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The Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce and KIDSTUFF celebrated the grand reopening of KIDSTUFF's new location at 17 West Main Street in Salem on Monday morning, November 16. Joining in on the celebration were City Manager Kevin Boggess, Salem Councilman Bill Jones, Stephanie Garst of Roanoke College, Chamber Ambassador Alice Stoddard, as well as other Chamber members and KIDSTUFF staff and customers.

The Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce would like to congratulate KIDSTUFF on their new location and welcome them to the Chamber.

Walmart employees joined the Southwestern Second Harvest Food Bank in celebrating the Walmart corporation's donation. Photo Miranda Adkins, So Salem

Late in the workday on Wednesday, November 11, the Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank on Electric Road in Salem learned that it was about to be the recipient of a very large gift from Walmart: a large truckload of canned food and fresh apples - and they also received the large refridgerated truck worth $85,000 that hauled the food from Madison, Wisconsin!

The truck arrived on Thursday morning, November 12 to a very grateful staff of employees and volunteers. Some folks from local Walmarts were also on hand to see the big delivery.

"It's part of the nationwide giving campaign," said Scott Kirby, market entertainment merchandiser for Roanoke Valley Walmarts. The holiday giving initiative is called "Walmart Gives Back," and it will provide $32 million in monetary and in-kind donations to charitable organizations across the country. Thirty-five trucks total were donated last week.

"We know that if we're supporting the community then they are supporting Walmart," Kirby said. "It's a great relationship."

The need for food banks has risen in the last two years, as the Second Harvest Food bank can attest to. In comparing this September to September 2008, food distribution went up 41%, while their incoming supply only increased 17%. That doesn't mean that they necessarily ran out of food, but they did deplete their stores.

"Which is a horrendous increase, I know, but we were blessed to have more food to deal with the increase," said Pam Irvin, president and CEO of Second Harvest. Increases in the retail donor program have helped, as has an increase in the USDA commodities because of the farm bill that passed, she said.

And while the economic downturn has been ugly, at least one good thing has happened as a result:

As holiday parties are being cancelled or are becoming fundraisers to collect money for nonprofits and charitable organizations, the stigma hungry people have endured is now changing as fast as the face of the hungry is moving up the economic "food chain."

"People relate to and understand that the average American can have trouble putting food on their table," Irvin said. While she's received letters from previous donors who can no longer make hefty or some even any contribution, she's grateful that the general public is becoming "more sensitive to the needs of others and respond, even though they or their companys' means are shrinking."

KIDSTUFF -- whose slogan is "we pay cash for your stuff" -- held the ribbon-cutting for its grand re-opening this morning.

The store is located at 17 West Main Street in Salem.

Look for the yellow awning!

Store Phone: 540-389-9982

Submitted by Bryan K. Haley, Events Coordinator, Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce.

The impact of almost 48-hours of nearly constant rains has raised a spike in "home improvement" efforts, specifically involving wet basements and leaky roofs.

"Normal customers are rained out, but the basement-flooded people are coming in," said Eddie Hopkins, manager of Northwest True Value Hardware on West Main Street in Salem.

We have more details here.

OTHER FLOODING UPDATES:
* Colorado Street Bridge is open
* Riverside Trailer Park residents being evacuated
* Salem schools will close two hours early
* Flood warning in effect for Salem and Roanoke County

Being in the Pillis Brothers fuel and service station feels like stepping back in the past at least 30, if not 50 years. Relics of the good old stations of yesteryears gone by sit atop the shelves, and the most of the furniture is. Everything looks and feels, even smells like the good old stations of yesteryears, excepting the bright soda cooler, of course.In the late 1950s, when two of George Pillis's children attended Roanoke Catholic School, they set up a box to raise money for the bus to come all the way to Salem to pick them up. Instead of setting up the discount stamp books that were popular at the time with service stations (and still are today at some restaurants), he'd give each patron a penny for each dollar they spent to stick in the charity box if they chose.

"People started asking ‘can you put my church in,' and it started growing and growing," said the current owner, George Pillis's son, Steve. Next to the window that faces 4th street, a collection box a foot and a half deep and at least ten feet long has dozens of labels with little slits. Each label stands for a charity, church, or organization.

Each time a customer pays, whether it's $20 or $200, he opens a separate register and removes a penny for each dollar spent. When a box gets full, he changes it out and takes it over to the recipient.

"You know, you really don't miss it. It's not like we're giving a whole heck of a lot, but it adds up," he said. He'll take a couple hundred dollars over to the Salem Animal Shelter a few times each year, and to some churches and other organizations. Sometimes a box will fill up in a few months while others won't fill up for years.

"And a lot of our customers will even add their own money to it," said Steve. There's a fellow in his 70s, he said, that gives the crew an extra $5 to put in the boxes each time he fills his tank. All of the money from the drink machine outside goes to the blue boxes, too.

