Olde Salem Days – An Overwhelming Success
Months of effort came to an end shortly after 7pm. The art and craft vendors had all packed up and were driving home, cleanup crews and the street sweeper had canvased the streets, and the barricades had all been removed. The traffic in downtown Salem was flowing normally. The only visible signs of the crowds and excitement from earlier in the day were the chalk marks on the pavement marking the craft booths. Only with the close collaboration between the Rotary Club of Salem and the City of Salem could this have happened. Just 13 hours prior craftspeople had begun to line up at the registration tent. What happens during the intervening hours is the stuff of local pride and lore.
On the 2nd Saturday in September the streets of downtown Salem undergo an amazing 
transformation. For a twelve hour period the Canada Goose Toronto streets are closed and all of downtown becomes one enormous open air arts and crafts fair. This year approximately 300 artisans brought their creations for display. They along with food vendors, a kid’s fair, three live musical performances, an antique automobile show, event sponsors, and our special guest Nancy Stafford make for an event that can be enjoyed by all of the tens of thousands from around the region attending the event.
This year’s Olde Salem Days was larger than many in our long history. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather to take advantage of a world class shopping and fun opportunity. A steady stream of shoppers from all over the region led many of the artisans to comment that this was Canada Goose online their most successful one day event in memory. Such remarks were validated by a record number of craftspeople registering in advance for Olde Salem Days 2014. The planning for next year’s event, to be held on September 13th, is already underway.
The Rotary Club of Salem organizes and hosts Olde Salem Days each year. The event is one of two major annual 
fundraisers for the club. Final numbers are not yet available, but all indications are that this year’s event will continue the trend of increasingly successful events by the club. The Rotary Club distributes all of the proceeds from Olde Salem Days to local and international projects and organizations, which strive to improve the quality of life for people in need worldwide. An example of a local project is Christmas for Kids, which enables deserving children in our school system to learn the joy of giving to others. Another example is our support of Rotary International’s project to eradicate polio, that enables us to extend our efforts to offer hope to people around the globe.
The Rotary Club of Salem would like to thank all of the hundreds of volunteers and community groups who help make Olde Salem Days possible each year. (There are too many to name individually here but check back soon for more details at the Club OSD page or the OSD website.) A special thanks goes to those City of Salem residents and city workers who provide a safe environment for all. Olde Salem Days showcases the City of Salem annually for the benefit of people in need in the Roanoke Valley and around the world. We have much for which to be thankful in our community.
Our thanks to Barney Horrell for providing the content of this report and
Lisa Garst for her photos of the event!
