Dear Havurah Members,
Thank you to all the volunteers who made our Yizkor Service and Break the Fast Dinner such a wonderful evening! A special thank you goes to Maxine Drapkin, Wendy Linow and Ricki Weintraub for leading the lovely Yizkor Sevice, Wendy Linow for creating the beautiful service booklet, and Jan Grinel and Helene Laefer for coordinating our Break the Fast Dinner.
Coming up
November and December are busy months for Havurah!
Our quarterly Membership Meeting & Election for the 2025 Leadership Team takes place on Wednesday, November 6th at 6:30 pm. Check-in begins at 6:00 pm. Light refreshments, water, decaf coffee, and tea will be served. Feel free to bring your other beverage of choice. During the meeting, members will vote to approve the minutes from our September meeting, and the slate of candidates for the 2025 Leadership Team:
President.....................................Debbie Blonder
Vice-President.............................Wendy Linow
Vice-President.............................Mitchell Stein
Treasurer......................................Alan Alterbaum
Secretary......................................Lenore Delman
At-Large Leader: Events*.............Jan Grinel
At-Large Leader: Membership......Carol Levey
At-Large Leader: Programs...........Ricki Weintraub
*Helene Laefer will be partnering with Jan Grinel to plan Events
Following the meeting, Havurah First Gentleman, Brian Blonder, will present, “Mahjong-From Courtesan Houses to the Catskills-And Beyond,” reviewing the fascinating history of the game, Mahjong, and its influence on American culture. Learn about its sinful origins in China to its introduction into the U.S. He will discuss its explosive growth in popularity in the U.S during the 1920’s, and how Jewish women volunteers utilized Mahjong to help support Jewish communities.
Following the presentation, there will be a prize drawing for a China Tango Gift Card.
Our Shabbat Dinner on Friday, November 22nd at 6:00 pm will be catered by Bell’s BBQ, featuring our “Miner’s Special Menu:”
- Panned-BBQ Brisket and Sliced Chicken
- Shoveled-BBQ Baked Beans
- Axed-Coleslaw
- Smelted-Mashed Buttered Yams
- Tooled-Challah
- Struck it Rich-Dessert
After dinner, Havurah’s resident genealogist, Hart Hoffman, will present, “Why Did so Many Jews go to Leadville, Colorado? How German Jews Changed the Way America Shopped.” Hart will take you on the journey she took to find her ancestor, David May, founder of the May Department Stores. The evening will take place in the Rocky Mountain High Saloon, perhaps better known as the Morris/Nelson/Penn rooms at Independence Center. The cost is $22 for Members and $26 for guests.
The RSVP Deadline for the Shabbat Dinner is Friday, November 8th at NOON.
Next up will be our annual Chanukah Gala on Saturday, December 21st in the Anthem Center Ballroom. We’ll have a sumptuous buffet catered by Yorktown Grill, dancing to the music of Cool Change, keepsake photos, and each attendee will receive five raffle tickets for our fabulous raffle baskets and “last chance prizes.” The menu and RSVP details will be coming soon.
We will hold our annual Christmas Day Dine Out for lunch at China Tango on Wednesday, December 25th. We are not accepting reservations yet. Watch for an email the first week in December. This event fills very quickly.
Our final function for 2024 will be our Menorah Lighting at 4:30 pm on Thursday, December 26th in the Independence Center Courtyard. Following the candle blessings, we will move into the Morris/Nelson/Penn Rooms for donuts (jelly and plain) and warm beverages. There is no cost, and no RSVP is required. We encourage you to bring any local or visiting grandchildren to this event! We’ll have dreidels and the dreidel game rules on the tables (bring your own pennies to play). We also encourage people to bring Menorahs to decorate the tables. I love seeing the incredibly variety of styles our members have. I collect them, so I bring several.
Save the date for another Shabbat Dinner on January 24, 2025. Details will be sent in December.
Dues
It’s that time of year again—time to submit your dues for 2025. The cost remains $15 per person for 2025. If you joined after September 1st, you are already paid through 2025. To renew your Havurah membership, please make your check out to Sun City Anthem Community Association, Inc., and place in the Havurah mailbox at Anthem Center. We will also have a table at the Club Fair at Anthem Center on Saturday, December 7th from 9:00-noon. We will be at table #4, along the left wall when you enter the ballroom. Your dues must be current in order to attend Havurah functions at the member price, and vote at our meetings.
Thank you to our Support Volunteers!
We rely on a number of people who help “behind the scenes.” We could not function without their assistance. I would like to thank:
- Maxine Drapkin, who has stepped forward as our Hospitality Coordinator for 2025.
- Pepe Kahn, Rhonda Begun, and Linda Shapiro, who will work together to coordinate “Dine Outs.”
- Marnee Foldoe, who will continue as our Spirit Magazine article author.
- Ary Mirochnik, who will continue assisting the club with the website, graphics, and our other technical needs.
- Marilyn Lerner, who will continue as Chair of the Care Committee.
- Lenore Delman and Marilyn Lerner, who will continue as Volunteer Coordinators.
- Ellen Goodside, who will lead our Sunshine Committee, with the assistance of Tina Freedman.
- Joni Wingenbach, who will be shadowing Lenore Delman this year and be back-up Secretary.
- Barbara Miller and Marnee Foldoe, who will be our Social Solos Ambassadors in 2025.
- Barbara Miller, again, for Chairing the Sunshine Committee for the last few years.
- Ami Lichtman, who populated our website calendar this year.
- Our Event and Program committee members who worked all year long to provide wonderful ideas for our Havurah functions.
And thank you to all the volunteers who help us setup, check people in, serve, and cleanup at our functions!
Please reach out to me if you have questions, concerns, or ideas. Any complaints should be addressed to me. We can't make everyone happy all the time, but we try our best!
Regards,
Debbie