Sevenings: About Overflowing Edition
Sevening (v.): the act of showing up after seven(ish) — for your people, your community, and honestly yourself in Essex County. We’ve been sevening it up. Brand new? We love newbs! Check out the whole def in our About Time Edition.
Oh hey there, Essex County. Drag out your cauldron. Actually, summon up two — because one is not going to be enough this week. Not even close.
Here’s the thing about Essex County — it doesn’t do half measures. It doesn’t do almost. It doesn’t do “a little bit of something.” It does all of it, all the way, until it runs over the edges onto everything around it. And this week? This week Essex County didn’t just fill up. It overflowed. Wine into art. History into the present. Freedom into the streets. Beer into the solstice. Heels into transformation. The whole week is spilling over with sevening and we are absolutely here for every single drop.
(unforever) yeong and the (s)evening shift always on it and the county keeps giving us the most and more to cover. Last week Essex County was out there learning to use any camera, busting Salem witch trial myths, pressing risograph prints, rolling dice at a D&D one-shot before the Ren Faire gates even opened, making art and funding something that genuinely matters, raising the Juneteenth flag in Marblehead, feeling all the feelings at People Like That, watching Salem’s fashion community claim its runway, getting very cosmopolitan at Kölsch Service Night, and sailing out to Bakers Island Light Station like the island was always waiting. Essex County, you were sevening everywhere. And we were sevening right there with you.
This week, the cauldrons runneth over and over. So go ahead, Essex County — let it allllll out.
June 16, 2026
Palate/Palette at 6:00 PM
Wine and dine? Pshaw. Who needs wine and dine when we can wine and fine, honey. That is, wine and fine art. Prepare to drench your senses in liquid gold and living color! The Bower at Montserrat is uncorking an evening of three dazzling wine tastings, divine artisanal nibbles, and an immersive journey through the breathtaking Bridging Generations exhibit at the magnificent Alcove Gallery. Show up wearing something that says ‘I sho got opinions about these tannins AND those brush strokes.’ Sequins totally optional. Now go get wined and fined.
June 17, 2026
June Watercolor Workshop – Paint a Wave! at 5:00 PM
There are only FIFTEEN spots and they’re making waves fast, so I need you to register before this sentence drifts out to sea. Go ahead. We’ll wait on the shore. The Galleries at Lynn Arts is hosting French artist Emmanuelle Le Gal (ooh la la, oui) for a watercolor wave workshop that’s guaranteed to make your artistic instincts flow, no ebb. For all skill levels, no prior experience needed — just your tide-turning creativity. It’s been said that the ocean holds its shape in the mind long before it reaches the canvas. I said what I said. Dive in before the tide goes out.
Author Reading & Documentary Screening: LGBTQ+ History of the North Shore at 5:30 PM
The North Shore is getting read and we are all here for it! The library is open and EmVision is werking it with Jim Moser who will be live reading his ‘Queer Heroes of the North Shore: Four Centuries of Love, Rebellion and Survival.’ LIVE reading. Then it’s followed by ‘Finding Refuge, Demanding Equality,’ a documentary that tells Lynn’s LGBTQ+ story with receipts, interviews, and remarkable resilience. The story stretches across four centuries and includes Lynn’s legendary gay bars — which means shut the front door! What’s more fab than fab? Jim will be signing books afterward. Absolute realness. Remember, reading is fundamental.
Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony – Wakefield at 6:00 PM
Now pause and clock this moment – as evening settles, something rises. Behold, the community are all gathered. It is a sevening where the flags will fly, heads will be lifted, and the hearts will soar. The North Shore Juneteenth Association gathers to raise the Juneteenth flag — a symbol carrying centuries of deferred promise, of freedom arriving long after it was promised and then withheld. Freedom is truly known, understood, experienced, just facts. All are welcomed. The past is not past. The work is not finished. Come stand in the truth of it, at dusk, with people who understand that liberation is a collective undertaking. Together, honeys, we don’t just stand… we RISE!
June 18, 2026
Ledger’s Summer Luau at 6:00 PM
Ledger’s fifth annual Summer Luau is sashaying into town and she is not arriving quietly — she is arriving in a full LEI-d back fantasy. This party is really going coconuts. We’re talking tiki cocktails that flirt back, island bites that understand the assignment, raffle prizes that might change your life (or whatever), games and a raffle. A raffle. And let’s not forget the live sounds of Redemption Band, giving you soundtrack-to-your-best-life energy while you dramatically sip something served in a pineapple replete with umbrella placement, drink-to-ice ratio science, and emotional tropical escapism. ALOHA, Salem… the party is ON.
