Congregation Picnic
Ground Breaking Ceremony
It was a beautiful June day and the Ground Breaking ceremony was a well attended and meaningful event. There was a speech given by Lee Weinberger telling the story of how the synagogue went from idea to reality. There was a presentation of plaques to the building committee members, a dedication of the synagogue main office to Lee and Madelene Weinberg, breaking of the ground by the congregation presidents (past and present) and ground breaking by the next generation of Jews in Southern Maryland. The event was concluded with hamotze and refreshments.
Holocaust Remembrance Service
The service held May 2nd, 2008 and was a powerful event. "Based on the comments I received I think we succeeded in having a program that paid honor to the Holocaust survivors and victims but also had an uplifting note to it as well. The entire Service was executed flawlessly. We owe a special thank you to Jasha and Randy, and of course to Jessie and Olivia, they were wonderful." - Medelene Weinberger
Purim Dinner
Saturday, March 22nd was our congregational Purim Dinner. We had a lovely dinner at Mama Stella's on Bryans Road. Not only was it Purim but also Kirk Hoy's birthday! The dinner was well attended. Thanks Bob for the wonderful suggestion.
Bingo Fundraiser
How do you go to a bingo game and be guaranteed to come back with $400? By staffing the Waldorf Jaycees bingo game and earning money for our building fund! Many thanks go to Suzanne Darby and her son Daniel Darby, Alvin and Ellen Cohen, Randy and Jackie Schoch, Madelene and Lee Weinberger, Bob Locke, Elaine and Paul McVinney and their son Eric McVinney for volunteering on Sunday, March 23. This team sold tickets and markers, and called out wining sheet numbers. It wasn't difficult, just time consuming, as the team arrived at 6 pm, received an orientation from the staff, worked during the game, and left at about 10:30 pm. Since the Jaycees don't allow smoking at their games anymore, the atmosphere was pleasant, and we all got free soda. We are scheduled to assist the Jaycees again on Thurs, March 27. Paul McVinney will discuss future dates with the Jaycees staff and let you know when you can volunteer to help.
TU B’SHVAT SEDER
Thanks to everyone that came to our first Congregational Tu B’Shvat Seder. We had a wonderful evening sampling 15 different fruits and singing songs. I think most of us learned a couple of things about the holiday that we didn’t know. A special thanks to Michael Green for being our leader for the evening and to Valerie Holt for a wonderful job leading the singing. As an added bonus, we helped Merle Whitt celebrate his 92nd birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MERLE ! !
Sukkot Celebration
Congregational Picnic by Madeline Weinberg
I thought the picnic was a big success; hope that everyone else thought so, too. The turnout was terrific. The children had a great time trying out the pedal boats. Some of the parents looked a little tired as they pedaled back to the dock, but not the kids – they were full of energy. Thank you Jasha Levenson and Paul McVinney for supervising the fishing and ensuring that everyone was safe. A very special thank you to Paul McVinney for serving as our chef for the day. The hamburgers and hot dogs were delicious Paul!!
Bowie Baysox Baseball
Thanks to those who joined us Saturday evening July 7, 6:30 PM.
...click here to read Washington Post article...
...click here to read Washington Post article...
So Many People to Thank
By Madelene Weinberger
Our Holocaust Remembrance Program was everything we could have hoped for. Our speaker, Miriam Winter, was fantastic, as were our special guests, the four Holocaust Survivors from Southern Maryland: Ellen Cohen, Alice Lebowitz, Morris Kornberg and Klaus Zwilsky. After the program, the survivors' patience was endless as they talked individually to people. I know this was tiring for them, but it was a very moving experience for the people in attendance.
The line to purchase Miriam's book formed quickly and moved slowly but no one appeared to mind. They waited patiently for their turn to talk to her. Her story is one that we will never forget and we are very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet her and to hear her story first hand.
We also had as special guests Commissioners Collins, Graves, and Hodges and Delegate Peter Murphy. We really appreciate them accepting our invitation. During the evening, they asked us to submit a candidate from our Congregation to be on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity and Inter-Group Relations.
And last but not least, I must mention the crowd. We had approximately 125 people in attendance. Sha'are Shalom was well represented, but we were particularly pleased to note that the majority of the people were not Jewish. Judging from the comments after the program, it was an evening that they won't forget. Many of them told me personally that they were so glad that they came.
I could not have put the program together without the help of the following people. We got Miriam as a speaker through Marcy Kozel. Sandy Blake made a lovely quilt for Miriam as a gift from the Women's Group. Sandy and Mike also picked Miriam up at the Holocaust Museum and brought her to Waldorf. Jackie Schoch was responsible for cooking dinner for Miriam - it looked and smelled delicious. Jackie and Randy also took Miriam back to her hotel in Washington after the program. Elaine McVinney was responsible for the corsages for the survivors and she brought pictures for our exhibits. Ellen Cohen brought her posters and book for the exhibits and Pat Myers obtained permission from the Tantallon Community Players for us to use their Anne Frank Exhibits for the evening. Alvin Cohen put together a list of churches in the local area for us to send flyers to and he donated the postage. Beverly Hoy distributed flyers to the high school social studies teachers. Daniel Darby blew the shofar during our program Saturday night and Randy led us in the Kaddish and the responsive readings. Lee was our publicity person. He designed and printed the programs, flyers, letters, invitations to the survivors and the politicians, the newspaper announcements and served as the MC for the evening. Maury Tobin and Deborah Murphy helped with the Washington Post Newspaper coverage and Deborah wrote the wonderful article. Don Darby researched which sound system we should get, delivered it and set it up for the evening. Cynthia, John and Josh Struble videotaped the event and made a copy for the synagogue and a copy to send to Miriam. The following people helped plan the program and baked all the wonderful desserts: Ellen Cohen, Suzanne Darby, Sandy Blake, Jackie Schoch, Robyn Kanter, Michele Uhler, Karen Thompson, and Elaine McVinney. Pam Green helped plan the program but had to go out of town for a family emergency. My good friend Elaine Overgaard helped us bake and came on Saturday to help set up for the program.
I am very proud to say that 40% of our Congregation worked on this program. That is truly remarkable. We may be small in number but there's no limit to what we can do when we work together. Congratulations and thank you all!
