By Tom Dalton and Amanda McGregor
Pray for good weather Sunday.
That's the day a dedicated group of volunteers holds the annual "gift of light" in North Salem.
From 5 to 9 p.m., sections of four streets — Dearborn, Lee, Dearborn Lane and Moulton Avenue — will be lined with 1,000 lighted candles. If you haven't seen it, pack the kids in the car and drive over. It's one of those events that will make you feel a little better this Christmas season.
The luminarias may look simple, but they aren't. It takes weeks of work by dozens of volunteers, young and old, to set up the long rows of white bags, each with a white candle anchored in sand.
Clare White-Sullivan leads the sand brigade over to Home Depot. "I think I bought 1,500 pounds," she said.
Wendy Blake buys the white bags and candles at Eastern Bag and Paper Co. in Tewksbury, which is the former Salem Paper Co., where Wendy used to work. "I still get my employee discount," she said.
For the past several evenings, many homes have hosted bag-folding parties. "It really is a social event," said Kendra Malionek, a volunteer.
All the cars have to be moved off those streets on Sunday per order of the Fire Department.
In addition to the lighted candles, there will be Christmas caroling and horse-and-buggy rides by Ruth Wall.
But pray for good weather.
This is a one-time event with no rain (or snow) date.
A Saturday ride
Tomorrow, while you are nodding by the fire, think about Eric Klein.
The Salem native will be celebrating his 40th birthday while riding on a horse across South Dakota in subfreezing temperatures. Over 13 days, he is riding 330 miles with others to raise awareness about the plight of Native Americans on the Crow Creek reservation who have had to endure long stretches of winter with no electrical power.
They are retracing the route of 38 Dakota Indians who were hanged in December 1862 in what is believed to be the largest mass execution in U.S. history.
This is the latest of several humanitarian efforts by Klein, a 1987 Bishop Fenwick graduate who founded the disaster relief organization, Can-Do. He was in Sri Lanka after the tsunami, helped Rwandan flood survivors and rebuilt homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He also has been recognized by Oprah Winfrey and honored at the United Nations.
Klein, by the way, grew up in Salem Willows and attended Bentley School. His grandfather was the barber John Famico, who had a shop in Townhouse Square.
His mother, Sisty Klein, who now lives in Boxford, couldn't be any prouder of her son. She also, in typical motherly fashion, couldn't be any more honest.
"It blows my mind what he's doing," she said with a laugh. "We couldn't get him to shovel the driveway."
To find out more, go to Klein's Web site at www.can-do.org. There is a link there to Virtual Volunteer TV for live coverage of the ride.
Millan a local hero
"Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan may be controversial in some circles for his training methods, but he is a hero over at the Northeast Animal Shelter.
The Highland Avenue shelter was the beneficiary of Millan's live tour, which made a stop Sunday at the Agganis Arena in Boston. The shelter received blankets, food and donations from the event, all of which will go to help homeless dogs and cats.
Shelter Executive Director Randi Cohen and other staff members had a chance to meet briefly with Millan, star of the popular cable television show "Dog Whisperer."
Salem, say cheese!
People submitted more than 160 images to the first Destination Salem Photography Contest for a chance to have their photo featured on the cover of next year's Salem Visitor Guide.
Destination Salem, the city's tourism office, selected seven top images that were posted for online voting. Jane Stauffer of Salem won the contest with her photo that captures a scene on Federal Street featuring a stretch of brick sidewalk, historic fencing and a blossoming tree.
For the contest, Destination Salem posted the photos on its Web site, salem.org, as well as its Facebook page. Nearly 200 people voted, and Stauffer's image won with 36 percent of the vote, according to Kate Fox, executive director of Destination Salem.
Stauffer's image will be featured on the cover of the 2010 Salem Visitor Guide, of which the tourism office will produce 300,000 copies to promote travel and tourism to Salem.
The second place photo was an image of The House of the Seven Gables' gardens with the harbor in the background, taken by Lisa Poehler of Springfield, who garnered 32 percent of the vote. Len Burgess of Danvers took third place with his photo of the Friendship, which earned 24 percent of the online votes.
House talk
Salvatore Spinale, 81, may not know it, but he was the talk of the town Tuesday night, when the Board of Health debated the new trash plant on Swampscott Road.
Actually, they didn't discuss Mr. Spinale, but they did talk about his house on DiPietro Avenue, which the transfer station owner, Northside Carting, plans to buy because of its proximity to the site.
And, while we're at it, let's put our hands together for all the hard work by this volunteer board, which includes Barbara Poremba, Dr. Larissa Lucas, Noreen Casey, Marc Salinas, Gayle Sullivan, Kemith LeBlanc and Martin Fair.
Flu news
Thank goodness the swine flu threat appears to be waning.
Former Mayor Tony Salvo sent us a reminder of just how bad it can get.
"Public Funerals Are Prohibited" was the headline in The Salem News during the 1918 flu pandemic that took millions of lives worldwide.
"Public funerals have been prohibited by the board of health," the article stated. "This drastic and unprecedented step was taken yesterday at a meeting of the board of health to prevent the further spread of the influenza epidemic ..."
At the time, Salem Hospital was filled with flu victims, an emergency hospital had been set up, and the total number of cases in the city was estimated at 2,000.
Lt. Gov. Kim
Although Mayor Kim Driscoll has not even begun her second term, there is speculation about her political future.
A blogger on the political Web site Blue Mass Group weighed in the other day about life after Gov. Deval Patrick, which some feel is likely. The blogger had Lt. Gov. Tim Murray running for the governor's seat with Driscoll, a "rising star" in the party, as his running mate.
You heard it here first — make that second.
Blame and shame
A Peabody man has the dubious distinction of receiving a 2009 "Blame and Shame Award" from Reader's Digest for a lawsuit he filed after a Salem accident.
The father of Brandon Pereira, 17, of Peabody, was selected for taking legal action against a Salem woman, who was seriously injured last March while driving a minivan on Fort Avenue. Christine Speliotis, 42, was struck head-on by a car driven by Pereira's cousin, who police say was drag-racing on Fort Avenue and speeding at 81 miles per hour. Brandon Pereira was in the car with his cousin and also seriously injured.
The boy's father filed a $450,000 lawsuit against Speliotis, who police say was just out for a drive and in her own lane. Speliotis suffered a broken hip and leg and had surgery to insert metal rods and screws.
Pereira's lawyer said he was just "trying to get compensation for my client anywhere I can."