Growing Together: Tea Garden and Herbal Apothecary Workshop at 6:00 PM
Your future wellness routine starts in someone else’s garden, apparently — and that’s fine, if we’re being generous. Long Hill is hosting a workshop steeped in herb-solutely everything you need as Arianna Iappini of Birch Arbor Gardens gives you the root of all wellness knowledge in two beautifully crafted hours. Learn to grow, harvest, and infuse your life with medicinal herbs. Design a garden that thrives for people and pollinators alike. Create take-home blends that leaf you feeling accomplished and deeply plant-literate. Thyme is of the essence. Very cottagecore. Very yes.
Koto Salem Welcomes Wretched Reels Hosted By Lydia at 7:00 PM
Who is already there when you arrive, though tragically appears as if summoned? Koto is in the know – a Lydia. This is a live, interactive bad horror movie screening with a real horror hostess who has perfected the art of making cinematic disaster absolutely worth watching. The movie is always a secret until you arrive, which makes this either mega thrilling or terrifying depending on how in your feels you are about the element of surprise. For the wretched, the black witch and monkey brain is a must. Unless Lydia wants to share the Love Board for two. Tee hee. Come for the horror. Stay for the Lydia. Leave absolutely satisfied by how terrible that movie was.
June 19, 2026
Commercial Heels at 7:00 PM
Umm, hellur! You are like in dire need of an elevated presence, like dire dire. But no worries, honeys, Seacoast Stilettos will help you find your footing with a Heels class that will keep you on your toes — well, actually on your heels, but you get the idea. We get to learn sole-ful moves set to commercial and pop hits you already bounce to. All levels are welcome – get met where you are and then lifted higher. YAAS! That’s not class, that’s transformation. So go ahead — put your best foot forward, literally and spiritually. This is a heel awakening. At last, finally, I get to be 5’11”. Or something like that.
June 20, 2026
Rye Moon Launch Party at 6:00 PM
On the night of the longest day, when the full moon rises over Salem, Rye Moon emerges. Under the blazing summer solstice moon, a new beer rises! Oh excuse you as we try to wax poetic about the Die With Your Boots On x Notch collab. It’s just one small pour for beer, one giant leap for beer-kind — Rye Moon is getting launched and it will be absolutely over the moon. Treat yourself with an amber rye hefe that hits notes of B-A-N-A-N-A-S and clove with the earthy full force of rye — a Bavarian classic seen through a darker, more stellar lens. MOON there it is. The moon reference will make more sense after the second pour. Or not.
June 21, 2026
Salem Jazz and Soul Festival presents: Henley Douglas Jr. at 6:00 PM
The co-founder of the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival is playing his own festival’s fundraiser with a band he assembled himself. What the what? That seems like a lot of self-self-self-scheduling, but when your level of jazz is fabsolutely iconic, you’ve earned the right to book your own gig. Off Cabot is hosting an event that is music to our ears as Henley Douglas Jr. and special guests deliver the kind of live jazz performance that makes time do something noteworthy. Bass-ically, an intimate venue, genuine artists, a cause worth supporting, and a Sunday sevening that actually lives up to the occasion.
Consider this your permission to let it spill out. All of it. Over the edges, onto the floor, into the week ahead — Essex County never needed containment anyway and this week proved it once and for all. We said what we said and then we said more.
So that is just some of what is overflowing in Essex County this week — some, because there is always more, because there is always Essex County doing the most in the best possible way. The full overflow lives on the calendar. Go find where it’s running over near you. CC members — if you are out there pouring everything you have into what you do, the people deserve to know about it. Don’t keep it to yourself. Submit a member marketing request and let it spill right back atcha. That’s exactly what it’s there for.
Not on the newsletter yet? That’s the only thing around here that shouldn’t be overflowing — your list of excuses not to join it. Get on it. And both socials — @creativecollectivema and @creativecollectiveexplores — not one, not the other, both, always. Please and thank you, honeyz.
Until next week Essex County. Stay sevening. You know where to find us. We’re everywhere.
— (unforever) yeong and the (s)evening shift, out.
This story comes from the Creative Collective community
Essex County businesses who believe when we thrive together, our whole region becomes more vibrant. We’re entrepreneurs, creators, and service providers across all industries, collaborating to build the community we want to be part of. If you see your business as more than just commerce — as a way to contribute to our regional ecosystem — you belong here. Discover how to join our community →
Ledger Restaurant & Bar | Fine New England Dining
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Ledger, located in the former Salem Savings Bank building (circa 1818), is pleased to be a part of the downtown Salem community. This historically unique location houses a progressive New England concept, where traditional 19th-century dishes, cocktails, and techniques will be elevated with 21st-century resources. Chef Daniel Gursha was nominated for his culinary work at Ledger in 2022 for “Best
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