We asked folks in Salem and western Roanoke County to send us photos from their Thanksgiving get-togethers – and Barbara Krzysko has come through with this one.

“Here’s a picture of our Thanksgining dinner,” Barbara tells us in an e-mail. “Family and friends-so much to be thankful for.” And then she adds: “Steve couldn’t wait to get started.” No wonder — it looks good!

Do you have a photo from your Thanksgiving? Doesn’t have to be the dinner itself, any family photo taken this weekend will do. You can share at news@sosalem.com just like Barbara did.

This in from Ken Nienke, pastor at Fellowship Community Church, about their skydiving adventure/fundraiser in late October:

We have raised $20,596.50 for getting Fellowship Community Church members on the missions field! Just like a walk-a-thon, we decided to have those who attend FCC to gain sponsors for skydiving at 10,000 feet in the air. A commitment of a penny per foot equated to $100.00 for missions. The idea came up when I was gone in September to Zambia by our Student Pastor Jon Laughinghouse, who “volunteered” me to jump when I got back home. We had a total of 25 jumpers that participated over two weekends at Carolina Skydiving just over the North Carolina line off of I-77. Damon Simmers coordinated all the logistics of the trip and single-handedly raised over $5,000 from business contacts in the community. One of our participating “jumpers” was … Margaret Stultz who is 74 years old!

Do you have news for So Salem? You can send yours in to news@sosalem.com and we’ll post it up right here on the Notebook!

Photo: Bill and Ken pre-skydive.

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Just in case anyone has forgotten how cold it was last Friday night in Pulaski for Salem’s playoff game, well, that’s how cold it was. For those of you who stayed home and stayed warm — or were so busy trying to keep warm up in the stands you missed some of the action — we have a photo gallery from the action.

If those photos don’t make you feel cold, this might: This week’s issue is our Winter Sports Issue. In it, you’ll find team photos and schedules from Salem and Glenvar high schools. You’ll notice Glenvar has official team photos already, Salem doesn’t — we’ll come back with those when they’re ready.

As we always do each week, we have more online than we can squeeze into print. Here’s this week’s guide to those online extras:

* Alan Seibert’s Hokie Victory Turkey Barbeque recipe
* More on Seibert’s trip to India with other school superintendents
* Fan photos from the Vince Gill concert at the Salem Civic Center (You can share yours, too!)
* Photo of Salem’s first snow of the season (and this is a good time to make a request: Come the next snow, and surely it will come, be sure to take some photos and share at news@sosalem.com)
* South Salem Elementary’s “wall of families”
* Photos of Salem people at The Stocked Market
* Another photo of Christine Wright’s cat making nice with a deer (or is it the other way around?)
* More autumn photos from around Salem and western Roanoke County
* The poem “The Place that Proudly Bore Us” by Roanoke College professor Melanie Almeder, quoted in Emily Paine Carter’s community column this week

AND IN SPORTS . . .
* More photos from the Salem-Pulaski football game
* Salem girls score well in gymnastics competition

Speaking of sports . . . if you’re at sporting events involving teams or players from Salem or Glenvar, take some photos (you probably will anyway, right?) and share them with us at news@sosalem.com.

And, since it’s Thanksgiving, and you’ll likely have the whole family gathered ’round the table, why not take a family photo and share that with us, too?

For more information on us — and how to advertise and reach more than 90 percent of the households in Salem and western Roanoke County – see below:

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Roanoke County Parks and Recreation’s Denise Pully sent this release out to round up some volunteers for the annual holiday event (Held Dec. 31 in Vinton). Keep reading for the details:

Enchanted Eve is Roanoke County’s alcohol-free, community inspired, New Year’s Eve celebration, which provides a wide range of alternative possibilities to the traditional New Year’s revelry. The many community-based events reflect activities and entertainment for all ages to enjoy. Children, teens, adults and the young at heart can be sure to find the perfect activity and way to celebrate the evening. The streets of Vinton and various buildings are all used to carry out different venues and activities most of which are held inside and with a cruise ship theme. You will find activities and entertainment galore!

Community volunteers play a huge roll in helping to facilitate and manage this magnificent event. While there are many businesses and organizations that make invaluable contributions to our efforts, we could not succeed without individual volunteers.

If you are interested in volunteering for this unique New Year’s Eve event please contact
Wendi Schultz at 540-387-6078 ext 251 or visit www.RoanokeCountyParks.com Special
Events/Enchanted Eve and click on Volunteers & Sponsorship link.

