Neighborhood News is a monthly Salem Reporter feature to highlight news or issues of concern to each Salem neighborhood association. Read previous editions here. Salem is divided into 17 neighborhood associations that meet monthly. They serve as a conduit to city officials for things like park improvements, road projects and planning and building. Learn more and find your association here. Leaders of each association are invited to submit a brief news item or report highlighting the association’s work, neighborhood concerns, upcoming activities or anything else of interest. Submissions are lightly edited for style and clarity. Grant Neighborhood Association GRANT PARK WORK PARTY: Saturday, Oct. 26, 11 a.m. -1 p.m. – bring your favorite weeding tools! GNA’s spooky crew will sling candy at Willamette Heritage Center’s  DRIVE THRU TRICK-OR-TREAT: Sunday, Oct. 27, 12-4p.m. The first GNA Community Violence Reduction PEACE WALK is in the planning stage for sometime in November. The association will be applying for a 2025 Salem Park Improvement Fund grant for projects in Grant Park. Thank you to participants in our lively Oct. 4 meeting: Deputy Salem Police Chief Debbie Aguilar; Milan Davis, Salem city arborist; Kat Keys, chair of Grant Park Committee; Kate Strathdee, human rights commissioner and peace walk organizer.  A summary of the meeting will be available in our November newsletter and on our website. Minutes from the October meeting will be posted before the Nov. 7 meeting. For more community news, follow GNA on Instagram and Facebook. –Submitted by Susan Napack, vice chair Highland Neighborhood Association Highland Harvest Play & Photo Day organizing committee, from left to right: Holly Schiefelbein (outreach and communications chair), Ryan Erickson-Kulas (secretary), Super Mario, Tim Patterson (photographer), Celine Coleman (treasurer), and Irma Coleman (city of Salem neighborhood program coordinator). The Highland Neighborhood Association had a wonderful time hosting our first-ever Highland Harvest Play & Photo Day on Saturday, Oct. 12th, at Highland Park. This free, family-friendly event featured a fall-themed family photo shoot and crafting activities for kids. We even had an appearance from Super Mario! We’re incredibly grateful to N2 for generously funding the event and helping make it a reality. Nearly 20 families joined in the fun! Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce our 4th Annual Highland Halloween Decoration Contest! You can nominate your favorite spooky display by visiting our Facebook page or emailing a picture of the house, along with the address, to [email protected]. Feel free to nominate your own home or a neighbor’s! The contest is open to homes in the Highland neighborhood. Here’s the schedule: Nominations open until Sunday, Oct. 27Voting occurs Monday, Oct. 28, to Tuesday, Oct. 29Winner is announced Wednesday, Oct. 30 Two winners will each receive a $50 gift card to Paddington’s Pizza. Let’s come together to make Highland the spookiest and most festive neighborhood in town! We hope to see even more of you at future events as we continue building a vibrant and connected community! –Submitted by Ryan Erickson-Kulas, outreach committee chair Morningside Neighborhood Association The Morningside Neighborhood Association’s Halloween bookmark. The Morningside Neighborhood Association will be at a Trunk or Treat event to share information about our neighborhood association. We will be handing out candy and our Morningside Halloween bookmarks! The MNA chair and communications chair will be available to answer any questions.  Morningside Neighborhood Association Trunk or Treat Morningside United Methodist Church Parking Lot, 3674 12th. St. S.E. Saturday, Oct. 26, 3-5 p.m. -Submitted by Jenny Hiatt North Lancaster Neighborhood Association NOLA held its Annual Meeting in early October. Center 50+ presented information on aging in our community. NOLA plans to focus on aging well throughout 2025. If you know of a senior who could benefit from a service project, please contact Deanna Garcia to make arrangements. Next service week is planned for November. We still have vacancies on our executive board. Are you interested in taking on a bigger role in your community? Join us for the next meeting to explore opportunities to serve. NOLA meets again on Wednesday, Nov. 6 starting at 6:30 p.m. at Blanchet Catholic School.  The new Salem Fire Department Chief David Gerboth will be introduced and share some fire safety tips. We will also have Salem Housing Authority presenting details about a new development planned for our community. To contact or find out more details about NOLA, please visit www.cityofsalem.net/NOLA -Submitted by Deanna Garcia, chair Northgate Neighborhood Association It’s now that time of the year when the trees don’t want to let go of their green but to change to their warm colored clothes but mother nature’s wand is too powerful to even fight that. This is the time to observe the gradual change taking place. But the Kiger horses, the mustangs of southeast Oregon, are still in their spring stage. Look at the one furious male, alpha mustang running in full speed towards the black and handsome stallion that escaped and now doing its “swagger trot” in front of the mustang stallion’s “ladies.” You can see the interaction at Northgate Park’s art mural more clearly if you go there; only photos here. You are all welcome to come and see for yourselves in person. Each panel is 8 feet long so not even long enough for a horse, but still, three panels were used for this purpose as you can see. It is difficult to see the prairie dogs and a small interaction going on with a prairie dog and a black bird. The prairie dog has something that the bird wants but he is just showing off. Our association got together, joined by a few neighbors, to have our annual meeting in September. There was a big applause after the same executive team was voted in again. We have a group of good board members, and we all work together finely like a