"A lot of folks don't know about it; we'll forget to give the money or ask them - I want people to remind us if we don't ask," Steve said.

Even in the few times that the station has been broken into in the 66 years they've been in business, Steve said, nobody ever touched the charity boxes.

George Pillis, now 90, opened up his first service station (Gulf) in Salem in 1944 where the Old Salem Country Store is now. In 1953 he moved over to where Fast Freddy's used to sit (on 4th and Main) to a Shell station, then in 1958 he went back to Gulf and moved to the corner of 4th and Union St. Pillis Brothers moved to its final location in 1963, and they're now a Pure station.

George sold his business to his son, Steve, a Glenvar High and Radford University grad, in 1999 and Steve is continuing the tradition that started with his older siblings because of a Roanoke Catholic school bus and just a few churches.

Business writer Jenny Boone has a statement from Sonic on her retail blog, The Storefront.

So what do you think? Will you miss Sonic? You can leave a comment below.

Krystal closed; so did Fuddrucker's. What is it with these burger joints in Salem?

Quinn Mongan, owner of SERVPRO of North Roanoke County, offers these safety tips for holiday cooking:

In anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday, many Salem-area cooks are busy stocking up on ingredients and perfecting family recipes. But before they mash the potatoes or roast the turkey, they will want to take precautions to ensure that their kitchen doesn't end up in flames.An unfortunate danger of home cooking, residential fires grow in prevalence during the holiday season. In fact, according to the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), Thanksgiving is the top day for home cooking fires, with more than three times the daily average of fires reportedly occurring on the holiday.

"Thanksgiving is a day filled with food and family, but it is also a day that presents many hazards to your home," said Mongan. "With multiple tasks taking place in the kitchen at once, it is all too easy for cooks to get distracted and for accidents to take place."

Mongan says that by adhering to the following tips, provided by the NFPA, Salem-area residents can lessen their chances of a fire ruining their Thanksgiving feast:

* Be present - Fires often start when items cooking are left unattended, so always stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, baking or broiling food. If you must leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the oven or stove.

* Dress accordingly - Avoid wearing loose clothing or dangling sleeves while cooking. Loose clothing can easily catch fire if it comes in contact with a gas flame or electric burner.

* Keep kids out - Enforce a "kid free zone" of three feet around the perimeter of the stove. If kids are present in the kitchen, use the stove's back burners whenever possible and turn pot handles inward to reduce the risk that pots with hot contents will be knocked over.

* Clean, clean, clean - Be sure your stove top and oven are free of grease, which can easily catch fire. Additionally, keep all combustible cooking accessories, such as pot holders, oven mitts and wooden utensils, away from the stove top.

"We recognize people have a lot on their minds when they're entertaining during the holidays, but kitchen safety really should be an utmost priority," added Mongan. "Fires only take a matter of seconds to erupt. The best defense against them is to prevent them from ever happening."

Mongan notes that if a fire should ignite in the oven, residents should turn off the oven, unplug the appliance and remove any dish towels that may be hanging on the front of the oven door. A fire extinguisher should always be at hand to quickly extinguish any fires that may occur on the top of the stove. Of course, in the event of an emergency, Mongan says that residents should never hesitate to call 911.

In the event of damage caused by a residential fire, SERVPRO of North Roanoke County offers an assortment of services to help local residents quickly recover and restore any damaged property. Within four hours of the initial notification, a SERVPRO Franchise Professional will be on-site to start the mitigation process. Exceptions may apply under certain conditions.

For more information about SERVPRO of North Roanoke County, please contact
Quinn Mongan at (540) 375-8985.

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Carol Morehart, right, and her sister Joyce

Carole Morehart of Salem sends us details of her adventurous trip that will get any savvy-shopper's head spinning with dreams of summer yardsales and yearnings for Black Friday:

My sister Joyce and I set out on Wednesday, August 5 to the biggest yard sale in America: a 4-day, 654 mile extravaganza that stretches from Ohio to Alabama along a single road. (When Joyce saw it in the May 31 "Parade," she said "Let's GO!!!")

We drove directly to Chatanooga, Tennessee, using the GPS. Our motel was not in the greatest part of town, but outside the window we saw Rt. 27 that we were to take to Rt. 127, so off we went the next day.

We encountered many sales on Signal Mtn., only later to realize the 4 hours we spent in that area were mostly antique dealers, and not many bargains! Also parking was at a premium - alway salong a narrow road and one such area we parked a half a mile from the sale. As the day wore on we realized we didn't have lodging for the night, and bypassed a lot of great sales to get to Crossville - about 40 miles away ... We were stuck in  a very large traffic jam, and realized we should call ahead (remember, we're over 65 and new at this) so we found the last room in a Best Western and reserved it for two nights. We were tired and only covered about 20 miles of shopping, but we spent the night and got up early only to realize we were in a different time zone - instead of 6:30 a.m., it was 5:30 a.m.

