The story below is a preview from our January/February 2021 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
From the outdoors and neighborhoods to family and friends, it’s easy to see why so many people love Roanoke and are eager to call it home.
Aaron Spicer
In the Fall of 2020, The Roanoker issued a challenge to a variety of local creatives, photographers, influencers and community builders: snap a single photo that captures “Home” for you in the Roanoke Valley.
By mid-October, results came pouring in. What follows is a selection of some of our favorites … and a few special stories of how they came to be.
The Great Outdoors … Right Outside Our Backdoor
One thing is for sure: Roanokers love to get outside. Photo after photo featured sorbet-colored sunsets at Carvin’s Cove, heart-stopping mountaintop vistas and meadows bronzed by autumn light.
Native ‘Nokers have long loved the area for its greenways, its active paddling and trail-running communities and its spots for hiking, mountain biking and bouldering. But perhaps it takes a newcomer to see it best. This is what Ahoo Salem, executive director of Blue Ridge Literacy, has to say about her photo, snapped from an overlook at Flat Top:
“Growing up in Tehran, Iran’s capital, and an elevated city surrounded by mountains, I spent many weekends hiking,” she says. “My first memories of hiking include family hikes with my Dad, my brother and my mom and how we would always climb up ‘our rock’ or sit under ‘our tree.’”
Ahoo remembers spending Fridays–the official “weekend” in Iran–hiking with school friends. Later, she criss-crossed the country on an eco-tour guiding certificate class.
“No matter how diverse these experiences are, they all share a common point for me: the moment one reaches the top and is greeted by that beautiful and yet expected view,” she says.
Ahoo moved to Roanoke in 2018. Here, the mountains look different than the peaks of her homeland. Still, they beckoned, and when shutdowns occurred in response to COVID-19, Ahoo began hiking regularly.
“I took this picture on one of the last hikes of this summer on Flat Top Mountain at Peaks of Otter,” she explains. “Similar to our previous hikes, this scenery was beautiful, and it was a great day for being outdoors. There was, however, something different about this hike. Reaching the top of the mountain, I did not just see a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I saw the beautiful and expected view of the mountains that I hike and know. This time, I already knew the joy that awaited me upon reaching the top. To me, this feels like home.”
Family & Friends
Sometimes, though, what keeps a person in the Star City is the people they love.
Take Justin Yun. When the creative and entrepreneur heard about the Roanoker’s photo challenge, it didn’t take him long to figure out his photograph.
“When it came down to everything, it was really easy–it was my mom,” Justin says. “She’s been there for me for all my other crazier ideas … all these different ventures that I tried to start.”
Justin–who previously launched a downtown restaurant and a dance studio–comes by his entrepreneurial urges honestly. For decades, his mother has been running Sunshine Cleaners, a mainstay for downtown dry-cleaning and alterations. His uncles founded a small restaurant, Bob and Cheryl’s, on Shenandoah, and his aunt started a sushi business, which Justin still helps operate.
“You want to talk about work ethic?” Justin says. “My family, they work hard.”
But like many entrepreneurs, Justin has seen his share of false starts … and surprise opportunities to pivot.
Take his MiBr project. The sober bar was slated to open on Church Avenue in the summer of 2020. Justin hoped it would offer Roanokers a comfortable spot to connect, alcohol-free. But when the pandemic hit, he saw the project sidelined.
So he decided to throw his creative energies into learning portrait photography.
“I got hooked,” says Justin, who spent his quarantine months mastering new equipment and learning to edit. “I went straight down into that rabbit hole.”
To his mother’s pride, he had a book of business by summer’s end. Maybe that’s why his portrait of her is such a fitting tribute.
“Roanoke sees my mom as the sweet Korean little lady who does the alterations downtown,” says Justin. “What they don’t know is how hard she works … how much she does for my sister and me … She’s very strong.”
Justin hopes his ventures will one day allow her to relax, retire and perhaps visit her native homeland.
“Roanoke has always been my home because it’s where my family is,” says Justin. “Wherever my mom and my family are … it’s home.”
For more reasons on why we love our region, and to see the amazing(!) photos from those we interviewed, get the latest issue on newsstands now!
The story above is a preview from our January/February 2021 issue. For the full story subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!
