Bruins Greats O'Reilly, Rancourt at Cross Border Expo

Submitted by the Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Salem, NH, and Greater Haverhill Chambers of Commerce, in partnership with Platinum Sponsor Pentucket Bank, announce the 4th Annual “Cross Border Expo” to be held on Thursday, October 24th, 2013, from 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm at the Northern Essex Community College gymnasium, located at 100 Elliot Street in Haverhill, MA.  Admission is FREE.

The Cross Border Expo offers consumers the opportunity to directly connect with businesses throughout Southern New Hampshire, the Merrimack Valley and beyond!  Exhibitors include restaurants, retailers, professional services, salons, spas, banks, non-profits and more.  Exhibitors will offer food tastings, discounts, and direct sales to promote their goods and services. Last year the event hosted over 90 vendors and 1,000+ attendees.

This year’s Cross Border Expo will also feature:  free admission, free raffles every hour (including a cruise to the Bahamas), live radio broadcast, convenient location to both Massachusetts and New Hampshire visitors, free parking, coupons and discount offers from exhibitors, and three celebrity guests. 

The event will open with a live performance by Boston Bruins home game National Anthem singer Rene Rancourt. Rancourt has professionally sung the U.S. and Canadian national anthems at Boston Bruins home games for the past 35 years. At 4:00 PM, Rancourt will open up the 4th Annual Cross Border Expo with the Anthem, then visit with guests, sign autographs and take photos. 

Also on hand will be Liz Bills, American Idol contestant who was born and raised in Haverhill, MA. Bills began performing music of many different styles at the early age of eight. She is currently working on her solo debut, after releasing a self-titled debut EP with her band Analog Heart. Bills will perform at this year’s Expo, in addition to meeting and greeting guests, signing autographs and taking photos.

This year’s premier guest celebrity, sponsored by Supercuts, is famed Boston Bruins alumni Terry O’Reilly. O’Reilly, a retired right winger, was one of the most effective enforcers in National Hockey League history. O'Reilly spent his entire career in Boston, serving as the captain during his final two years. He was the replacement head coach of the Bruins from 1986-1989. The Bruins retired his #24 jersey on October 24, 2002.

O'Reilly was known for being a tough player, racking up over 200 penalty minutes in five consecutive seasons. He was referred to as "Taz" in reference to the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character for his hard driving style of play. He was very protective of his teammates. On top of his physical presence, he also had a decent scoring touch, displaying an excellent balance of grit and scoring that any hockey General Manager would cherish.

At the Expo, O’Reilly will welcome photographs, autographs and connecting with attendees. We encourage sports and music fans to come meet our celebrities, and the community at large to visit our event and shop with local businesses and vendors.

The spirit of the local business community is directly reflected in the initiatives of its Chamber of Commerce.  The Greater Salem, NH, and Greater Haverhill, MA, Chambers recognize and appreciate that the regions of Southern NH and Northern MA, when working together, provide great opportunity and access to local business and the communities they serve.

To sign up as an exhibitor, please contact either chamber: Greater Haverhill at 978-373-5663 or Greater Salem at 603-893-3177.

The Cross Border Expo would not be possible without our sponsors. Platinum Sponsor: Pentucket Bank; Silver Sponsors: Haverhill Bank, Holy Family Hospital, Trinity EMS, Spectrum Marketing; Radio Media Partner: Frank FM 106.3; Celebrity Sponsor: Supercuts; Media Sponsor: The Eagle-Tribune; Host Sponsor: Northern Essex Community College; and In-Kind Sponsors: Conte Electric and Haverhill Community Television.

The Greater Haverhill and Greater Salem Chambers of Commerce create and foster a prosperous business environment and support the growth and profitability of their members, providing the resources, advocacy, information, networking and marketing opportunities for members’ success.