Saturday, September 13, 2003

The residents of our small town are proud when one of our citizens brings some local attention to our slice of paradise. Imagine our pride when one of our own brings attention to the world. The World Wide Web that is.

Issa Salameh has been a resident of Am Can since 1992, and has a very strong interest in computers. The young computer whiz was frustrated by not being able to find anything about American Canyon, so he solved that problem. He created a Web site dedicated to the city he has lived in for half his life.

Salameh is the founder of www.americancanyon.com. He is the Web master as well as the site's sales force. While he attends school at Cal State University, San Diego, where he studies computer science, his heart still remains in American Canyon.

The site itself contains a myriad of sections for those interested in almost any aspect of the city. News and Information, including past columns of AmCan Corner, are available. You can click on other sections, calendars, home construction, city council agendas and a community calendar. The activity logs for the fire and police departments are also available going back for almost two years.

One of the parts of the site, I enjoyed the most was the photo section. Currently it contains pictures of the newly opened skate park. It even contains pictures of the city from "back in the day." They are old black and white pictures of the city.

There is even a section to show your pride in "the gateway to the Napa Valley" by purchasing coffee mugs, T shirts, bumper stickers, license plate holders and more.

What impressed me most is the fact, the Web site can be used for practical matters, as well. The site offers free space to teachers and students who may want to work on a project using the site as an ASP, application service provider. Local charities and non-profits can use the site to announce any fund-raising events or community events.

Salameh is always looking for help from anyone willing to assist him maintain and develop the site. He can be reached via e-mail at webmaster@americancanyon.com .

With the growth in the population of our city, the young Salameh is proof one person can make a difference. He simply did it globally on-line.

If you have any story items or announcements for AmCan Corner, Victor Rivera can be reached via e-mail at vmr369@yahoo.com.