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Russell Hampton
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Club Information
Welcome to our Club
Salem
Service Above Self
We meet Tuesdays at 12:15 PM
Hawthorne Hotel
18 Washington Square
Salem, MA  01970
United States
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Stories
50-50 RAFFLE
POT SIZE:  $219.00
Rob Lutts (AKA Jason Consalvo & Table), and Joanne Scott had the raffle numbers, but there was no winner!
 

 
CALENDAR RAFFLE
SOLD BY:  Rich Blazo
SOLD TO:  Sarah Blazo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS
 
 
Kang Yu, Assistant Governor from the Saugus Rotary was a visitor.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brenda Smith's guest was Jessica Petucci from Endicott College.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
President Chris' guest was his friend, Ryan Mashay.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Joanne Scott's guest was Aaron Engler, Pastor High Rock Church.
 
 
 
 

 
BIRTHDAYS
 
 
 
 
Happy birthday to Anne Richardson on October 6th and to Bob Conley on October 11th!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
FINES AND RECOGNITIONS
 
 
Joanne paid a fine for the two postcards she distributed to all the tables.  One was for the Boys & Girls Club Open House on October 23rd, 3-6 PM at its new location in the Collins Middle School.  The other was a save-the-date for the Club’s Champion for Kids Celebration honoring Mayor Driscoll on January 11th, from 6 to 9 PM.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
John Neely attended a Beverly Rotary event to raise money for overseas military families.  Their special guest was Jimmy Kimmel.  Lots going on at the various Rotaries!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jason paid a fine for the Patriots bounce-back win against the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday evening.  This week’s game is against the Buffalo Bills for the AFC best record to date.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Viktoria thanked all who helped at the latest Lifebridge Dinner, including chief chef and shopper Roberta Cantor, as well as Tim Clarke, Mary Ann Lyons, Viktoria and her son, Will. The next Lifebridge Dinner is November 5th.  We are looking for a lead and team for that dinner.
 
 
 
 
Viktoria lauded Jake Segal as the first Rotarian to return his money for the Rotary calendars.
 
 
 
Chris paid a fine in recognition of his son’s first homecoming from college.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
Our Club is invited by the Marblehead Harbor Rotary to a Fellowship event this coming Thursday, October 9th from 5 to 7 PM at Palmer’s Restaurant.  It will feature a cash bar and free appetizers.  Please let Chris know if you are interested so he can pass on the number of attendees from Salem.
 
 

 
THIS WEEK'S SPEAKER
 
 
Maryann Curtin introduced this week’s speaker, Salem Historian Jim McAllister of Derby Square Tours, as a Salem Institution.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jim has given thousands of tours in Salem with a goal of giving 52 lectures in 52 weeks at 52 different venues!
Jim said the problem with being an “institution” is it means you are old!
 
 
 
 
 
Jim said that the Salem Witch trials are a fascinating topic in US history although most people in Salem are not that interested in them.
 
Jim talked about several people, who lived near the Hawthorne Hotel that were involved in the Salem Witch trials.
 
The first story took place near the Salem Witch Museum which was once a church.  In 1692 on that spot lived a minister, John Hickinson, who was semi-retired after serving for 40 years.  John had a daughter whose husband abandoned her and their daughter after spending all her money.  The daughter moved in with the minister and was later accused of being a witch.  In defending another woman so accused, John actually put his imprisoned daughter in more danger of being executed.  She narrowly escaped the gallows because the hysteria came to an end.
 
Another woman, Ann Pudeator, lived just past the current Bertram House near the Common.  Ann was married and widowed twice and so had a very large estate.  Woman property owners were frowned upon by men of that day.  In addition, Ann was a mid-wife.   A 1480’s book, Imprimatured by the Pope at the time, said that mid-wives were very susceptible to witchcraft.  The court listened to testimony given by a convicted liar that Ann had murdered two people and then had her hung as a witch.
 
In this era, near Essex Street and the Common Basketball Court was one of two taverns owned by the Beetle brothers.  Jonathan Westgate and his friend John Parker frequented the tavern.  John’s wife Alice went to the tavern one evening and berated her husband for spending so much time there.  In response to Jonathan Westgate’s defense of her husband, Alice said that he should “Shut up or you will get yours!”  On a trip to Beetle’s Tavern, John saw a large, black pig  who screeched, dove at him and, John said, stabbed him with his own knife, putting the knife back in it sheath when done.  John said his dog did not bark at the pig the way he normally would but slinked away obviously afraid.  This was used as spectral evidence that the pig was not an animal but was Alice herself.  Speaking with authorities, John also said that Alice correctly predicted that a young woman’s husband would not come home from sea, further proof she was a witch.  Alice was hung.
 
Of the 20 people executed for witchcraft, 5 had their pre-trial hearings at Beetles Tavern.  Trials themselves occurred near the current Red’s on Washington Street, although the trial was a mere formality once the pre-trial hearing found suspicion of guilt.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jim’s final story was about George Jacobs, a man in his 70’s, who lived near the current Fenwick High School.  George was a man of strong and vocal opinion who called his servant and her friends, “witch-bitches!”  When his servant said, “You and your family are servants of Satan,” he knew he was in trouble!  In fact, his son was so concerned he left Salem and went to Europe.  His daughter and his granddaughter Margaret went to jail.  After the judge drilled Margaret, as was customary, she admitted to being a witch.  In admitting this and then giving up names of other “witches,” a person could avoid being executed.  In addition, Margaret implicated her grandfather and another man.  Before their execution, Margaret wrote to the judge stating that they were not witches and neither was she.  The other man, by the name of Barrows, tries to prove his innocence by reciting a prayer perfectly and in a clear voice but the judge said that Satan was saying the prayer!  The two men are executed.   Margaret is put back on trial but because of a large and painful abscess on her head, the trial is postponed and the witch trial era ended.
 
Jim had the opportunity to tell this final story to tourists who were visiting from Nebraska and Colorado who were actual descendants of the son who went to Europe!
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Please email all announcements to be added to The Spoke to SalemRotaryClub@yahoo.com by noon on Wednesday.  Also, feel free to contact any of the committee members listed below.

Committee Chairperson and Editor:  Dave Wescott
Photographers:  Trip Mason and Juli Lederhaus

Committee Members:  Patrick Langmaid, Juli Lederhaus, Joanne Scott and Amy Delaney