Fancy Newsletters
July 2022 – Fancy Friday edition
What a great feeling to be back in the Salem Convention Center June 24! Our last live Fancy Friday was in 2019, and while the Lord met our needs via two online events during the pandemic, it was good to be in person! We had fun with our “building” theme, featuring...
June 2022 – Remembering Rev. Dick Lucco, Bridge-Builder
He wasn’t born in Salem and he didn’t die here ... but our community is eternally blessed because of Rev. Dick Lucco. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News. Romans 10:15 In the 1990s, in the midst of an all-out community response to youth gangs,...
May 2022- Millard and Mike: In Memory of Great Mentors
men•tor – a trusted counselor or guide; a tutor or coach. Merriam-Webster Dictionary Salem lost two giants last month. A generation of students and athletes in various Salem-Keizer schools grew up under their tutelage. Like many, I am a better person thanks to...
April 2022 – Come to the Table with Candor, Intelligence and Goodwill
Last month I wrote about the various tables from which SLF does its work. The methodology of Table Sitting, Setting and Serving. Well, I just came from the Breaking Bread/Breaking Barriers lunch at the KROC Center. This is a monthly gathering SLF hosts so folks can...
March 2022- Great Things Come from Small Tables
Great Things Come from Small Tables At SLF we love tables. We even have a methodology built around tables. It’s called Table Sitting, Table Setting, Table Serving. The first one means we sit at the tables of community groups and organizations to listen and learn. ...
February 2022 – The YMCA- Hub of a Network of Neighborhood Centers
Camp Crestwood. Indian Guides. Guppies and Minnows. That maze of colored lines running through the rabbit-warren buildings ... showing the way to games, basketball and swimming. Like many (most?) longtime Salemites, I have fond memories of the YMCA. For the...
Sam’s Blog
July 2022 – Fancy Friday edition
What a great feeling to be back in the Salem Convention Center June 24! Our last live Fancy Friday was in 2019, and while the Lord met our needs via two online events during the pandemic, it was good to be in person! We had fun with our “building” theme, featuring...
June 2022 – Remembering Rev. Dick Lucco, Bridge-Builder
He wasn’t born in Salem and he didn’t die here ... but our community is eternally blessed because of Rev. Dick Lucco. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News. Romans 10:15 In the 1990s, in the midst of an all-out community response to youth gangs,...
May 2022- Millard and Mike: In Memory of Great Mentors
men•tor – a trusted counselor or guide; a tutor or coach. Merriam-Webster Dictionary Salem lost two giants last month. A generation of students and athletes in various Salem-Keizer schools grew up under their tutelage. Like many, I am a better person thanks to...
April 2022 – Come to the Table with Candor, Intelligence and Goodwill
Last month I wrote about the various tables from which SLF does its work. The methodology of Table Sitting, Setting and Serving. Well, I just came from the Breaking Bread/Breaking Barriers lunch at the KROC Center. This is a monthly gathering SLF hosts so folks can...
March 2022- Great Things Come from Small Tables
Great Things Come from Small Tables At SLF we love tables. We even have a methodology built around tables. It’s called Table Sitting, Table Setting, Table Serving. The first one means we sit at the tables of community groups and organizations to listen and learn. ...
February 2022 – The YMCA- Hub of a Network of Neighborhood Centers
Camp Crestwood. Indian Guides. Guppies and Minnows. That maze of colored lines running through the rabbit-warren buildings ... showing the way to games, basketball and swimming. Like many (most?) longtime Salemites, I have fond memories of the YMCA. For the...
January 2022- Churches Still Care Despite Challenges
For 25 years, our happy assignment has been to help churches as they serve their neighborhoods and share buildings, people and talents for the shalom (health and well-being) of their neighbors. It’s been a beautiful journey for people-of-faith and people-of-goodwill...
December 2021-This Family Tree is a Christmas Gift
The whole world is coming to Shalom, Oregon, and it’s a beautiful thing. There was a time it was illegal for those of African, Asian, Polynesian and Hispanic descent to live here. I can remember in the late ‘90s when there was a stir at the state Capitol. Someone...
November 2021- THANKS for Helping us Serve ‘Our New Neighbors’
Last month marked two amazing milestones. First, the five-year anniversary of the founding of Salem For Refugees (SFR). And second, the awarding of SFR’s stand-alone 501(c)3 status as a tax-exempt nonprofit! Salem Leadership Foundation was proud to team up with...
October 2021- “Somebody Should Do Something!”
We did a little survey as part of our Fancy 25th festivities last spring (thanks to everyone who replied!). We asked three questions: 1) What do you love most about Salem-Keizer? 2) What is the biggest challenge facing our community? And, 3) What can SLF do to help...
