Dreama Cromer of Crossroads Hobbies & Crafts. — Emily Paine Carter, special to So Salem

Emily Paine Carter is columnist So Salem. You can contact her at 981-3430 or via e-mail.

Emily Paine Carter

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You could call So Salem "the happy section" of the newspaper.

Here you may find an old-fashioned curtsey, a tip-of-the-bonnet to doers of small, good deeds. Say, the little things that make Life considerably more bearable. (I'm not talkin' the huge I'll-give-you-a-kidney gift -- although around here such extreme generosity wouldn't surprise me.)

Many shopkeepers and Salem Farmers' Market vendors fit this genteel category. Example: vendors have told me to go ahead and take my selected apples and such, then return with cash.

We note those blessed businesses and repair shops NOT charging crazy amounts for goods and services. Yay! Why, they remind us of gone-but-not-forgotten Mr. Gearhart's trusty Main St. shoe repair shop: how did he earn a living with such low prices (excellent work, too)?

And then there's that Wizard of Oz- / "no place like home"-thought that comes after you've searched "everywhere" for an item, then found it right-in-yer-own-back-yard.

Take a recent afternoon, which seemed to wrap up all these notions. The day had been -- in polite language -- "challenging." I had been so distracted by goings-on that a last-minute dash to pay the cable bill was necessary (yikes! Argh!).

"What the heck," I thought, "I'll give myself a break and wander through the hobby shop. There's bound to be something to divert my worrisome mind."

Indeed! "Crossroads Hobbies & Crafts of Salem" displayed all kinds of sparkly and clever things. OK, maybe right now I don't have time to be crafty, but it's fun to look and imagine.

And there -- could it be? Yes, the shop had the U.S. quarter-collector's book -- the one I'd been seeking for months! (This, with hope for a future project with my far-flung grandkids; I'll be ready for whatever rainy afternoon might find them back in Salem.) Why, it was like Dorothy had just clicked her ruby slippers together and found a heart's desire! (I'm easily amused by such notions. Maybe you've noticed.)

But wait, there's more: Manager and crafts-lady Dreama Cromer found just the right part to repair my ailin' pair of earrings. She even assembled them for me at no charge -- a quick task for her, but I'd still be fumbling. (At this point I was pretty sure I heard an angelic choir.)

Another time I chatted with friendly "shop president" Ron Black. He's especially knowledgeable about model airplanes and cars.

And he is eager for completion of Salem's Lowe's, just yonder, whenever. He's been told by builders -- who seem to know this sort of thing -- that once started, the project should move rapidly ("maybe three months' construction").

That would suit Ron and the hobby shop just fine. He said that the shopping center's de-construction and such had caused him to lose eight feet of his parking lot, and that occasionally his water and electricity had been cut. Not easy conditions for doing business -- yet he and the staff seemed upbeat, not beat-up.

Let's hear it for such small businesses, and for all kindly folks in Greater Salem and Glenvar.

Now, I await my grandchildren's return "home." There are coin-books to fill, the Henry's Memphis Barbecue pig to paint, and, and ...

Right on, Dorothy: there really IS no place like home.