Tag SALEM PEOPLE
Salem cellist returns to “Nutcracker” shows after 2020 hiatus
Andrea Chandler in the Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra pit during a 2015 Nutcracker performance. (Courtesy/Andrea Chandler) Andrea Chandler has played the Nutcracker hundreds of times, but this year, the Salem cellist said the score feels fresh again. The annual Christmas tradition, which Chandler, 61, performs…
Salem law firm, notary recognized for efforts to hire veterans
Attorney and U.S. Army veteran Mark Ronning in his Salem office (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) When Mark Ronning left the U.S. Army after 24 years, the transition back to civilian life proved harder than expected. He’d spent most of his time in active service as a…
Salem teacher recognized for helping kids get their hands dirty
Fourth grade teacher Stephanie Madison checks up on recently hatched chicks at Myers Elementary School on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Stephanie Madison is adept at conjuring lots of food from very little land. The Myers Elementary School teacher said she’s grown over…
Salem now has its own refugee resettlement agency
A recently achieved nonprofit designation will aid Salem for Refugees just as the number of displaced people eligible to resettle in Salem is exploding. In summer 2021, Luke Glaze, the organization’s first executive director, and its board completed the paperwork required for nonprofit status, making…
Philanthropist’s gift will boost field trips, clubs at McKay
The band plays during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at McKay High School on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Lester Green spent years involved at the high school that bears his father-in-law’s name. The Salem philanthropist moved to the area in 1950, shortly after marrying…
Terrence Green’s immigration journey inspired his law practice. Now, he’s teaching immigration law.
Terrence Green (Courtesy/KJ Johnson) After graduating college in 2003, Terrence Green spent three months waiting for the permit that would allow him to work in the U.S. “I was kind of in limbo – I couldn’t accept employment and I didn’t know how quickly it…
Celebrity llama Caesar stars in new children’s book about finding community
Caesar nuzzles owner Larry McCool at a July 2019 event. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Bee Dugan had never met Marion County’s most famous llama when she began idly sketching him on a TriMet ride in 2019. Dugan, a music teacher from Portland, said she came across…
Salem’s longest-running high school reunion going strong after 77 years
Trudie Meier Gavette, left, and William Juza look at their high school yearbook at the Salem High School Class of 1944 77th reunion on Sept. 16, 2021 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Trudie Meier Gavette never doubted she’d make it to another high school reunion. Even when…
Salem-Keizer educator Chuck Lee remembered for authenticity, love for education
Chuck Lee (Courtesy photo) Every year he served as a school president, Chuck Lee spent Labor Day going classroom to classroom. He sat at the teacher’s desk and wrote individual notes to them, observing the classrooms and complimenting teachers on how they arranged them. “Every…