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Lauren Markey and Emily Richardson go up for a rebound. Photo by Garland Gay, special to So Salem

We have photos from the third-place game on Tuesday at the Lady Terriers Christmas Classic, in which Salem played Cave Spring: click here for scenes from the tournament's last day by photographer Garland Gay. Salem won the game 42-25.

To read more on the last two games of the tournament, click here for the story on varsity.roanoke.com. And here is the link to an earlier post with photos from the Salem girls' win over Northside in the early round of the tournament on Saturday.

Clay Rathburn, an amateur-going-professional motorcycle builder who lives in the Masons Cove area, is growing in his skills both as a bike builder and in his writing about the two-wheeled hot rods since his debut earlier this year. He entered a reconstructed 1958 BSA in a contest for the magazine "The Horse" for beginning pros earlier in 2008, and won first place accolades for the beauty (pictured). So Salem featured him in a neighbors article May 30, 2008.

The recognition from the contest and from his frequent contributions to online bike-rebuilding forums has paid off with several of his articles being published in "The Iron Horse" (a different magazine than the one mentioned above).

"There's a lot of bikes that are historically significant 'buried' right around this area," Rathburn said. Later he anticipates a little more travel for future assignments, but for right now, his articles feature local to semi-local historic bikes. "The Iron Horse" is available at local Barnes and Noble book stores and at Books-a-Million.

His 1958 BSA is still up for sale, and he's working on a 1970 Triumph. While the first bike is up for sale and display on Ebay, folks can also check out what he's currently working on at www.atombombcustom.com.

Perfecting Unity Church under the leadship of Pastor Thomas Bibby will be hosting a trip to Israel, September 7 - 17, 2009. For further details please contact Min. Lillie Bryant (540-265-5995).

The Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce its 2009 Board of Directors.

Officers:
Bill Jones, President, HomeTown Bank
Carol Chappell, 1st Vice President, Lewis-Gale Medical Center
Compton Biddle, 2nd Vice President, Osterhoudt Prillaman Natt Helscher Yost Maxwell & Ferguson
Dave Prosser, Treasurer, Freedom First Federal Credit Union
Debbie Kavitz, Secretary and Executive Director, Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce
Dennis Hudson, Past President, Timber Truss Housing Systems

Directors:
Teri Atkins, Salem Parks & Recreation
Lew Bishop, National College
Anne Booze, WFIR, WSLC, WXLK, WVBE
Matthew Churchill, BB&T
John Dudley, Residence Inn by Marriott
Stephanie Garst, Roanoke College
Carey Harveycutter, Salem Civic Center
Penny Hodge, Roanoke County Schools
Diane Hyatt, Roanoke County
John Katz, Salem Red Sox
Denise King, Lawyers Title
Sean Pressman, Medical Facilities of America
Wayne Strickland, Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission
Donna Tatum, Express Employment Professionals
Mava Wingate, OneBeacon Insurance
Carl York, Kroger

Here's a release from the city regarding some temporary water service cutoffs:

WATER SYSTEM REPAIR
Water service on West Carrollton Ave. from Highfield Rd. to its end, and along Douglas Court, McDowell Dr., and Pendleton Dr. will be temporarily shut off from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Friday, Jan. 2, 2009.

This disruption in service is to make a repair in the City's water system.

The Ayers weren't the only family who had a home on the Salem Museum's 2008 Holiday Homes tour, but they did enjoy being a part of it. Volunteers from the Salem Historical Society directed guests through the homes while sharing historical facts and showing off still present original features. The hostess, Margretha VanDike, has even started an extensive genealogy of the home's first owner, Charles Bruffey Strickler.

"To be honest, we weren't here, but getting ready for it was the challenge," said homeowner Mitzi Ayers and her husband, Steve. "Ellisa was excited, she thought it was really neat. Tyler was fine with it, but Brandon was a little reserved," said Mitzi. "Kayla likes the history and the charm of the home," but she was away at the University of Virginia. Their home was one of the five residences on the 2008 Salem Museum Holiday Homes Tour.

