Fire watch

The past couple of days have been exceptionally fun. I finally seem to have enough momentum rolling with the features I'm working on to keep myself busy when news isn't breaking in Salem. 

On deck, I've got a story about a new wing opening at the Salem Animal Rescue League, a pet-food drive sponsored by the Rockingham Park people, and a pair of librarians retiring. I've also got a decent story on how the town's planning to switch over to a fiber optic connections between all the buildings in town. 

Salem is definitely a bustling town on the verge. 

And when I say on the verge, I mean on the verge of transforming into a city. At the crossroads of route 97, 28 and Interstate 93, the "gateway to the White Mountains" and home of Canobie Lake Park and America's Stonehenge, Salem is primed to get to the next level. 

Already a commission is looking into changing the town charter to create a local government comprised of a city or town council, rather than a board of selectmen. 

Still, Salem has a lot of throwbacks to what can only be described as a "simpler time." There is a small town mentality that has stuck with the people of this area. They know their selectmen, they follow local politics, and they care very deeply about their community, which resides somewhere very much away from the commercial district called "The Depot" where 28 and 97 meet. 

One of those throwbacks is a group called the "Fire Explorers." It's a group of teenagers, ages 14-21 who volunteer to help out down at the fire department. In return, they get training, the ability to ride the trucks on calls,

 and EMT practice. It's a pretty exciting and rewarding program. 

I took a bunch of photos (look Tedder, I'm a photographer! Ain't you proud?) and got to hang out with a bunch of awkward, shy teens trying to figure out if they should be more embarrassed that I was interviewing them or happy. 

All in all it was a great experience for myself. I learned a little bit about firefighting and managed to meet a few more of the guys on the local fire department. That makes two town departments I'm officially tight with at the moment.