Dear Friends,

During our fall holiday season we planted the bulbs for our major synagogue fundraiser, the "Spring Fling."  We spent the winter cultivating our concept with the hope of creating a true celebration of our Temple Israel community while raising much needed operating funds.  We set goals of raising $45,000.00 in net contributions.  Fling attendance of 170 people and participation through ads, donations or attendance of 75% of our membership.  I am thrilled to report that we exceeded each one of these goals.

Preparations started slowly but it wasn't long before the planning and organizing blossomed into a successful endeavor unto itself.  The  entire Spring Fling committee included over 50 volunteers from the Temple Israel community.  We had a group of people who understood the goals, enjoyed working together and were generous with their time, their creativity, their money and their efforts. The fruit of this  committee's work was evident in the enthusiasm of the tremendous celebration the March 20th.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge everyone who  contributed to this memorable evening.

With the tenacity and commitment of the Chairperson Susie Goldstein, the Green Ad Journal Committee raised $25,000!  An equally hard working team of Nancy Bortinger, Roger Lang, Elyse Levene, Peri Namerow , Jane Rosen, Allen Rubin, Tricia Schreiber, Carla Vogel, and Joe Wechsler soliciting ads surrounded her.

Over $18,000.00 was generated by the bountiful gift items that Susan Green and Alla Fine, Co Chairs of the Silent Auction Committee, acquired for our bidding.  Over 110 items were auctioned off that evening.  An awesome team of gift wrappers included Cheryl Alterman, Miriam Bakal, Irene Bressler, Helen Katz, Selma Klein, Deb Manheimer and Gila Melamed.  Fred Cohen handled the cashier function.  Sheryl Lowenhar, Hedy and Eric Klein, Laura and Alex Rothschild, Allan and Cheryl   Alterman, Stephanie Gottesman, Tova Samuels - were among the many congregants who served as runners to close out the sales.  Over 30 synagogue members solicited donations of gifts.

The Marketing Committee attracted 170 partiers, which resulted in ticket sales of more than $12,000.  Shari Haber, a true professional, helped brand our event and contributed to its great success.  The artistic talents of Gila Melamed and the marketing knowledge of Cheryl Klein and Jo Ann Rothenberg helped her.  Cheryl Alterman and Arlene Cox flawlessly handled invitations and ticket admissions respectively.  This committee was generously supported by the contribution of sponsors Howard and Tricia Schreiber who underwrote the invitations.

The Technical Committee helped the entire even flow smoothly.  Allan Alterman turned the ads into the digital journal that ran throughout the evening.  The Silent Auction data base was painstakingly complied by Ellen and Raphael Blumkin.

Beth Kotek, Peri Namerow and Alla Fine exuberantly chaired the Event Committee, responsible for the elegant and exciting evening.  Artie Bressler who not only led the band, he got them to play for "wholesale".  David Zisa, party planner extraordinaire, whose time was donated by Greenbaum Interiors, and which also provided the beautiful decorations.  And the generosity of Main Event Caterers and Marty Grosel and his staff prepared and served a delectable feast at a reasonable price.  Thank you to Larri Wolfson for donating a $1,000 Shop Rite Gift Card as our door prize.  Thank you to Rob Kern for capturing the fun and excitement of our party and of our transformed social hall which demonstrated to everyone how special an affair can be at our shul.

Our dedicated support staff at Temple Israel again came through with an incredible effort through every phase of his project from inception, through planning and finally executing a great event.  We are grateful to Maureen Nassan and her staff Judy Baslaw and Joan Hecht for their efforts and to Jose Serna and Tina Polen for all their hard work.

I would like to extend a special thank you to Beth and Freddie Kotek who generously sponsored our entire party. This enabled us to contribute all the revenues from ads, ticket sales, sponsorships and auction sales directly to the synagogue and truly helped to make it a community event.  In addition to underwriting the cost of the entire party, they contributed their time attending all the event planning and organization meetings.  Their advice was wise and kept us focused on the big picture, "raise a lot of money for the shul" and "celebrate and build our wonderful community

As you can see, it takes a "village" to make a successful event.  Many new bonds were formed and some old ones renewed in preparing for this celebration and in the celebration itself.  The atmosphere was optimistic and renewing, just as I had hoped for in an event that was planned for the first day of spring.  Personally, I would like to thank Rabbi Fine, Cantor Bromberg, Rabbi Litwin, our president, Denis Vogel, and the entire Board of Temple Israel for their support in helping to make the evening such a huge success.

Jo Rosen, Chair Ways and Means