The Spoke - Archive  Oct 28, 2008

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HAPPY HALLOWEENNNNNNNNNN

And the winner is.....

Guests and Visiting Rotarians: 

We were lucky to have visiting Rotarian Bob Raiche of the Danvers Club.  Bob is the founder of Friends Forever and brought a group from Northern Ireland to our club this week.

Guests this week included, two members of the Early Act club, Matt and Jeff,  who were guests of Betsye Sargent; Bill Lundgren brought Chris Casey as a guest; Rich Blazo also had a guest.

Recognitions and Fines: 

Liz Bradt visited her son in Bristol, RI at Roger Williams University and found a great bike path.

Bruce Whear had a surprise visit from their son, who really just wanted to do laundry and have a home-cooked meal. 

Your crazy Spoke editor decided it would be a good idea to run 30 miles in the woods; tripped on a rock, landed on another and now has bruised ribs.

John Fisher just returned from a conference in San Antonio Texas where he had flashbacks to basic training from ????? years ago….

Bill Lundgren took a month long trip through the West. While in Kalispell, Montana, he broke his tooth and called a Salem Rotarian dentist and was able to get his tooth repaired.

Mike McLaughlin announced he has applied for a Rotary Foundation Grant of $5,000 to improve the Mary Jane Lee Park.  The grant has made the final cut for acceptance and we should hear soon.  Mike also shared information about the One Laptop Per Child Program.

John Keenan and Rinus Oosthoek were both in the paper.

Program for the October 28th Meeting:

Special Guests, Participants in the Friends Forever Program from Northern Ireland

From the Friends Forever Website  http://friendsforeverusa.org/

Friends Forever works with local communities in the United States and teens from around the world to promote peace by replacing fear and suspicion with laughter and trust. Friends Forever instills a desire for peace, understanding, and cross-community friendship into the lives of our next generation's leaders and decision-makers. Come learn more about us; when it comes to world peace, there is a place for everyone!

Friends Forever is a grassroots organization that promotes peace through cross-community youth work.

Our mission is accomplished through original and powerful group programs that are carried out in two phases. Through these unique trust-building processes, Friends Forever erodes the fear and mistrust that divide cultures in conflict to create enduring cross-community friendships.

Founded in 1986, by Rotarian and YMCA director, Robert Raiche, Friends Forever began as a joint Portsmouth, NH YMCA/Rotary effort to unite one small group of Catholic and Protestant teens from Northern Ireland. Since that time, Friends Forever has grown to host 60 youth from Northern Ireland annually; and it has expanded to serve the Arab and Jewish youth of Israel.

Friends Forever is now an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that has built hundreds of lasting friendships across the cultural, religious, and political divides of both Northern Ireland and Israel.

We were honored with the presence of a group of teenagers from Northern Ireland who entertained us with speeches and singing.  They were as follows:

Bronagh Haggerty         Laura McCarry

Laura Young                Niamh Ryan

Tonan Delardy

Events to be aware of -- Save the Dates!!

11/4     Norman Kraft of Acupuncture Center of Salem

11/18   Ambassadorial Scholar

11/25   Thanksgiving Mtg at Danversport Y.C.

12/2     Rotary Annual Mtg c/o Pres Dave
12/9     E. K. Grief...Mt Everst c/o Jeff S.

                          Please visit the calendar section of our web site

                                       for additional important dates.  

And now a few announcements....  

The Early Act Club will be sponsoring a food drive for St. Joseph’s Food Pantry.  The drive is Tuesday, November 4.  Please bring food or a check to the Tuesday meeting.   

Items they need include:

            Peanut butter

            Pasta

            Sauce

            Canned Vegetables

            Canned Fruit

            Soup

Time to visit Costco!

No meeting on November 11, in honor of Veteran’s Day.

Salem Rotary directories are now available.  Make sure to pick yours up at the meeting.

Quote of the Week:

“The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize you are not in shape for it, it is too far to walk back.”  Franklin P. Jones

Stumpers  

This week's stumper:

I was stumped to come up with one!

Last week's stumper:

In what direction should the solar panel on a waste bin face with a solar-powered face?

Answer to last week's stumper:

South, and the new ones in the city of Salem do not face South

 Happy Birthday to:   

 Marie Gagnon

Please email all announcements to be added to the Spoke  and/or feedback to salem_rotary@yahoo.com by Noon on Wednesday.  Also, feel free to contact any of the committee members listed below.

Committee Chair:  Brenda Smith

Editors:  Brenda Smith

Photos: John Quinn (Jay Cue), Trip Mason and File

Graphics and Photo Editing:  Rich Eisner

Members:  Denise Flynn, Jim Haskell and Sandy Heaphy