While remodeling the home, the family has kept many of the original features intact. The original slate roof, all of the original oak floors and woodwork (except for the kitchen and servants' steps made of pine), and the Jeffersonian Porch.

"I think it represents his, at that time, the wealth and the status that he had in the woodwork and the details," said Steve. "But there was a certain conservative side to him, too ... like the banisters in other homes [of the time] are very ornate ... quality is what he was concerned with. It's a well made house."

Strickler was the descendant of German immigrants in Pennsylvania. He was born in 1879 in Salem and built the home at 646 East Main in 1919. A prominent citizen of early century Salem, Strickler served as one of the town's first 12 firemen in 1906, was a meat merchant with a place of business at 203 East Main, sparked the move to create the first Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce, helped to establish a cemetery where Sherwood Memorial Park is now, and he even served on city council. He lived until 1952.

The family has repurposed and even replaced some necessary things, like an outdated kitchen, but the original structure and layout as well as even the original wooden parlor doors, are still the same.

"It gives you the opportunity to think about the nostalgia of the family life of Salem," said Mitzi Ayers. Their house "was the first thing they [travelers] saw once they crested the hill on the road into Salem."

To learn more about Salem History, visit The Salem Museum's website.

Annie Lin sends us a few more photos of her and son, Jerry Wu's, holiday fun!

Are you still in the process of downloading, sorting, or printing your holiday photos? If there's one that you think "Hey, I could've sent that one in to So Salem to go with all the other Christmas pictures!," then I've got news for you! It's not too late!

Send your yuletide pics to news@sosalem.com and we'll post 'em up here and in an upcoming edition of So Salem!

Laura Tucker sent in these photos and message to us: "Here is Carson Tucker with his new drum set his Uncle Pat gave him. Luckily it's not a very loud one!"

Do you have any Christmas photos that you would like to submit? If so, send them to us at news@sosalem.com!

Below is a release from Mike Stevens, city of Salem spokesman, about the opening of the new recycling center. To see a recent post about how the city of Salem's recycling works, click here.

"The City of Salem and Walwart are joining forces to help citizens "Go Green" in 2009. The Walmart Super Store on West Main St. is set to become the latest site for one of the city's recycling drop-off centers beginning on January 5th. Salem residents will be able to recycle newspaper, aluminum cans, steel cans, and number 1 and 2 plastics at the new center that will be located in the west end of the Walmart parking lot.

"We think this is a win-win situation for Walmart, the city and the residents," says Chris Forbes, the manager of the West Salem Walmart. "We have over 360 associates at our store and they are excited to be involved with this initiative."

Salem used to have a newspaper only drop-off site in Spartan Square several years ago, but this will be the first time the city has had a full service recycling center on the west end of the city.

"Without Walmart we would have had to lease property in the area, and then to develop it and set it up could have cost us about $30,000 or more," says Jim Fender, Salem's Director of Solid Waste. "The entire Walmart Corporation has initiated a "Green" policy and we're excited about this partnership."

Salem's Solid Waste Department will furnish recycling bins similar to the ones currently used at the Indiana St. site. The city also will handle any necessary signage and the maintenance of the facility, while Walmart will provide the location and the built-in consumer traffic.

"We want to make an impact on the community and we think people will like the idea of being able to come to Walmart to drop off their recyclables and make their purchases in one stop," says Forbes.

Fender, Forbes and several members of Salem City Council will be in attendance when the drop-off center is formally opened at 2pm on Monday, January 5th."

Choirs take part in Epcot's Candlelight Processional

One of the highlights of the holidays at Walt Disney World is the nightly Candlelight Processional at the America Gardens Theatre at Epcot. This performance brings choirs from across the nation together with celebrated entertainers and performers including the well-known Voices of Liberty from Epcot's American Adventure attraction.

During the Candlelight Processional, the Christmas Story is told through words spoken by a celebrity narrator and music sung by the mass choir.

On December 13, nearly 50 members of the Cave Spring and Glenvar high school choirs traveled to Epcot to take part in two shows of the Candlelight Processional before standing-room-only crowds.

Monique Coleman from the wildly popular "High School Musical" movies was the guest narrator.

Submitted by Chuck Lionberger