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It was a wonderful evening of comradery, reflection, and motivation at People for Life's 3rd Annual Fall Dinner this past Friday.
The event was held at a new venue, the Colony Banquet Hall on West 12th Street in Erie, with 140 people attending.
A groan of disappointment went up from the audience when MC Tim Broderick broke the news that our Special Guest Speaker Dr. Monique Ruberu (photo below) would not be present because of problems with her flight from Philadelphia.
But thanks to quick action by Grise Audio Visual, Dr. Ruberu was able to join us via Zoom. The connection allowed the audience to see and hear the speaker and the speaker to see and hear the audience as well.
Dr. Ruberu's presentation was preceded by remarks from Gannon Students for Life President and People for Life Board Member Clare Caulfield, and from the pro-life Mayor of Slippery Rock Jondavid "JD" Longo (photo).
Clare explained how interacting with fellow Gannon students during her group's pro-life tabling activities has opened her eyes to the need to help others, especially young people, appreciate not only unborn lives but their own lives, and their own value as human persons.
JD lamented the failure of so many Americans to vote even among those with pro-life and faith-informed convictions. A Marine Corps veteran who saw combat in Afghanistan, JD encouraged us to continue the good fight for life and truth by invoking the memory of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. In that historic confrontation, 12,000 U.S. Marines were encircled by 60,000 enemy troops in temperatures of 30 degrees below zero. The Marines refused to surrender and actually fought their way out of what seemed at the time like a hopeless situation.
Dr. Ruberu began her remarks by explaining that her dedication to the pro-life cause was the product of a major spiritual renewal that turned her life from a very low point to a life of great joy and purpose. Her remarks covered a lot of territory: her personal experience with sidewalk counseling; how abortions are done; the horrors of chemical (abortion pill) abortions, which she termed "bathroom abortions," where the mother often sees the human form of her own child and does not know what to do next; the realities of IVF (in vitro fertilization), where human lives (human beings) are started in a laboratory and many of them are subsequently abandoned in a kind of triage process; and the lack of attention paid by typical fertility clinics to the underlying, sometimes easily remedied, causes of infertility.
In lieu of the personal interaction that would have been possible if she had been with us in-person, Dr. Ruberu spent at least 20 minutes taking questions from the guests. Many inquiring hands were still in the air when the Q&A had to be brought to a close because of time constraints.
It was an honor to host each of our guests, most of them from the Erie area but some from as far away as Meadville, Bear Lake, Pennsylvania, Saint Marys, Pennsylvania, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Likewise, it was an honor to host several larger groups, including members of Gannon Students for Life (photo below). It was an honor as well to host a group from the Erie County Republican Party, including Chairman Cliff Smathers and about 15 more local party volunteers. This was the first time in memory that one of the major political parties came out in such a big way for one of our events.
Unfortunately, Congressman Kelly was unable to attend due to a previous commitment. He would probably have attended if we did not have to change the date from September 25 to November 6. Likewise, state Representative Brad Roae would have attended if the date had not been changed.
We think the Fall Dinner was well-worth the effort!
We are thankful for everyone who was involved:
Each of our guests;
Our faithful volunteers (including the two who drove in from Jamestown and Clymer, New York);
Dawn Isles and the Colony Banquet Hall team;
Grise Audio Visual and the team, especially Brandon, our on-site technician;
and everyone who helped advertise the Dinner by circulating flyers and posters, by sharing the event on social media, and simply by word of mouth.
Proceeds from the Fall Dinner benefit the People for Life Education Fund.
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