After breakfast at the hotel, we drove back down Rt. 127 where we left off the day before - and proceeded north, feeling better that we had a secured room for the night - each day we were in the HOT Tennessee sun and spent a good eight hours shopping. We decided that night to reserve one more night there and travel north as far as we could make it the next day.

We discovered in the northern section, there were numerous field parking areas and port-a-potties, and several fundraising food areas that we hadn't encountered on the first two days. So all in all, we traveled about 100 miles in 3 days and we'd had enough.

Sunday morning, we checked out to find the hotel had refunded the third night stay. That made us happy. Crossville is right on I40, which turns into I81, so we had a direct shoot back to Salem - except we saw a Smoky Mountain flea market along the road and HAD to stop. We spent a good two-plus hours there before arriving home.

My sister is from Pennsylvania and wanted to shop in the Salem area on Monday, so we went to the area antique shops and malls and found more here than we did on the "Biggest Yard Sale in America." That doesn't mean we wouldn't do it again - the fun and fellowship we had together was priceless.

ps. If we decide to do it again we could stay one night in Crossville, head north and get a room in the Lexington, Kentucky area and explore further north. We'll see!

Despite the chilliness and misting rain, we were pleased with the turnout for this 1st time event. We had 68 children to stop by along with several adults that donated candy and took time to sign Christmas cards for the troops. We collected almost 300 lbs of candy. The feedback we received from the parents and the community was very positive. Dr. Wallace has indicated that we will make this a yearly event. We had a brownie Girl Scout troop stop by to donate their candy to help with earning one of their required merit badges. The average candy donated was 3-4 lbs per child with 8 lbs being the largest amt collected by a single child and ¼ lbs being the smallest amt collected.Dr. Wallace spent the afternoon talking to the children and parents and doing interviews with the media.

The "Tooth Fairy" aka Martina Slusser a 10th grade student at Glenvar High School spent the afternoon greeting/talking to the children and passing out goodie bags to each child that donated the candy. (There are a couple of pics of the tooth fairy with Snookums and one of the tooth fairy and her mom, Melanie who works for Dr. Wallace)

Snookums the Clown aka Lorain Myer spent the afternoon entertaining the children, passing out clown stickers and working the Christmas card table encouraging all the children to sign a card for our troops.

We would like to thank the following businesses that made monetary contributions or by donating prizes: Elderberry's, Lee Hi Lanes,McDonalds,Henry BBQ,Salem Donut Shop, Salem Ice Cream Parlor, Skate Center, Salon Capelli,Salem Police Department, Papa Johns in Salem, Salem Red Sox, Salem YMCA,DJ's Dental Lab, Blue Ridge Orthodontic Lab. Snookums for providing entertainment and Salem Printing Company for printing our flyers and posters.

Submitted by Melanie Slusser at Dr. Caroline Wallace DDS's dentistry office

Beth Carson shares the weekly market report:

Salem Farmers Market

October 30, 2009

Today on the Market: Your favorite growers are with us today and they have lots of fresh fall produce to choose from! Today’s items include:

Fruits and Vegetables: tomatoes, butter beans, green peppers, onions, eggplants, turnips, acorn squash, butternut squash, Crenshaw squash, potatoes, beautiful Bent Mtn. cabbage, mustard/kale/collard greens, and sweet potatoes. Lots of freshly picked local apples!

Other Items: Fresh local honey, and chow-chow. Also, Indian corn, corn stalks, hay bales, and several varieties of pumpkins to grace any front door!

Tomorrow : Rain or Shine we will be open! Customers can expect to find the above produce along with the following delicious items:

Baked goodies: Artisan breads, cakes, cookies, pies, yeast rolls, fried pies, freshly baked cinnamon rolls, muffins, scones, jams, and jellies. Yes, Mrs. Chappell will be bringing her now famous fried pies!

Meats: Highland farms will be offering hormone free and antibiotic free grass finished beef.

Other goodies: Fresh local honey, garlic products, Flowerpot bread, soup mixes, and cat and doggie treats.

Crafts: Yellow Mountain Crafts will be on the market this morning with homemade soaps (try the Magnolia Blossom!), lotions, and scented sprays to freshen up linens and other areas of the home.

Gardening: Fall is for planting! Check out Accent Nursery’s line of beautiful shrubs!

Pumpkinfest this weekend!
Saturday, 31st - "Pumpkinfest" - Salem Farmers Market, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Presented by Salem Parks & Recreation and Q99-FM .

Admission: $1, kids wearing costumes get in free. Trick or treating on Main Street will be held from 10 - 11 a.m., Valleydale hotdogs and chips from Frito Lay will be served throughout the day. Come take a walk through our Chefs vs. Surgeons Jack O' Lantern patch and vote for your favorite!! There will also be carnival games, a pumpkin give-away, costume contest, hay rides, and a pumpkin auction where all proceeds will benefit C.H.I.P. (Child Health Investment Partnership)