15th Annual Dave Lamanca Golf Tournament coming up

The 15th Annual Dave Lamanca Golf Tournament is coming up on Monday, September 28, at the Hidden Valley Country Club. The tournament honors the memory of John David Lamanca, who died in an airline crash in 1994. The goal: to continue to raise money to invest in scholarship funds and give back to the community each year, in his memory.

For full information about the event, visit lamancagolftournament.org

Here is an excerpt from a letter sent from Kristi Gerhart about the upcoming event: "Our heartfelt thanks go out to all of those individuals and businesses for their overwhelming and constant support of our tournament over the years. Your generosity has enabled us to expand our scholarship offerings at Salem High School, sponsor a scholarship through the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame, as well as continue to support golf for our local youth through the First Tee Program and the Roanoke Valley Junior Golf Association.

"Each year we rely on the generosity of hundreds of people -- from players, volunteers and sponsors. We hope we can count on you this year. Please consider making a donation of any kind and any value -- monetary or an item we can use in the Silent Auction."

For more, see The Notebook on sosalem.com

Bear sighting

near Poor Mountain

We asked if anyone had seen any bears roaming around Salem or western Roanoke County and Sandy Cooper reports in that she has. Here's what Sandy tells us:

"Yes, we have seen bears. We live at the foot of Poor Mountain in west Roanoke County. Bears have at least twice gone into our big RC trash cans. They drag the bags off and then have a picnic. It's strange they don't open them but drag them away first. The bear we saw was big and came around at 6 p.m. Our outside dog tried to herd it but it didn't run. My husband Jerry drove in field to take a look and it just watched.

"We can't be the only ones that have seen one and they do need to be reported."

Have you seen a bear? Let us know at news@sosalem.com