www.roanoke.com

Here's a release from Mike Stevens with the City of Salem about the changing of the guard at the Salem Police Department: 

For the first time in 16 years the City of Salem has a new Police Chief. Jeff Dudley, a 32-year veteran of the department, was appointed to the position on August 12 by City Manager Kevin Boggess. This morning Dudley officially assumed his new post after receiving a handshake and a pat on the back from outgoing Chief James Bryant."I appreciate the confidence the City Manager and City Council have shown in me for this position," says Dudley. "The Salem Police Department has very dedicated and qualified individuals working for it and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to lead them. I cannot express in words how this opportunity feels."

Bryant, Boggess and a number of family members took part in the official badge pinning ceremony that also featured the swearing in of new Deputy Chief Tim Guthrie, who has been an integral part of the Salem PD for 28 years.

In addition to the appointments of Dudley and Guthrie, the following officers also were promoted today:

Sergeant Michael H. Brightwell to Lieutenant
Mike joined the department on August 21, 1989. Mike was promoted to Senior Police Officer in December 1992 and worked in Patrol and in the Detective Division, both in the Special Investigations Unit and as a General Investigator. Mike also serves on the department Emergency Response Team (ERT). Mike was promoted to Sergeant in June 2006 and assigned to a patrol division supervisor where he has worked until this time.Mike graduated from Salem High School and resides in Roanoke County with his wife, Tina, and son, Michael.

SPO Mike Mills to Sergeant
Mike joined the department on November 9, 1998, after spending approximately 2 years with the Martinsville Police Department. Mike was promoted to Senior Police Officer in April 2002 and held assignments as a General Investigator. He is currently assigned to patrol and serves as a field training officer. Mike graduated from Salem High School and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Radford University. Mike resides in Salem.

SPO Derek Weeks to Sergeant
Derek joined the department January 8, 2001, after serving 4 years at the Roanoke City Sheriff's Office.

Derek was promoted to Senior Police Officer March 2005 and has spent the last 3and a half years in the Detective Division as a General Investigator. Derek was selected by his peers as Officer of the Year 2007.

Derek graduated from Glenvar High School and obtained his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Radford University. Derek resides in Salem with his wife, Brenda, and sons, Conner and Dylan.

A rezoning application has been filed to rezone 0.349 acre from R-1, Low Density Residential District to I-1C, Low Intensity Industrial District with Conditions, for the purpose of expanding an existing cabinet shop, located at 8529 Wood Haven Road, Catawba Magisterial District.

The Ronk Rezoning Community Meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Roanoke County School Board Administrative Board Room. Please visit www.roanokecountyva.gov/pzcommtg for more meeting information. For any other questions, contact Susan Carter at 540-772-2068 or at planning@roanokecountyva.gov.

The Junior Honor Association at Salem High School inducted members Thursday morning. Cathy Sargent shares these photos from the ceremony, which you can view in the slideshow above or in this gallery format.

Do you have photos involving people or events around Salem? If so, you can share at news@sosalem.com.

OTHER RECENT SALEM HIGH SCHOOL COVERAGE:
* Nov. 6: Salem High Schoolers help others during Red Ribbon Week
* Nov. 3: Salem High School wrestling coach dresses up for Halloween
* Nov. 2: Photos from Salem - Hidden Valley football
* Oct. 31: Video highlights from Salem - Hidden Valley football
* Oct. 28: Photos from Salem JV volleyball vs. Hidden Valley
* Oct. 27: Photos of a good catch for Salem JV football
* Oct. 26: More photos from Salem's three overtime football win over Christiansburg
* Oct. 26: Photos from Salem cheerleaders in district competition
* Oct. 26: Photos from Salem varsity volleyball vs. Christiansburg
* Oct. 26: Photos from the Salem-Christiansburg JV volleyball game
* Oct. 26: Photos from the Salem-Christiansburg football game -- with 3 overtimes!
* Oct. 21: Two videos -- plus photos -- of Salem volleyball vs. Blacksburg
* Oct. 19: Photos of Salem football vs. Blacksburg

Salem's Living Well Church of the Nazarene has a member with a God-given talent, and he's looking to help his church grow by putting it to use. Bill Dalton, a retired barber with a knack for woodworking, is hoping to sell his handmade pie safes for a billboard lease and to put towards their building fund."We're looking to expand to another location," said Dalton. "We have lots of children and members in their 30s and 40s. I don't know when we'll go, but the Lord will give us a place somewhere."

So he's doing what he knows best in order to help.

"Even as a child I'd pick up a board and make a bench or a box or something," he said. He made most of the furniture for the home he shares with his wife of 60 years, Freddie, and says that he can make just about anything you'd see at a furniture store or an antique mall as long as he has a sketch or a picture and some measurements.

The only formal training he's had was at his high school woodworking class. He's a member of the Blue Ridge Woodturners and the American Association of Woodturners. He started making furniture at the request of other people when a Snap-On Tools representative saw his work and asked Dalton to make him a cedar rocking chair.

