Here are some sights and sounds (of honking horns!) from Roanoke County’s Touch-A-Truck event on Saturday at Green Hill Park.  You can view the photos and videos in the slideshow above, or in a different view here.

In the heat, the Fireman’s Foam pit and water spray from the Fort Lewis Fire Department were a big hit, as were the refrigerated trucks from US Foodservice and the Red Cross disaster relief kitchen.  Kids of all sizes enjoyed the huge variety of trucks, buses, armored vehicles, cranes, big rigs, tractors, and just about any kind of truck-related vehicle you could think of.  The park’s array of wheels was like a children’s book brought to life.

Do you have photos of your family having fun at Touch-A-Truck? Send them to news@sosalem.com, and we’ll post them here. Read more »

Due to work to make soil borings, various lane closures will be in place during nighttime hours on East Main Street in Salem starting Monday, Aug. 1- weather permitting.

Crews will be working each night, Monday through Friday, from 7 p.m. until 7a.m. on the section of East Main Street between Thompson Memorial Drive (Route 311) and Kessler Mill Road.

The borings are needed to develop future plans to improve East Main Street. Drivers should expect alternating lane closures and use caution in the work zone.

These dates and hours are tentative and could be adjusted depending on weather and work schedules.

We’ve recently updated our database of where high school sports stars from the region are going — or have gone — to play college ball.

You can find it here on the Datasphere, our site for searchable data.

You can also help us keep it updated, too. And if you have photos of your kids in college, whether they’re athletes or not, you can share at news@sosalem.com or use the “share” tool at right to upload 10 at a time.

Over on outdoor writer Mark Taylor’s Wild Life blog, Kelly Steger of Catawba shows off a photo of her 3-year-old daughter, Avery, with a little brown trout she caught recently.

You can find it here.

Salem Farmers Market weekend report

Here is the latest news from the Salem Farmers Market weekend report!

Submit your favorite digital photo taken at the Salem Farmers Market between July 1-August 17 for the 2nd annual photo contest to showcase 2011 Virginia Farmers Market season.

Roanoke College Chefs are back in the kitchen at 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning.  You won’t want to miss out! Bring a chair and your appetite.

Governor McDonnell proclaims Farmers Market Week in Virginia to be August 7-13.

submitted by Laura Reilly

Roanoke College Chef returns to the Chef's Circle

Roanoke College Chef returns to the Chef’s Circle at the Salem Farmers Market.

submitted by Mike Stevens

Come to Touch-a-Truck on Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm at Roanoke County’s Green Hill Park, and you’ll hear car, truck and bus horns sound at the top of every hour. It’s a free event full of fun for the entire family.

We invite you to see, touch, interact with and climb on hundreds of cool vehicles. Your kids will love exploring fire trucks, helicopters, planes, boats and much more at Green Hill Park. Additional activities include water-spray areas, fireman’s foam, face painting, balloon sculptures, a petting zoo, costumed characters, food vendors and more. Don’t forget to bring your camera!!

Emma Hileman, the daughter of Mark Hileman and Tina Smusz of Catawba, VA, graduated from Ithaca College’s School of Humanities and Sciences. The degree was awarded in May 2011.

Coeducational and nonsectarian, Ithaca College is a nationally recognized independent college of some 6,300 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. Located in Ithaca, New York, the college offers more than 100 degree programs through the Schools of Business, Communications, Health Sciences and Human Performance, Humanities and Sciences, and Music as well as the Division of Graduate and Professional Studies and Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies.

Jake Stanley

Jake Stanley, son of Candace Underwood, (age 5, rising kindergartener at Glenvar Elementary School) caught this 3 1/2 lb. catfish all by himself at Smith Mountain Lake on a recent visit to a friend’s house.

Submitted by Candace Underwood.

The 2nd Annual Duane Perdue Memorial Scholarship Golf Tournament will be held at the Hanging Rock Golf Club, Salem, VA, on Saturday, July 30, 2011. Duane Perdue, a Salem native, and graduate of Virginia Tech, lost his battle to Acute Leukemia in December of 2008. The tournament’s purpose is to provide scholarship funding through the Salem School Endowment to be used to provide educational opportunities in memorial of Duane Perdue, his interests, and his accomplishments.

The tournament will provide a forum for pairing potential bone marrow donors with those in need by way of the National Marrow Donor Program. On-site donor education and testing will be provided without charge to the general public as well as those participating in the tournament.

To learn more about participating as a golfer, volunteer, or further information about joining the bone marrow registry, visit: www.duaneperduegolftournament.com .

Submitted by Rachel Beamer.