Gov. John Lynch called for a commitment to cooperation as the way forward for a nation in crisis amid the music of bagpipes at the ceremony for this year’s recipient of the John P. Ganley Community Service Award.

“We’re in some tough economic times. There are a lot of families that are suffering. This is not a forever problem. If we work together we’ll get through it,” Lynch told a gymnasium packed by residents with their Irish pride on display at the Salem Boys & Girls Club. “We need to be positive and optimistic.”

Longtime Salem residents Michael and Nancy Carney were recognized with the award this year for their commitment to community service since moving to the town with their children in 1962.

Having been involved in the Parent Teacher Association, the Boy Scouts and serving on the Salem School Board for two terms along with seven years on the Board of Selectmen – two as chairman – Carney also spent 15 years umpiring for the town’s Little League and has continuously operated the high school’s scoreboard for 32 years.

His wife held the position of director of continuing education at the Salem School District for 23 years where Carney served as the district clerk for 21 years.

“It became important to us that this be our community. We moved into a town with a wonderful playground. It’s very important that we stay involved in this playground now,” Nancy Carney said, praising the sense community spirit in the town. “The people of Salem have always been there during our down times.”

Lynch, who told the crowd that he had grown up in what was then known as a Boys Club in Massachusetts, praised the institution for molding young people with leadership and sportsmanship abilities and for fostering a sense of community in the border town.

“Salem is a very special town because of the people that live here,” he said. The Ganley Award is named for the late Chief John P. Ganley, who died in 1989.