Hey Salem,
This week's lineup is a little bit of everything, and I'm here for it.
On Saturday, Keizer throws its first-ever Keizer Cultures Celebration, the cast of The Blair Witch Project takes the stage at the Elsinore after a screening, and the Salem Philharmonia opens its 15th season in East Salem. On Sunday, you can learn to play a Japanese classical piece on the koto, for free.
Got a free Saturday morning? The Great Willamette Cleanup needs hands at Wallace Marine Park. It's a good way to give the river some help before the winter water comes up.
If you missed Tuesday's issue, we looked at how Salem's ambulance takeover is going. Here's the report card.
One ask this week: what's the newest restaurant, cafe or taproom you've tried in Salem? I want to do a better job covering openings, especially outside downtown. Hit reply and send me the name and the neighborhood.
Jacob
Also, don't miss these opportunities to get connected in Salem:
The WHS Community — our $20/quarter membership for people who want to go deeper: connect with fellow Salemites, swap recommendations, and get the inside scoop on the city.
The Dinner Club — take a quick quiz, get matched with five Salem folks, and meet for dinner at a spot revealed the morning of. No awkwardness, just good company.
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Quick ad and then we will get back to the story…
The one with their name on it. The one that sat on the dresser for years.
Capital Trophy has been making those moments in Salem since 1993. Their shop on 12th Street SE turns out trophies, medals, ribbons, resin awards and ball holders for teams of every size, from the T-ball squad to the varsity banquet.
Fall seasons are wrapping up. If you're the coach, team parent or league volunteer stuck ordering end-of-season awards, let them take it off your plate: design help is free, you approve a digital mockup before anything gets engraved, and rush same-day or next-day service is there for when the team party sneaks up on you.
It's locally owned by Salem native Kari Wiens, and women- and veteran-owned. The people engraving your kid's name live here too.
Request a quote for your team or call (503) 371-1884. The shop is open Monday through Friday, 8AM–5PM, at 2399 12th St SE.
Prefer to browse first? Shop their sports awards online.
okay, now back to the story…
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🌎 A Weekend to Celebrate Salem's Cultures
Hispanic Heritage Month wraps up Thursday, Oct. 15, and this weekend stacks up three free ways to meet your neighbors' cultures, from Keizer to downtown.
Sat, Oct. 10 | 11AM–5PM | Chalmer Jones Park & Keizer Event Center, 930 Chemawa Rd NE, Keizer | Free
Keizer's first-ever cultures festival brings 15 to 20 cultural booths, food trucks serving dishes from around the world, music and 20-minute cultural presentations. It's put on by the city's Community Diversity Engagement Committee, and neighborhood associations will have booths too.
Sun, Oct. 11 | 2:30PM | Salem Multicultural Institute, 390 Liberty St SE | Free, sign-up required
The Willamette University Koto Club, directed by koto master Masumi Timson, plays the 13-string Japanese zither with vocals, then teaches everyone to play a classic Japanese piece. It's free, but you need to sign up ahead through the event page.
Wed–Sun through Oct. 25 | Noon–4PM | Bush Barn Art Center, 600 Mission St SE | Free
Sixteen Indigenous artists from the Pacific Northwest fill the A.N. Bush Gallery with weaving, beadwork, painting, photography and more. Next door in the Annex, The Work We Make shows prints and fiber art from Salem Art Association's five 2026 artists in residence.
Sponsored by Kite String Consulting — my agency
A few of you keep asking what I do besides What’s Happening Salem: I run a social media agency called Kite String Consulting. It started with me figuring it out every day and a handful of clients who told their friends. Now there’s a real machine over here.
Here’s what I believe: you’re already great at running your business. Posting about it just isn’t your job. Around Salem, the businesses that show up consistently — and sound like humans — are quietly lapping the ones winging it. That’s the gap we close: real photos and video, social run for you, on-brand, on your budget.
We know this town because we are this town.
Have an event for us to feature? Submit your events HERE to get them added to the newsletter
🎃 Bauman's Harvest Festival: Friday Is a Full Festival Day
Fri, Oct. 9–Sun, Oct. 11 | 9AM–5PM, tickets until 4PM | Bauman's, 12989 Howell Prairie Rd NE, Gervais | $20–$30, under 3 free
Bauman's is running this Friday like a Saturday, with all 30+ activities open: the corn maze, giant slides, jumping pillows, hayrides, farm animals and apple cider doughnuts. If your crew has Friday off, it's a full festival day without waiting for the weekend. Parking is free.
📚 Keizer Community Library Fall Book Sale
Fri, Oct. 9, 9AM–5PM & Sat, Oct. 10, 9AM–4PM | Keizer Event Center, 930 Chemawa Rd NE, Keizer | Free entry, books 50¢–$1
Hardcovers, puzzles and DVDs are $1 and paperbacks are 50 cents, and every dollar goes back to the library. Saturday from 2 to 4PM, fill a whole bag for $5, then wander next door to the Keizer Cultures Celebration.
🐝 An Evening with Author Eileen Garvin
Fri, Oct. 9 | 6PM–8PM | The Oregon Garden, 879 W Main St, Silverton | See site for tickets
The bestselling author of The Music of Bees talks about her writing, her process and her newest novel, Bumblebee Season, followed by a Q&A and book signing. Atlas Bookshop will sell books on-site.
