With the leaves falling, Halloween is taking shape across Swampscott. Giant skeletons stand watch outside homes, front yards have been transformed with Halloween decorations, and pumpkins of all shapes and sizes litter the streets.
And while Salem may draw the spotlight this time of year, the season does bring benefits to local businesses in Swampscott as well, according to Jessica Ingemi, who owns the Dockside Pub with her husband, Andrew.
“I would say that Halloween, the Salem effect, impacts our town in a positive way,” Ingemi said. “It brings overflow to our restaurants, to our Airbnbs.”
But the fun isn’t solely for tourists. The Dockside Pub began the festivities a week early with “Dollyween,” a costume contest honoring the late country icon Dolly Parton and her charitable work.
Bar manager Kira Leahy said Ingemi came up with the idea for the night.
“We’re a community pub, and when Dolly Parton passed away, we knew that she was such a charitable person,” Leahy said, referring to Parton’s Imagination Library, which provides free books to children to foster a love of reading.
A portion of the proceeds from Dollyween went to the Imagination Library, Ingemi said.
“We really wanted to do something in that spirit,” Ingemi said.
With hits like “Jolene” and “9 to 5” blaring and big blonde wigs and sequins shining across the pub, the night brought everyone together through music and costumes. Even those not dressed as the “Queen of Country” got into the mood, belting out lyrics over drinks with friends.
The night’s entertainment continued with two performers in drag lip-syncing some of Parton’s biggest hits.
The night culminated with the costume contest that the event was built around. While some kept their costumes simple with only Dolly’s iconic blonde wig, the top two finishers both went all out with shining sequined dresses. The first-place winner, who won the $150 cash prize, wore a blue sequined dress with frills but also donned a homemade pink cardboard guitar. The second-place winner was decked in an outfit with black gemstones and won a $100 gift card to the pub. A simpler-dressed third-place winner in a blonde wig won a $50 gift card.
For Ingemi, events like Dollyween are part of the pub’s purpose as a gathering place.
“A pub, if you look up the meaning, is a public house, so it’s meant to be a place where people can congregate, have fun, and celebrate the work week and whatever events are going on, whatever season’s going on,” Ingemi said.