Hanukkah is onHammel the horizon Bobby and Bonnie Honored With Campus Dedication Ribbon Cutting Jackie Weiss Jeff Fleischaker
Early Childhood and Jewish JCC President Education Coordinator The Jewish Community Center of So,Lehigh whatValley is Hanukkah and the will have much to celebrate on June 11. We will why do we celebrate this fun beginjoyous by honoring and celebrating and holiday? the contributions of Bobby Hanukkah is an eight-and Bonnie Hammel to our day celebration thatorganization by officially re-dedicating our commemorates the victory property with its new name, the of the Maccabees over Hammel Campus. Immediately King Antiochus IV and his following that event, at 10:30am soldiers. After their victory, we will celebrate the past year of the Maccabees rededicate accomplishments at the JCC and the in Jerusalem. startTemple looking forward to what isAon new menorah built, but tap next with ourwas Annual Meeting. there was only a tiny jar of Simply put, the JCC would not be enjoying thelooked success and oil, which likegrowth enough of the yearsHowever, without to lastpast forfew a day. the contributions and vision of a great miracle happened! Bobby Bonnie Their The oiland lasted forHammel. eight whole
days. For that reason, a candle on the menorah or Hanukkiya is lit for each of the eight nights of the holiday to Maggie Schutzler commemorate the miracle. Development Director For that reason, Hanukkah is referred to as The Festival of The JCC to announce Lights! It isisexcited a custom to light the creation of a group for alumni the menorah near a window, of Camp JCC! Our hope is to where it can be easily seen, create a space that allows Camp and each night, thetogether light JCC Alumni to come from the candles continues and connect, share memories, and to grow, which serves as a help camp continue to flourish for
wonderful reminder me continued dedication andto generosity cosmetic improvements inside to ourhope organization has sustained and out, upgrades to the sound that never fades, it can and lighting systems in the us through some of our darker only grow stronger. financial times,isand allowed us Kline Auditorium, new kitchen Hanukkah a favorite to enjoy, appreciate, and generate equipment, a new golf simulator, Jewish holiday of many and an increased investment in the successes that weitare children because is currently a experiencing. While the monument our great staff. It has been a great custom for kids to receive honoring them has been in place year, and we are excited to share gifts for all eight nights! In our successes with you. We will at the corner of Washington and addition, many Tilghman for a fewdelicious months now, also share our vision of continued traditional foods are made on we are very excited to have the Hanukkah. Potato pancakesin chance to show our appreciation or latkes, jelly donuts, person on Sunday morning.and chocolate coins, known as And honoring their contributions could not be done than Hanukkah gelt,any arebetter mainstays the Annual Meeting whichcan is that the entire family to follow. we will spendthat enjoy! InThere a heated debate time reviewing all the various many Jews find themselves achievements of theside pastof, year, on the opposite it is including renovations to the Early a question of whether latkes Childhood Education classrooms, go better with applesauce or the new family changing room, sour cream. While we won’t take sides in this article, there are cases for both! Another staple is the dreidel, a four-sided spinning top winner receiving a pile of with Hebrew letters on each chocolate had flagpolecoins. and then it was off and community their side that standthey forspent the phrase JCC ofwethe Lehigh toThe the woods went! We spent summers in. We would talk a lot “a great miracle happened Valley will be building celebrating hours and hours forts and about our previous experiences there,” with “there” referring getting as dirty as possible. I was of being campers and/or working Hanukkah with our to in Israel also fortunate thatHanukkah even though I forIsrael camp, (Fun what’sfact, changed, what’s annual Family the letters are different with was a troublemaker at camp they new, and then they would typically Celebration and Community “here” “there!”). decided to offer me a jobSunday, when ask for areplacing tour. This wasn’t a tour Candle Lighting on Traditionally, games of I was old enough. I was3pm-5pm. camp to check out the facilities as much December 18 from dreidel director for two summers in Center as it was are to goplayed back in for timestashes and We will be celebrating in style Valley, and my fondest memories relive their experiences as a the child of Hanukkah gelt, with
Q & A With Camp JCC Alumnus, Mike Smith
years to come. We are gearing up for a Camp JCC Alumni Reunion in August and hope all Camp JCC alumni will be able to join us for an evening of reconnecting & fun. We asked Camp JCC Alumnus and current JCC Board Member Mike Smith to give us his thoughts on this new group and share some memories:
or young adult. Camp is a special place where special bonds are created, and I loved hearing the stories they shared. Now that we have an alumni group, we can hear more of those stories and probably have a few laughs along the way!
were our Friday BBQ where we would have dance parties and allcamp free swim in the afternoon along with whatever the special event was for the week. It was a very fulfilling job where I further honed my supervisory, planning, and interpersonal skills that have served me well since. When hiring staff I would always highlight the skills they would get to learn during the summer, because I truly believe that camp skills are LIFE SKILLS. Now I work as an Early Education Manager for Head Start using those same skills I learned back when I was 15 years old.
Stagemakers cast explores indigenous culture
Q: Why is the idea of a Camp JCC Alumni group exciting to you? As a former camp director for Camp JCC, I always loved when alumni would choose to send their children to the same camp
Q: What were your favorite memories of Camp JCC?
As a child, I was a bit of a troublemaker at camp. (Anyone who grew up with me at camp will probably get a laugh out of me saying that.) My fondest memories as a camper were in my 3rd and 4th grade years. I feel like we spent Q: What do you hope the Camp the entire day in the woods. We
of Indian Culture. Stagemakers would like to thank PBS39 for Program Director their support of the staff’s work to The cast of Disney’s “Moana Jr.” educate the cast about indigenous cultures and lifestyles. PBS39 wowed the audience and was able provided educational resources to fully embrace their roles with the help of PBS39 and the Museum based on the series and character
Heather Lavin
Molly of Denali. In addition, the organization funded the cast’s workshop with the Museum of Indian Culture’s educator Christine Applegate, who taught indigenous life skills and advised on the production’s dramaturgy.
growth for the JCC for the year to come, introduce new members of the Board of Directors and give thanks for those who have served and whose time on the board has lapsed. Sunday June 11, 2023 will be a great, celebratory day for our JCC and we look forward to sharing that experience with you.
with games, crafts tables, doughnuts, hot latkes and JCC Alumni group can bring cocoa, liveofentertainment, and to the JCC the Lehigh Valley acommunity? dance party! Register online at lvjcc.org/SpecialEvents or I hope can610-435-3571. bring people call thethat JCCit at together and to allow forum for We hope seeayou there them to share their experiences and wish everyone a chag and love of camp. I always dreamed sameach! of creating such a group, and I am thrilled that the JCC is doing it. There is no better place to send your child in the summer for camp, and I think it will give the new program more visibility. I think people will be amazed at seeing the different camp offerings the JCC now gives to the community, whether it’s traditional day camp or a specialty camp. If you’d like to join our Camp JCC Alumni Group, please fill out the form found at lvjcc.org/alumni or by scanning the QR code below! Any questions can be directed to Maggie Schutzler, Development Director at mschutzler@lvjcc.org or 610-435-3571. Participants worked on hand weaving baskets, fishing line, and nets which were used for props and created masks and symbolic stamps to hand-stamp linen, which became part of the costumes for the production.
HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | JUNE 2023 19
