Barbara Gresham and new neighbor / old classmate Ed Hines. — Emily Paine Carter, special to So Salem

On a recent Friday evening a whole lotta shriekin’ was going on. This, on a typically quiet street in downtown Salem — and no Salem High School football involved.

It didn’t take long to track the source: The front porch next door.

Barbara Gresham was calling out with schoolgirl glee over her remarkable discovery: Our new neighbor had attended elementary school with her.

That wouldn’t be much of a coincidence if we were talking about folks Salem-born-and-Salem-bred. But these two had been 1950s childhood schoolmates in Union, W.Va.

“I didn’t start wondering until [husband] Van and I were walking down the sidewalk after taking a pie to the new neighbors, Ed and Lynn Hines. I thought, ‘Well, that’s weird. I went to school with an Eddie Hines…. I’ll have to ask him sometime.’”

A couple of weeks later she did just that, as Ed and Lynn strolled by the Greshams’ porch. He confirmed that he had indeed gone to school with then-Barbara Walker. “First, second and half of third grade,” he said.

“We moved away. I’ve lived all over the country — in some twelve, fourteen houses. No more! This is it,” he laughed.

Another coincidence unfolded (and the scene expanded beyond the porch, as Barbara kept beckoning passersby with the tale): “It turned out that Van and Ed had carpooled to Tech in the late 1960s!” said Barbara. “They even graduated from there at about the same time. Can you believe that?!”

Salem-native Van added that it was a big carpool. But yes, Barbara, that is pretty darned coincidental — and shriek-worthy.

n Speaking of being aware: Have you signed up for the City of Salem email / cellphone alert system?

Maybe the June derecho (aka, in polite terms, That Big-Ol’ Sideways Storm) convinced me. Mind, I don’t cotton to getting startled by technology (it’s out to get me already), so I asked for only Major Weather and Serious Stuff alarums.

So despite the earliness of the Saturday morning cellphone buzz, I had to laugh over my very first Salem Instant Info alert: “Roanoke College students return this morning! Market St. will be closed to traffic between Clay and McClung Sts.”

Yep. I was already quite aware: A few days before, an early-arriving student had gunned out of the college’s Market St. parking lot and hit my passing car. (He had not been alert, but at least he was penitent.)

Still, it’s a very worthwhile system: Salem Instant Info. https://alert.SalemVa.gov

On a recent Friday evening a whole lotta shriekin’ was going on. This, on a typically quiet street in downtown Salem — and no Salem High School football involved.
It didn’t take long to track the source: The front porch next door.
Barbara Gresham was calling out with schoolgirl glee over her remarkable discovery: Our new neighbor had attended elementary school with her.
That wouldn’t be much of a coincidence if we were talking about folks Salem-born-and-Salem-bred. But these two had been 1950s childhood schoolmates in Union, W.Va.
“I didn’t start wondering until [husband] Van and I were walking down the sidewalk after taking a pie to the new neighbors, Ed and Lynn Hines. I thought, ‘Well, that’s weird. I went to school with an Eddie Hines…. I’ll have to ask him sometime.’”
A couple of weeks later she did just that, as Ed and Lynn strolled by the Greshams’ porch. He confirmed that he had indeed gone to school with then-Barbara Walker. “First, second and half of third grade,” he said.
“We moved away. I’ve lived all over the country — in some twelve, fourteen houses. No more! This is it,” he laughed.
Another coincidence unfolded (and the scene expanded beyond the porch, as Barbara kept beckoning passersby with the tale): “It turned out that Van and Ed had carpooled to Tech in the late 1960s!” said Barbara. “They even graduated from there at about the same time. Can you believe that?!”
Salem-native Van added that it was a big carpool. But yes, Barbara, that is pretty darned coincidental — and shriek-worthy.
n Speaking of being aware: Have you signed up for the City of Salem email / cellphone alert system?
Maybe the June derecho (aka, in polite terms, That Big-Ol’ Sideways Storm) convinced me. Mind, I don’t cotton to getting startled by technology (it’s out to get me already), so I asked for only Major Weather and Serious Stuff alarums.
So despite the earliness of the Saturday morning cellphone buzz, I had to laugh over my very first Salem Instant Info alert: “Roanoke College students return this morning! Market St. will be closed to traffic between Clay and McClung Sts.”
Yep. I was already quite aware: A few days before, an early-arriving student had gunned out of the college’s Market St. parking lot and hit my passing car. (He had not been alert, but at least he was penitent.)
Still, it’s a very worthwhile system: Salem Instant Info.  https://alert.SalemVa.gov