Kick Off Summer Right: Make Music Salem and Bike Boulevard Field Trip

Forget Druids and Standing Stones! Could there be a better way to celebrate the summer solstice than with citywide music festival?

Playing on the Union St. Bridge, 2012

Salem has a worthy successor to the the street pianos from a few years back.

Make Music Salem joins

a worldwide phenomenon on the summer solstice. The city’s streets, alleys, sidewalks, parking lots and public spaces will resound with the joyful noise of Make Music Day on Tuesday, June 21.

From Peace Plaza at Salem Public Library to Salem Cinema and from the Oregon State Capitol to the Boys & Girls Club of West Salem, roughly 30 venues will host music events. Performances begin around 10:30 a.m. Over the lunch hour and into the night, more musicians will join the fun.

More than 100 bands and singers of all ages and abilities will perform big band, folk, hard rock, soul, hip-hop, country and music of all styles. Mark Green, co-organizer of Salem’s event, said, “There will be something for everyone.”

The best thing: It’s all free.

“Three principals of Make Music Day: It needs to be free; nobody can be charged. Nobody can get paid. Music must be outside, unless it rains,” Green said. “That’s what’s beautiful about it.

You could structure a performance schedule for yourself, of course, but it might be best just to wander on foot or on bike. Discover something new, yield to serendipity. Just wander.

All over downtown!

Repair Fair June 22nd

From the event listing:

Marion County Environmental Services and Willamette Heritage Center is partnering for another great Repair Fair & Share, June 22nd at the Willamette Heritage Center, 5-7 pm. This is FREE and open to the public, however donations are appreciated.

Got something broken? Bring it (along with any needed parts) to the Repair Fair, and we'll hook you up with a fixer!

Small appliances (no microwaves or cd-players please)
Tools or knives to sharpen
Textiles
Stringed Instruments
Bikes

Dana Canning from the Salem Sleeping Bag Project will be there to show us how we can help crochet, sew, or cut to help make sleeping bags and sleeping mats for the homeless.

We are looking for volunteers (fixers and reception folks). If you can help or if you'd like more information, please contact Jessica Ramey (503.365.3180) or use our sign up form http://www.repairfair.net/two/!

Bike Boulevard and Open Streets Field Trip

You probably already know about this, but if not, or as a reminder - don't forget about the field trip to Portland next weekend. Salem Bike Boulevard Advocates are meeting in Portland to check out design elements on bike boulevards and neighborhood quiet streets, and will participate in Portland's Open Streets event, Sunday Parkways, which feature streets closed to cars and lots of fun activities for people on foot and on bike.

The field trip meets at the corner of Rosa Parks Way and Concord Ave, just off Interstate Ave in the Arbor Lodge neighborhood.

Map for June 26th Sunday Parkways

Salem Open Streets Event goes on Hiatus

While Portland's series has six dates this year, the future of Salem Sunday Streets has been uncertain. The City seems to have some withdrawn elements of formal support, and in response the event was morphing into the Salem Greenway event for July 30th, which was going to feature the proposed route for the Winter-Maple Family Friendly Bikeway and seemed to be even more dependent on volunteer efforts.

But all that's on hold now.

From the organizers:

After careful consideration, this 2016 event has been postponed to allow more time for planning and development. An opportunity to network and learn from other open street planners has become available and Salem leaders want to take advantage of the unique opportunity. The City of Salem, in collaboration with local active transportation enthusiasts, will be coordinating efforts to launch an informed and sustainable open streets program here in Salem in 2017. We’ll share more news when it becomes available.

Portland is hosting the 2016 International Open Streets Summit from August 18th-21st, and folks plan to attend that.