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 college sweetheart Marylou McKay, who[Read More…]
Tag: SALEM PEOPLE
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 was going to be processed,”[Read More…]
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 Caesar the No-Drama Llama on[Read More…]
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 the Covid pandemic prevented her[Read More…]
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 single teacher, every single year[Read More…]
Tokyo dreams become reality for South Salem athlete
Annie Flood at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games (Instagram photo) After training for most of her senior year of high school, Annie Flood learned in July she’d been named an alternate for the U.S. women’s sitting volleyball team, and wouldn’t be going to Tokyo to compete in the Paralympic games.[Read More…]
South Salem grad wants to protect Oregon coastal communities through better engineering
Inessa Garrey in the large wave flume at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University in 2019 (Courtesy photo) Inessa Garrey wants to make sure coastal communities will survive imminent natural disasters brought on by climate change. As the 19-year-old South Salem High School graduate sees it, communities[Read More…]
Rubber chicken and concertina in tow, Salem’s hospital clown lifts spirits
Mike Bednarek performs a card trick as Dr. Fun E. Bone for an 18-year-old pediatric patient at Salem Hospital on Aug. 25, 2021 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Mike Bednarek slides a rubber chicken through a crack in a hospital room door before asking if he can come inside. Though he’s wearing[Read More…]
Salem mom plans to buy Nintendo Switch, save for a house with vaccine lottery winnings
Ana Jimenez with her children on a trip to Mexico (Courtesy/Ana Jimenez) Ana Jimenez had no idea Oregon was running a vaccine lottery. The 40-year-old Salem resident was on a trip visiting family in Mexico in early July when she got a call from the state telling her she’d won[Read More…]
Salem student gets a boost toward dream of improving reservation housing
Kayla Monte (Courtesy photo) Kayla Monte wants to change the way cities look. The 16-year-old, who splits her time between Arizona and Salem as a student of the Chemawa Indian School, has plans to diversify architecture and create affordable housing for reservation communities across the U.S. But first, she has[Read More…]