ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 26, 1996 TAG: 9612260087
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HATCH STAFF WRITER
What do a former professional boxer, a plastic surgeon and a university president have in common? They all graduated from high school in Salem, and were among 55 Salem alumni inducted into the new Salem Alumni Hall of Fame last month at the Salem Civic Center.
The graduates of Salem High School, Andrew Lewis High School, Salem High School-Broad Street and G.W. Carver include doctors, lawyers, executives, educators and community leaders.
Three former mayors of Salem were honored: James Moyer, Carl Tarpley and James Taliaferro.
Also recognized were a number of local businessmen and philanthropists such as Cabell Brand, retired president of Total Action Against Poverty who sold his Stuart-McGuire Co. mail-order business to Home Shopping Network; Francis West, president of West Window Corp. and former mayor of Martinsville; and Glenn Thornhill Jr., chief executive officer of Maid Bess Corp. and a former Salem School Board member.
The inductees included two local entrepreneurs: Ralph Richardson, founder of the Orange Market convenience store chain, and Carlos Hart, owner of the Hart Motor Co. Inc. car dealerships.
Among the distinguished alumni who left Salem to pursue their careers were: Sherrie Sandy Rollins, executive vice president of communications for ABC; David W. Brumbaugh, retired executive vice president of Time Inc. and one of the creators of the ZIP code; and Rosalind Williams, dean of undergraduate education and student affairs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"It's mind-boggling how far away they went and the outstanding things they have achieved," said Bob Craighead, chair of the Salem Educational Foundation and Alumni Association.
Craighead says the Hall of Fame was an outgrowth of the Grand Reunion with all the Salem alumni in 1994. Richard Fisher, a reunion organizer and new member of the Hall of Fame, suggested at that time that the alumni send in short summaries of their careers.
The results were so impressive that they decided to found the Salem Alumni Hall of Fame to recognize the wide-ranging career achievements of Salem's alumni and also to provide inspiration to the present and future students of Salem High School.
Salem graduates were asked in the alumni newsletters to nominate outstanding alumni for the Hall of Fame. The new members received a penciled portrait by artist Anne Bell and a certificate of achievement. Biographical sketches will be placed in the Salem High School and Salem Public Libraries.
Nominations for next year's induction are due June 1. To get a nomination form or for information about the Salem Alumni Hall of Fame, call Craighead, 389-3169.
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