We were SO LATE for our noon tour and called to let Tom know. He was extremely understanding and reassuring. He did wait for us but we didn't want to hold up the tour group any longer (really, we were SO LATE) so we met up with them at Charter Street Cemetery.
If you're driving to Salem, bring quarters for parking or be ready to spend a few minutes paying with your credit card on your phone.
At the cemetery, Tom very kindly reintroduced himself and Salem to the group. He tried to explain things in terms and with analogies that everyone could understand, which I appreciated. My oldest child's takeaway from the day was that John Hathorne was like the Bowser of the Salem witch trials.
Tom demonstrated a very large body of deep knowledge about events in Salem, spanning from the late 1600s to the present day. As we missed the first part of the tour (entirely our fault), it's possible that he did discuss what life was like before the Puritans arrived. If not, I would encourage him to add that info. He was well known throughout the town by locals.
To other parents of young elementary age children, I would give the parts of the tour we heard a PG rating. It included mild adult language (hell, damn, sucked meaning was bad) and some references to violence in the historical context (nothing too gory or detailed - I think Tom was reading his audience well, my kids are not into gore or creepy stuff). My kids didn't have any questions to ask but I did and Tom addressed each pretty comprehensively. There was a discussion of The Satanic Temple's efforts to ensure the separation of church and state in the US which was way over my kids' heads because they're younger. They liked Tom's advice about dealing with bullies, though.
In the middle of the tour, my kids suddenly needed to go to the bathroom. (Of course!) Tom directed us to the Visitor Center. He continued the tour around the block and SO KINDLY waited for us outside the Visitor Center to continue the tour.
My kids' favorite part of the tour was at the Bewitched statue because they like the TV series. They were stunned that children just a few decades ago attacked a witch who moved to town.
I feel like if you sat down to a meal with Tom to discuss Salem history, it would be a very educational and quality conversation. I think that if Tom and/or TST put together a kid-oriented tour of Salem it could be quite popular, too.
Thanks for showing us around, Tom!