Salemites Disco for Trails at Ike Box Tonight

Salemite, get down tonight!

Friday is SATA-day for Salemites and tonight's the Salem Area Trail Alliance benefit at the Ike Box.

Salem Area Trail Alliance
Disco Bingo Night

From 6pm to 9pm they'll be playing bingo, dancing, and raising funds for trail planning and building.  Check the facebook for more on the raffle and the festivities.
And yes, the proper word for those who live in Salem is Salemite!

Over at Salem Weekly, there's a Hinesian suggestion to replace Salemite with Salemian.

No, no, no!

Salemian merges with So-Lame-ian too easily.

Besides, Salemite is well-attested. Here are two examples - one from before Statehood!

Pre-Statehood!  Oregon Argus, August 28, 1858

Front Page:  Capital Journal, April 5, 1907

I realize that the claim isn't that Salemite is not well-attested.  Indeed, Hines admits, "I am not out to rewrite the history books...I recognize that Salemite is part of our city’s heritage."  But he proposes "[f]rom now on the word can be regarded as we look upon a phrase like 'ladies suffering from the vapours' —an archaic reference meriting a smile."

On the contrary, Salemite is far from an archaic word.  It has a well-established usage at least to the mid-19th century, and it extends into common usage today. 

There's no need to change!

Update, June 12th, 2015

Mostly in tweets...

What should #SalemOR residents be called? Read about it & vote here. #KeepSalemWeirder http://t.co/mgn890Jm36 @salem_statesman @travelsalem

— TomMayhall Rastrelli (@RastrelliSJ) June 12, 2015

.@Salem_Statesman Er. Uh. Did anyone think of checking newspaper archives? (Oregon Statesman & Capital J?) Historically it is Salemite.

— Darlene Strozut ☔️ (@Enstone) June 12, 2015

Salemites:,Salem was founded by Methodist missionaries, mostly from New England. Biblical names were important to them. Salem is both...

— Darlene Strozut ☔️ (@Enstone) June 12, 2015

...a New England name and a biblical name (Shalom). Salemite was in keeping with Israelite, Hittite, etc....

— Darlene Strozut ☔️ (@Enstone) June 12, 2015

...if folks want to have a conversation about *changing* from the historical label "Salemite," fine. But we do have a name.

— Darlene Strozut ☔️ (@Enstone) June 12, 2015