well-oiled machine. We must take this opportunity to congratulate Eduardo Angulo for being recently voted in again as Chairman of Hallman Neighborhood Family Council. Just listening to him speak at the meetings make us realize what an integral part he plays at their council. We have no doubt his leadership will propel the councilors in the rightful and positive direction. He informed that the next Safe Halloween party at Northgate Park will happen on Saturday, Nov. 2, to go with the Dia de Muertos. He said it will start around 4 p.m. There will be fun and games, costume contest, free food and you and kids can don Halloween costumes once more even after they’ve been worn already at other Halloween events. So, it’s fun time all over again. -Submitted by Kaethe Mentrum, secretary/park chair Northeast Neighbors We’re excited to announce the upcoming planting of a 1200 sq. ft. camas and native wildflower meadow in historic Englewood Park made possible by a grant from the city’s Salem Park Improvement Fund and generous donations from Heritage Seedlings. Heartfelt thanks for the many letters of support from neighbors which made this project possible. Would you be interested in helping plant? Contact us at [email protected] We will share dates to help on our website, http://www.northeastneighbors.org soon! Camas and western buttercup (Courtesy/Lynn Takata) RR Cleanup Neighbors have been concerned for the safety of people living near the tracks as well as sharing complaints about garbage, graffiti, and crime. The city’s police SOS team and ARCHES have made several trips to connect campers with resources. In mid-October, the Salem Police Department is partnering with the Safety Management Team from the Federal Railroad Administration to clean up the area. Thank you to the many neighbors and businesses for documenting your concerns.  Quiet Zone NEN advocated for a quiet zone and the city of Salem worked and invested significant time and funding to make it possible in 2017. Trains will blow their horns whenever they see anything on the tracks.  Sadly, there have been three recent fatalities on the railroad tracks in our neighborhood. Two of the fatalities were determined to be self-inflicted. The FRA has asked the city to do maintenance including pruning tree limbs, refreshing signage and renewing pavement markings. From preliminary discussions, the city reports that are no plans to suspend the Railroad Quiet Zone at this time. An inspection will be conducted in 30 days. Annual Meeting and Board Election Tuesday, Nov. 12, will be NEN’s In-Person Annual Meeting and Board Election. We will be reviewing NEN‘s goals for next year and would love your input. If you are interested in serving on the board, please let us know and we will share more information. We will be voting on a bylaw update. This is the one meeting each year that everyone who lives, works or owns property in NEN can vote! A silhouette of the giant sequoia Green Light Development agreed to save at the Gussie May Commons affordable housing project for families. Construction is expected to begin in December on 120 units in Phase 1 on Center St. at 23rd N.E. Enjoy the fall weather! –Submitted by Lynn Takata, chair Northeast Salem Community Association NESCA is hosting its sixth annual Sock Drive, with donations going to HOME Youth Resource & Services Center. Last year we were able to deliver 275 pairs of new and gently used socks for the kids at HOME! We hope to at least match that this year and would really love to actually beat it. If you would like to help us, please deliver socks to 882 Park Avenue N.E., Salem. Call 503-510-6759 if you have any questions.  -Submitted by Stacey Vieyra-Braendle, chair Southeast Salem Neighborhood Association SESNA hosts new chief New Salem Fire Chief David Gerboth will attend the Tuesday, Oct. 22, Southeast Salem Neighborhood Association meeting to share the latest about the city’s decision to provide local ambulance services. SESNA meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Capital Park Wesleyan Church, 410 19th St. S.E. SESNA will also celebrate neighbor Seleste Liyanage, who receives an outstanding volunteer award at the city’s event Oct. 20. SESNA meets in the church sanctuary the third Tuesdays. Contact SESNA Chair Shannon Priem with questions, comments. [email protected] -Submitted by Shannon Priem, chair West Salem Neighborhood Association We recently held our annual meeting on Oct. 3rd, and I’m pleased to report that we had a great turnout. Several important topics were discussed, including the following: Salem Police Department Update:Representatives from the department answered key questions: Are officers being put back in schools? Not currently due to staffing shortages. How is gang violence being addressed? While there are no specific gang enforcement teams, there is a strong focus on preventing violent crimes. Grant Updates from Pamela Garland:Two Salem Parks Improvement Funds grants have been submitted: One for a Plexiglass front to protect the new Edgewater kiosk. The second is to support upgrades of the West Salem Park playground and equipment. Elections:We held elections for key positions. Michael Freitas was elected as Chair, and Roberto Garcia was elected as Vice Chair. There are still two vacant positions—Secretary and Treasurer. If anyone is interested in volunteering, please reach out to me. Candidate Presentations:We were fortunate to hear from the following candidates who spoke and answered questions: House District 20: State Representative Kevin Chambers (Republican, Challenger) Paul Evans (Democrat, Incumbent) Polk County Sheriff Steve Warden (Challenger) Mark Garton (Incumbent) Polk County Treasurer Chris Patonie (Challenger) Steve Milligan (Incumbent) Next Meeting:Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, Nov. 7, at Roth’s West Salem. We hope to see you there! -Submitted by Michael Freitas, chair STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: What’s happening across Salem in October appeared first on Salem Reporter.