🪩 Traveling Wheelz Open Skate: '70s Disco Fever
Fri, Oct. 9 | 7:30PM–9:30PM | 1335 Madison St NE, Salem | $10–$13 online, $13–$16 at the door
Friday open skate goes full disco, and costumes are encouraged. It's all ages, rentals are available, and sessions can sell out, so grab tickets ahead.
🧹 Great Willamette Cleanup at Wallace Marine Park
Sat, Oct. 10 | 10AM–1PM | Wallace Marine Park north parking lot, 200 Glen Creek Rd NW | Free, register ahead
This is this week's show-up opportunity: volunteers pull trash out of the riverside forest in West Salem before winter high water sweeps it downstream. Meet in the northern parking lot, just past the softball fields. It's part of Willamette Riverkeeper's 16th annual statewide cleanup, with Salem Parks and local partners running the Salem site. Sign up here.
🦊 Forest Friends Adventure & Yoga for Kids
Sat, Oct. 10 | 10AM–noon | The Oregon Garden, 879 W Main St, Silverton | $32–$40, sibling discount
Kids ages 3 to 12 explore the forest through yoga, then paint a woodland animal like an owl, fox or hedgehog to take home. The ticket also gets one child and one grown-up into the garden afterward.
🎻 Salem Philharmonia: Brahms and Beethoven
Sat, Oct. 10, 7PM & Sun, Oct. 11, 2PM | East Salem Community Center, 1850 45th Ave NE | $20–$25, 17 and under free
The orchestra opens its 15th season with pianist Monica Ohuchi on Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1, plus Beethoven's Fifth. Come 45 minutes early for conductor Jonathan DeBruyn's pre-concert talk.
🎥 The Blair Witch Project: Screening + Cast Q&A
Sat, Oct. 10 | 7:30PM | Elsinore Theatre, 170 High St SE | See site for tickets
Watch the 1999 found-footage classic on the Elsinore's big screen, then stick around: all three lead actors come out on stage afterward to share behind-the-scenes stories and take audience questions.
🏎️ Willamette Motor Club "Witches Twist" Autocross
Sun, Oct. 11 | Check site for start time | Oregon State Fairgrounds, 2330 17th St NE | Drivers $30–$40
Local drivers race the clock one at a time through a cone course at the fairgrounds in the club's 10th autocross of the season. Want to drive? Members and non-members can both register online.
🎤 Gary Gulman: Grandiloquent
Mon, Oct. 12 | 7PM | Elsinore Theatre, 170 High St SE | See site for tickets
Cozy Comedy brings stand-up Gary Gulman's "Grandiloquent" tour to downtown Salem. A Monday night comedy show is a pretty great way to start the week.
🖼️ Free Tuesday at Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Tue, Oct. 13 | Noon–5PM | Hallie Ford Museum of Art, 700 State St | Free on Tuesdays ($8 other days)
Every Tuesday is free for everyone, and right now that gets you Handmade Revolution: Craft in the Pacific Northwest. Two more shows, What Do We Hold? and Drawn from the Collection, are up through Nov. 21.
🛏️ Textilezzz: The Fabric of Sleep
Tue–Sat through Dec. 31 | 10AM–4PM | Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St SE | $11–$15, 5 and under free
A cozy weekday pick: an exhibit all about bedding, from handcrafted coverlets to Oregon Trail quilts to mass-produced wool blankets, all pulled from the center's own collection.
🃏 Texas Hold'em Tournament at the Elsinore
Thu, Oct. 15 | 6PM | Elsinore Theatre, 170 High St SE | See site to register
Bring your best poker face to the Elsinore for a Thursday night tournament. Registration is online, so check the event page for buy-in details before you go.
👻 Scare at the Fair: Fright Planet Opens
Thu, Oct. 15 | 7PM–10PM | 4-H Exhibit Hall, Oregon State Fair & Expo Center, 2330 17th St NE | See site for tickets, parking $10
Haunt season officially opens at the fairgrounds: one ticket gets you through three attractions, Podunk Hill, Death Row and the Pennville Lunatic Asylum. It runs Oct. 15–18, Oct. 22–25 and Oct. 28–Nov. 1, and rides and fair food cost extra.
🔁 This Week's Regulars
Same time, every week. Pick one and make it your thing.
Sat | Salem Saturday Market | 9AM–2PM | 865 Marion St NE | Free entry | Season ends this month
Through Oct. 24 | Angel Street (Gaslight) at Pentacle Theatre | 324 52nd Ave NW | Check showtimes
Through Sun, Oct. 11 | Fall RV Show | State Fairgrounds | $10 cash, 16 and under free
Any day | Volunteer at Marion Polk Food Share | Scheduled shifts | 1660 Salem Industrial Dr NE | Sign up ahead online
📌 Save the Date
Oct. 16–17 | The Great Junk Hunt vintage market | State Fairgrounds
Oct. 16–17 | NPRA Rodeo Finals | State Fairgrounds Pavilion
Sat, Oct. 17 | The Rocky Horror Picture Show | 8PM | Elsinore Theatre
Sun, Oct. 18 | Tommy Dorsey Orchestra | 2:30PM | Elsinore Theatre
Sun, Oct. 25 | Halloween Re-Engineered, indoor trick-or-treating | 10AM–1PM | Gilbert House Children's Museum
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Thanks for keeping up with Salem this week!
Spotted something interesting in town? Drop us a note at [email protected]. We love hearing from you.
See you next Thursday,
Jacob