A mission from Park Menorah Old Age Home in Cleveland arrived to the Beit Shean Region, the oldest guest was 96 years old and the average age was 80!

For an entire year Park Menorah Old Age Home from Cleveland prepared for its trip to Israel. During the year that the trip was planned, the members made sure to stay in shape, learned about the places they were going to visit and stayed healthy. "You have no idea how much excitement and good energy this trip gave to our Old Age Home," said Barbara, the mission leader from Cleveland.

Fourteen elderly people with the average age of 80, each accompanied by a personal companion arrived in the Beit Shean Region for a few hours. They began the day with a tour of the Archeological Site in Beit Shean and continued for lunch and a meeting with friends at Gil Oz in the Regional Council.

 
Hagai Fuchs, the Director of Gil Oz together, with his staff and Gil Oz members, told their friends from Cleveland about the many activities which take place at Gil Oz: computer classes, handmade embroideries, music and history lessons, exercise classes and many other activities. "What happens here is very similar to the activities that take place by us in Cleveland," said one of the guests, "maybe we should move here!"

Yael Shaltieli, the Mayor of the Beit Shean Valley Regional Council greeted the guests and said, "We appreciate your visit here today. Be ambassadors for us and pass on our love and appreciation to your families and our friends in Cleveland."

An especially emotional meeting took place when one of the members from Cleveland, a survivor of the Exodus ship, found two other survivors who were with him on the ship.

The organizers of the visit ended by saying, "We enjoyed the visit and hope this visit will be the foundation for a connection between Gil Oz members and Park Menorah members from Cleveland."