West Salem has received a $500 grant from the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program to support its math and science programs. Mr. Harold McDaniel, Area Manager for Stop In Foods, worked with school officials to secure the grant which is one of 4,000 available to schools across the country served by Exxon or Mobil stations. The grants were made possible by funding from the Exxon Mobil Corporation.

West Salem works hard to make learning interesting and fun,” said Harold McDaniel¸whose daughter Brittney attends the school. “As an Exxon retailer, I am proud to help young people at West Salem School and in the Salem community, in general.”

The ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program is designed to provide Exxon and Mobil retailers with an opportunity to invest in the future of their communities through educational grants to neighborhood schools. Working with ExxonMobil and Stop In Foods is certainly a great example of a strong partnership between the schools and the community, stated John Millard, West Salem Principal.

The Stop In Foods stores met stringent eligibility criteria before applying for and being awarded this grant, including a commitment to provide a superior buying experience for customers.

Submitted by John Millard, West Salem Elementary principal.

Jason Aldean played at the Salem Civic Center Nov. 14, and guess where he went to relax after the show? Mac and Bob’s!

Faith Sword got this photo of Aldean, herself, and her friends with the country music star (he sings Amarillo Sky), and Ashley Kass sent them into us!

Photo, from left: Laura Smith, Faith Sword, Christina Sword, Jason Aldean, Ashley Gladden.

What’s going on in your corner of Salem? If you’ve got a photo or a news tip, send it to us at news@sosalem.com. It doesn’t have to be a major country music star showing up at your favorite watering hole, but if it happens, we want to help you share it here on the Notebook!!!

In her community column this week, Emily Paine Carter quotes from “The Place that Proudly Bore Us.” Roanoke College professor Melanie Almeder wrote the poem for the inauguration of Roanoke College President Michael Maxey. Here is the full text (be sure to click “read more”), courtesy of Roanoke College:

“The Place that Proudly Bore Us” (for President Maxey)

had brick edifices long acquainted with humility.
They were old witness to summer’s green insistence,
to the late days in October when the sugar maples blazed
yellow like some light-bearing beings. There we began

and began again, the new thought, the better idea
like a restless benediction among us. Some days
you could glance up from a desk and there were the mountains,
as vague as a blue haze. Some days, you glanced up from a book

and they looked as certain as spines, leaf-thick,
above which hawks swung in their slow loops,
along which so many years had moved. Our century
had long known that knowledge was no innocent, yoked as it could be

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This just in from Mike Stevens, Salem communications director:

In light of today’s tragic events in Mumbai, India – the much anticipated trip that educators from across the Commonwealth, including Salem School Superintendent, Dr. Alan Seibert, were scheduled to take to the country has been cancelled.”We pray for those injured and grieving and for the hearts of those so misguided and lost that they could perpetrate such acts on innocent people,” says Seibert. “As people who have answered the call to teach, our hearts go out, especially to the children.”

Seibert and seven other members of the traveling party took part in a conference call this afternoon after the events in Mumbai began to come to light. They immediately decided that it would be prudent to cancel the trip and turn their attention to helping those directly affected by the terrorist acts in India’s largest city.

“We will reach out to the schools and Indian educators who were planning to host us and offer assistance,” says Seibert. “As one of the trip sponsors, I will ask the Salem Rotary Club to consider offering assistance via Rotary International or perhaps directly to the Queens Necklace Rotary Club in Mumbai that I was scheduled to visit on Monday, but most importantly, I will pray that God’s comfort and peace will be with those in need.”

Seibert, Virginia Secretary of Education Thomas Morris and twelve other Virginia school division superintendents were scheduled to stay at the Taj Mahal hotel and visit businesses and schools in India from November 28 to December 8 to learn about how India’s economy is tied to Virginia’s and what they can do as education leaders to help Virginia’s students become more globally competitive.

Happy Thanksgiving, Salem and Glenvar. When you’ve got the family gathered ’round this holiday, you’ll likely take some photos, right? How about sharing some with us at news@sosalem.com – just let us know who’s who! We’ll share them here and try to use some in our weekly print edition, as well.

Were you at the Vince Gill concert at the Salem Civic Center last Friday?

Barbara Krzysko of Salem was and she shares another batch of fan photos from the show right here.

We had a previous post on Nov. 21 with other photos, and a link to a podcast interview with Gill himself.

Do you have photos from the show to share?

Or anything involving people or events in Salem or western Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@sosalem.com the way Barbara did.

Thanks, Barbara!