Elliot Isen from the PEM was a guest of Jason Consalvo.
Emily Lloyd from the Salem Chamber of Commerce was a guest of Rinus Oosthoek.
Jules LeBlanc from Friends Forever was a guest.
Dennis Knight from the Salvation Army was a guest of Viktoria Talebian.
Beth Tobin from Salem Footprint was a guest of Adria Leach.
FINES AND RECOGNITIONS
Viktoria Talebian reminded us that there is a Lifebridge dinner next week, Wednesday, November 5th.
Also, on November 18th, the Angel tags for the kids of the Salvation Army will be available for gift giving.
And, on December 15th, the club will be doing its annual bell ringing for the Salvation Army.
Mary Ann Lyons got a new Chevrolet car after her car got hit by a tree.
Deborah Greel went to see the Illuminus event in Boston and said it was fantastic!
Mike McLaughlin got a tour of the Boys & Girls Club and said it was very impressive!
Rosario Ubiera-Minaya said that Salem has a new bilingual newspaper available, called Education Now. Rosario helped to found the paper.
Randy Burba's son and his scout troop went hiking at Franconia Notch.
Jason Consalvo went to the Patriots game this past weekend.
Juli Lederhaus said the Hawthorne Hotel had a very fun and successful Halloween party on Saturday night. She recognized Claire for all her hard work!
Chris Casey went to Lancaster, PA with his children and other families. They had a great time!
Chris also had a tree drop onto his porch in Lynn from the neighboring multi-family house.
BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday to Marie Gagnon on November 3rd!
THIS WEEK'S SPEAKER
John Neely presented our speakers of the week. Friends Forever guests from Ireland, Israel, and Uganda were here with 2 leaders and 10 children.
Jules, the site coordinator, gave many thanks to all the Rotary clubs for their help with the Friends Forever program. She said the kids take what the learn from Rotary and take it back to their country (Ireland). This is Jules' 2nd year as site coordinator, and she noticed how the kids have grown over the last 2 years. Also attending the meeting were 2 of the leaders from Ireland, Erin and Bethany.
First to speak was Nathan. His mother is a Catholic, and his father is a Protestant. He said it was very difficult growing up in that situation. However, many of his friends and peers went to youth clubs where they learned to trust each other in spite of their differences. He said that the fighting and violence has diminished, and his friends don't care as much about religion as in the past, and are more concerned with getting along. He hopes to meet many new friends and together promote unity!
Next up was Jessica. She lives in northern Ireland and attends a Catholic all girls school. Only 5% of the schools there are of mixed religion. Jessica has lived through many major bombing and attack situations in the past. Her home town, Quarterdine, has developed over the years, and now there are a lot more positive mixed groups and religions residing there. Jessica is involved in the National Citizen Service. Through this organization she has gained trust, organizational skills, and friendships. Part of her work with the NCS has been in soup kitchens and working with ropes courses. Her hope is that both religions can be at peace and live together. Jessica thanked the Rotary Club for the opportunity of a lifetime to come and visit the United States.
