Salem musicians Dan Wetzel and Kristen Grainger, unable to perform at indoor venues due to COVID-19 restrictions, invited friends and neighbors to a free outdoor Mother’s Day concert on May 10. The performance was in Fairmount Park on South Rural Avenue, where there was plenty of room for social distancing for both humans and dogs.(Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)
Photographer Ron Cooper and his wife Penny moved to Salem in 1969 to take a job as photographer at the Oregon Statesman (later the Statesman Journal). Their three children, Monica, Kimberly, and Christopher, attended and graduated from Salem public schools. Cooper retired from the Statesman Journal in 2001 but, has continued his passion for photography in many ways, including as a photographer for the Salem Reporter.
