estimate approximately 100 people were guided across these routes over the course of an hour, and this prototype event helped to establish some strategies for similar events in the future. We also had Officer Ortega from the Salem Police Department stop by and discuss other areas that we could target for future assistance.
We are planning to review what we learned and brainstorm for upcoming crosswalk-assisting events at our next general meeting, which will be held on Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 10:00 am at the Salem Common Gazebo. We are planning a bigger, better, BRIGHTER event (with costumes!) to be held during Haunted Happenings in October, but smaller recurring monthly crosswalk-assisting events are also a goal for the near future. We invite all readers to attend the 7/8 meeting and to stay tuned for more details about our upcoming community events, either via this website or through our e-mail list (you can sign up at http://bit.ly/SWAG-Emails).
Thank you to all of our volunteers, thank you to Officer Ortega and SPD for their support, and thank you also to the motorists who slowed and stopped to facilitate safe road crossings for many pedestrians over the weekend. We are excited for our next event already and hope to continue these gatherings for the rest of 2023 and beyond.
