Saviors "R" Us

In last month's address to the Muslim world, President Barack Obama returned to a familiar theme from his 2008 campaign for the highest office.

"I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith, in every country - you, more than anyone, have the ability to remake this world. We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written," he said.

Or, more succinctly, we are the ones we have been waiting for.

In a speech packed with religious references, Obama ended with a call for each of us to believe in our own power to be catalysts for change. Intended or not, most of us begin looking for others to blame when things don't go our way. It can be as big as the search for Middle East peace or as small as someone interrupting our lunch with a phone call.

It applies equally when talking negatively about the place where we live.

Most of us are guilty of this one. Each of us has our own excuses for what makes cities to the north and south of Salem better than the state capital, but they're just that, excuses. Salem is not either of those other cities. It never will be, but there's a lot of talented people in our area doing cool and unexpected things.

Here are a few examples:

Ron Hays, director of the Marion-Polk Food Share. He returned from a life of traveling to troubled spots around the globe to try and fix the hunger problem in his home state.

Denver Mayangitan, coach of Team Chaos and a mixed martial arts trainer in Keizer. ’Nuff said.

Loretta Miles, owner of Salem Cinema. Thanks to Loretta we don't have to drive to Portland to see all the good flickers. It may take a few weeks longer, but she puts them within easy reach.

Sam Pierce, psychology instructor at Chemeketa Community College. He auditioned for The Commodores, but that isn’t the interesting part of his story.

Toby Wayne Larson, an Albany sculptor. Owner of a brilliantly macabre portfolio of horror busts (featured in the June issue of Salem Monthly).

Greg Anderson, director of Salem’s Living Tongues Institute. The dude salvages dying languages all over the globe, but he lives here.

Doug Hoffman, owner of The Space. Did anyone else out there catch that Frank Black, formerly of the The Pixies, debuted his new band in Salem? Doug's the one to thank for that.

Tony Grove, owner of Tony's Kingdom of Comics. Not only the owner of the coolest comic shop in the Mid-Valley, but a heart ten-sizes too big for his chest. Bonus points for planning costumed bowling nights.

Elizabeth Miller and Chris Jenkins, owners of Minto Island Growers. Find me another pair of young farmers living 10 minutes from the heart of an downtown in either of those much-lauded other two cities.

I'm fudging this last one because it's my column and I can. Each month, I have the tremendous honor to work with talented and gifted set of people who put out this paper. From the writers to the editorial staff to the salespeople who make certain we have a place to put our words, each of them pours much of their heart into making this paper better because they choose to believe differently about what the Mid-Valley has to offer. All in a town where most seem to have simply given up.

All of these individuals shine a light on the Salem area that directly contradicts the oft-spoken stereotypes of the Cherry City.We can sit around and wait for Portland and Eugene to grow big enough that annexation becomes a possibility, or we can set our minds to making what we have better.

Change isn't just going to happen. It must start somewhere. It must start with us.