By Susan Lesh
What a lovely event! Kudos again to Azar Gordon who almost single-handedly transformed our meetinghouse into a beautiful pink, green and white celebratory room.
We dined on delicious shrimp scampi, lasagna and vegetables. Thank you to the irrepressible Eric Sandhusen for being our emcee and keeping the evening spirited and moving along. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Tracey Kelley, who acted as installer, gracefully allowing some members of the board to retire while others came on to take their place.
We awarded a talented young woman who is a senior at Rosa L. Parks Arts High School, Janeah Alexander, the Selene Katz Endowment Scholarship; this year we bundled the three small scholarships to create a $1,500 scholarship for one student. Janeah’s major in high school was voice, but she has been accepted in the Biology Department at Ramapo College of New Jersey and plans to become a pediatrician.
Leader Joe Chuman gave a 25-year pin to Barbara Landberg and 50-year pins to Bea Gopoian and Fritzi Garval. I read the award letter that was read at the AEU Assembly luncheon honoring Beth and Perry Stein, recipients of the Anna Garlin Spencer Volunteer Award, for their efforts in the creation and success of Ethical Brew, which blends live music and social action.
Our final award was the Jack Rubenstein Award, presented by Joe to Kay Roseen. Kay partners with Dr. Joyce Baynes to lead the Haiti Packathon and Haiti Future Forward, efforts to help families and students in Haiti. The Packathon sent over 125,000 meals to the area, which will feed 550 children three days a week this year. Kay will let us know the November Saturday for the 2018 Packathon and we hope to help this worthy effort.
Susan Lesh is president of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen
Photos by Peter Kelley and Sharon Stephens