A Letter from President Deborah Plotkin ~
Happiness and pride best describe how I have been feeling since our Gala on Saturday night. Suzi Abramson-Johnson and her GALA committee gave all who attended a night to remember.
Temple B’rith Shalom is the jewel of Yavapai County and beyond. We entered the Hassayama to a room filled with beautifully decorated tables, music by Scandalous Hands and a room filled with laughter. Our eyes were drawn to the plethora of beautifully arranged baskets filled with a variety of marvelous wonders. We had baskets to make us more beautiful, baskets to feed our souls, baskets to relax, jewelry that sparkled, creative pottery, exquisite one-of-a-kind glass pieces and so much more. Bidders enjoyed shopping and hoping to go home with treasures.
All of your choices for bidding were the result of many of our gala team members asking local business owners and congregants to donate items, gift cards and in some cases to be underwriters.
Thank you to those who worked, donated items, were underwriters, attended the gala and to those who donated but could not attend. You all made our fundraiser a success. Just to be clear, I measure the success of Saturday as 1. Having Fun. 2. Enjoying delicious food 3. Listening and dancing to great music and 4. Raising money for TBS. Every goal set was overwhelmingly met.
Our celebrated and excellent chair was Suzi Abramson-Johnson. Her leadership ensured the goals would be met. Dory Magnuson was in charge of our Silent and live auction. Dory carefully arranged most of the baskets, and then expertly determined the best way to display each item. Trudy Steinhauer, our keeper of who went to what vendor, the item donated and the keeper of laughter.
Thanks to our committee members who worked tirelessly to run around our region making requests, returning to collect the donation, attending hours of meetings and offering suggestions and donating items. Our congregants and committee members and some who helped but could not attend need recognition and thanks. Thank you to the following committee members and donors: Trudy Steinhauer, Laurie Reiner, Leah Gilbert, Arlene Raskin, Shari Brooks, Alexandra Paeff, Linda Patent, Karen Bergman, Dory Magnuson, Mindy Rubin, Ruth Stern, Gloria & Bruce Hershman, Allee Steinberg, Heather Balk, Robin Frielich, Suzanne Solvet, Annah-Mikayla Sexton, Wendy Porter, Linda Frankel & Alan Sherry, Leslie Adler, Michael Sperling, Rich & Claudia Ackerman, Esther Littmann, Arlene Brownie, Karin Luedke, Bill & Sandy Weiss, Cindie Abrahams, an anonymous donor and Renee Blackburn.
Our creative congregants, Annie Bernkrant, Barbara Sussman, Shira Zerner, Joanne Brody, Ferne Zabezensky and Bard Schatzman donated their creative and beautiful pieces.
Greeting you at the entrance were Suzanne Solvet, Esther Littmann and Renee Blackburn. Collecting your contributions were Jessica Dreifuss, Chedva Weingart and Allee Steinberg.
The dinners were deliciously prepared by and served by the crew of Hassayampa. Your 180 scrumptious cupcakes were made by Allee Steinberg and “expertly” decorated by Allee, Suzi and me. Trust me we had fun. The table scape was the creation of Amore of Hassayampa, Suzi, Deb and Dory.
Jessica was instrumental in creating our invitations, place cards, seating charts (along with Suzi), collecting dinner reservations and so so so much more. She deserves so much of our thanks. Dan Adler kept the crowd bidding for Live Auction items. He then ran a successful Paddle raise! All I can say is, Dan you are wonderful and thank you ever so much for your time and dedication to TBS.
Our congregants and friends are so very generous. Thank you to all who celebrated the evening with us and to those who could not attend yet still found heart to donate to Temple B’rith Shalom: THANK YOU.
My last thank you goes out to Rabbi Schanerman. Your innate ability to show each of us how to be better individuals and members of a highly charged congregation is epic. We are all so proud and thankful you are our spiritual leader.
Sincerely,
Deborah Plotkin
President
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