Area residents may have seen the weather camera’s Salem shot on the WKBN nightly news, or the CBS affiliate’s morning edition or noon broadcast, or their sister stations’ broadcasts on WYTV/ABC or Fox Youngstown, or their apps or websites.

People in a wide viewing area, from out-of-state and even across the globe, can check out the view of downtown Salem — that’s called exposure and that’s what SHSAA wanted for the downtown.

“The Salem High School Alumni Association invested in downtown Salem when it renovated its building. We believe in promoting our organization and the community. Although the camera will feature the weather, it will also draw attention to the SHSAA and our downtown. We hope people living in the Mahoning Valley will take notice and not only visit the alumni association office but also come to Salem to visit one of our local businesses,” SHSAA Executive Director Audrey Null said.

The dream started a few years ago when WKBN meteorologist Paul Wetzl, a United High School graduate, presented a weather program during a Salem Area Chamber of Commerce function for the Salem Area Safety Council. After the program, he was asked if there was any chance a weather camera could be located in Salem. He said yes, but there would be steps that needed taken.

The WKBN weather station on top of the Salem High School Alumni Association sign offers a 360-degree view of downtown Salem, which the station’s meteorologists control. (Photo courtesy of SHSAA)

The idea kind of went on the backburner, but then the SHSAA started its renovation. Ryan Benchwick, a 2006 SHS alumnus who happened to work for the general contractor, Adolph Johnson & Son, snapped a striking photo from the third floor showing the view of South Broadway.

That got Null thinking again, along with SHSAA second Vice President Frank Zamarelli, who both said they had seen

Columbiana, East Liverpool and Sebring featured on weather camera shots and thought, why not Salem?

“We wanted to make sure Salem was included,” Null said.

They promoted the idea in the Summer-Fall 2020 SHSAA newsletter, asking if any alumni out there would be interested in a financial sponsorship. Even before that, alumnus Bob Sebo had thought how nice that would be to have a weather camera in Salem to show off the town, so he contacted Zamarelli when he saw the newsletter story.

Zamarelli contacted WKBN and they sent a technical specialist to the SHSAA building to see if it was feasible — turned out it was none other than Tom Zocolo, SHS Class of 1977, who said the location was great.

Bob and Linda Sebo agreed to cover the sponsorship for the SHSAA from now through December, for the first six months. After that, the hope is that other alumni or local businesses will step forward to pick up the sponsorship and keep it going. The sponsorship includes advertising.

“We’re both very grateful to Bob and Linda Sebo for their donation,” Null and Zamarelli said.

Sebo said it bothered him that Salem didn’t have that kind of exposure like the other towns featured with the weather cameras. He said having the weather camera is great for Salem.

“We have a very eclectic, unique and beautiful downtown,” he said.

He suggested that maybe two or three businesses could go together to split the future sponsorship cost.

“I believe in Salem. I love Salem. I think it’s a good positive step of marketing Salem to get ongoing exposure. I’m tickled to death,” he said.

Both Zamarelli and Null were excited about seeing Salem on the weather every day and the fact that thousands of people are seeing it, too — every single day, multiple times a day.

Zamarelli commented that even people who no longer live in Salem, who still love it, and who live in Florida, California and other faraway places, “can see a piece of Salem.”