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We have a photo gallery of 50 photos of the Salem Nationals All-Star team that participated this past weekend (and again tonight) in the Dixie Baseball tournament at Walrond Park in Roanoke County. This particular game was against the Bedford Lakes All-Star team.

At left: One, two, three, Salem!

Photos by Jeff Marvin

Do you have sports photos involving teams or players from Salem or western Roanoke County? If so, you can share them at news@sosalem.com

Joe Cundiff stepped up to fill Edward "Skip" Lautenshlager's position as President of Salem Rotary on June 27.

The club meets once a week as well as volunteering and raising money for vaccinations abroad, bringing canes and braille-capable technology worldwide, and other worthy causes. The worldwide organization is well-known for its efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. Salem Rotary hosts the ODAC Division III basketball tournament at the Salem Civic Center.

Other appointed officers include:

Aaron Garber, President-Elect
Janis Augustine, Secretary
Jim Laub, Assistant Secretary
Chuck Kiser, Treasurer
John Watkins, Assistant Treasurer

Our last post about Rotary was here.

The Salem-Roanoke Chamber of Commerce held a well attended ribbon-cutting on June 27 for Alli Pickle’s new Farmers Insurance Office in the Spartan Square Courtyard. The office opened earlier in June.

Pickle is a graduate of Salem High School and attended Roanoke College, where she studied business. While she plans to complete her degree, her career with Farmers is on the fast track. “It’s just been kind of like drinking out of a fire hose, but I’ve learned a lot,” she said.

Her father has been with the company for 12 years, and “it was just something that I felt I wanted to do.”

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There's a story over on our Southwest Roanoke County site that mentions some good works by the Salem Rotary Club. The Salem Rotarians donated $6,000 to a project to help dig water wells in Zambia. For more on the project, click here.

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You'll recall we recently invited folks to send in their summer photos and tell us about their plans this summer. Well, here's what some in Salem are doing -- and their travels have put them on the map. Our So Salem Summer '08 map, that is!

(You may need to click the map around a bit, because at least one Salemite is over in Europe!)

So what are you doing? Send us your photos and tell us and we'll put you on the map, too.

You might also like this photo gallery of people we've talked to about their 4th of July plans.

Crystal Pruett sent in this picture of her son, Cole. We've added it to our photo gallery of Fellowship Community Day.

She writes: Cole Pruett, age 2, is in hog heaven as he sits on a Harley Davidson at Fellowship Church's Community Day. A local biker group had their blessed motorcycles on display at this event. Cole is the son of Crystal and Randy Pruett.

You can send us a picture of a family outing, just like Crystal did! Just let us know who's in the picture, what's going on, and the ages and/or schools of the kids in the pic!

Email it to news@sosalem.com, or drop it off in our box--affixed to our newsstand at the front of Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea in Salem!

For 12 years, Darlene Marshall, a teacher at South Salem Elementary, and Mike Gibson, the Salem High School art teacher, have helped put together the Salem Art Camp. It's a refuge for elementary and middle school students who want to take a break from the sun to foster their creativity.

Elementary-age kids learn about artists and time periods and are given a little instruction. "What are the names of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?," Marshall asked. One project included a book about Renaissance artists, and then the kids sculpted their very own turtle.

Middle school students are given freedom to work on projects just like high schoolers would, learning life skills for art. "They're not being forced on them, they can kind of experiment and adventure," Gibson said.

First photo: Caleb Underwood, right, and Sarah Tooley, left, learn to draw to scale and stylize. Second photo (courtesy of Mike Gibson): Christopher Clemens focuses on his sculpture. That's Emily Bell on the left.

Click here for more pictures of Salem Art Camp 2008, including some from Gibson.

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Can you believe June is almost over? Our latest issue of So Salem comes out Friday, destined to reach more than 90 percent of the households in Salem and western Roanoke County. (How do we do that? See below. And if you’d like to find out how you can advertise in So Salem to reach all those households, click here for retail advertising or click here for classifieds.)

We update this site multiple times a day on weekdays, and sometimes on weekends, so think of this as your site for daily coverage of Salem and western Roanoke County.

Meanwhile, in the June 27 issue, you’ll see several places where we direct folks online for more photos or other coverage. Here’s a guide to our . . .

SPECIAL ONLINE EXTRAS

* Photos from Salem’s Relay for Life
* Update on how much Salem’s relay raised
* Two taken to hospital after gas leak in Salem
* Salem names all-star softball team to face Olympians July 24
* Salem Senior Mountain Pickers draw a crowd
* Glenvar grad Adam Clark leads Boston-based band, The Superpowers
* Another photo from the doll’s tea party
* Photos and coverage of Knit in Public Day at Lake Spring Park
* Parent photos from Glenvar graduation. (And it’s not too late to send yours, too. We’ll take ‘em at news@sosalem.com)
* Video from Senior World Cup softball in Salem

Finally, some shout-outs: Send us your summer photos! Click here to find out more. And high school grads, you can still write your graduation blurb about your plans and we’ll publish it for free. Click here to find out more about that.

Want to find out how to get other news and photos in So Salem? Keep reading below!

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That's what we asked 12 people in Salem this week. You can check 'em out in our photo gallery.

Among the folks we talked to were Ross Hart and Susan Proctor, producing this memorable exchange:

Ross: "I’m tempted to sit by the pool, drink mint Juleps, and stay the hell off the streets."
Susan: "I think I’ll do the same."
Ross: "I’d like to note that good bourbon, a key ingredient in mint juleps, is now cheaper than gas!"

Photos by Tiffany Gibson

Others we talked to were Fred Campbell, Mark Novak, J.R. Shelor, Katherine Hoffman, Wanda Hayes, Tony Weaver, Mark Lucas, Allan Fashnact.

So what are you doing? You can leave your comments below.

Forty eight test drives and a car wash by Glenvar High School students added up to success for the fundraiser, organized by Berglund Ford on East Main in Salem.

We have a photo gallery of 11 photos from the event.

Here's the complete press release:

The June 21st Cruise 4 UR School fundraiser sponsored by Ford and Berglund Ford here in Salem raised $1, 251 for Glenvar High School. The one-day event invited people to test drive an assortment of 2008 Ford products and for every individual who participated, Ford and Berglund Ford donated $20 to Glenvar High School.

“The money raised will go a long way in helping us take care of our students,” said Kevin Clifford, Football Coach of Glenvar High School.

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