Dalton grew up in West Virginia in a small town between Bluefield and Welch. In 1943, his family moved to Floyd, Virginia just before he went to be a machinist in the Navy at age 17. But even before the Daltons moved out of coal mining country, he knew that he didn't want to have anything to do with the deadly profession that his neighbors and family were in.

"I wrote an essay in high school that I could be a barber and move anywhere that I wanted to. I wouldn't have to worry about coal dust and so forth," he said. So after he left the navy in 1947, he went to barber's school in Roanoke and then ended up working in Bill Littrell's barber shop on Main Street in Salem where Macado's stands now.

Life in Salem drew him in even as a boy, when he came first to visit Lakeside Amusement Park and then came for a boy scout camping trip at Dixie Caverns.

Dalton is giving all of the proceeds from his woodworking to the Living Well Church of the Nazarene in Salem. For more information or to order a pie safe, call Dalton at 389-0581. He can also do custom work that will also go towards the church.

Sheryl and Hugh Huff from Salem

We have photos of some of the Salem people who were at last weekend's Lyle Lovett concert at the Roanoke Civic Center -- at left and below.

These photos come from Hank Ebert. You can see his entire gallery here.

As always, if you have photos involving people from Salem, you can share at news@sosalem.com.
Read more »

The Salvation Army of Roanoke has extended the application deadline for its Christmas assistance programs. Anyone experiencing a financial hardship and needing assistance with food, clothing and children's toys this Christmas can apply at The Salvation Army Community Center, located at 724 Dale Avenue SE in Roanoke, Mondays and Tuesdays at 9 a.m. The deadline to apply is Monday, Nov. 30.

Applicants must bring the following items:
1. Picture ID
2. Social security cards for everyone in the household
3. Birth certificates for children ages 12 and under
4. Proof of income and expenses
5. Children's ages and clothing sizes
6. A letter explaining why you need help.
For more information, call (540) 966-7260 or visit www.salvationarmyroanokeva.org.
The Salvation Army also needs volunteers to help with Christmas programs. Contact Robin Sligh at (540) 343-5335 ext. 108 or robin_sligh@uss.salvationarmy.org.

About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination since 1865. Nearly 33 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. Approximately 83 cents of every dollar raised is used to support those services.

Submitted by The Salvation Army of Roanoke, Tricia Musslewhite

ROANOKE – Meg Swecker, instructional technology resource teacher for Roanoke County Public Schools, has received the 2009 Virginia Technology Leadership Award from the Virginia Department of Education. Swecker also was recognized as the Region Six Educational Technology Leadership Award winner. The awards were presented Oct. 30 during the annual Educational Technology Leadership Conference in Richmond.

The Educational Technology Leadership Awards, presented annually, acknowledge outstanding school division leadership in education technology planning and implementation. Division superintendents in each of VDOE’s eight study regions select individuals for the award. Recipients are chosen for their success in helping school divisions improve teaching and learning through the use of instructional media and technology.

“Meg is completely committed to teaching technology to our students,” said Roanoke County Public Schools Director of Technology, Dr. Jane James. “She strives to help teachers integrate technology into everyday lessons to enhance and expand learning,” James said.

The residents of Bentwood Court (North Oaks Subdivision) took their annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Looks like they had a blast!
Send your photos to news@sosalem.com.

Submitted by Jodie Brammer

Allyson Fasnacht experienced something not many folks get to do at the early hour of 6 a.m. on September 11 of this year. She carried the Nevada state flag in the largest hot air balloon event in the nation: the Great Reno Balloon Race."It was easily one of the coolest things I've done," she wrote in an email. "I was in the second balloon to go up - carrying the state flag of Nevada, going right up after the balloon carrying the American flag. It was a lot of fun and I got some really neat pictures."

The event draws more than 100 balloons each year, lasting several days and providing many unique competitions and shows in the air for the 140,000-plus people that show up, as well as lots of educational events and entertainment on the ground.

Fasnacht graduated from Glenvar High School in 2003 and from Liberty University in 2007. She played basketball through her senior year at Liberty. After helping coach the Highlanders briefly, she took an opportunity during the 2008-2009 season to be an assistant coach to the Lady Paladins at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. She is now a graduate assistant for the women's basketball team at the University of Nevada and is pursuing a master's degree in educational leadership.

She shares these photos in the slideshow above. To see the gallery in a traditional format with captions for each picture, click here.

If you went trick-or-treating at Steve and Barbara Krzysko's house this Halloween, you not only got candy -- you got your photo taken.

Barbara Krzysko shares this photo gallery of some of the folks who came to her door. Here we see Laura and Micah West, who likely qualifies as the youngest trick-or-treater of the night!

Do you have Halloween photos from around Salem? If so, you can share at news@sosalem.com.