Temple Staff and Facility Happenings
 

By the time you get this Voice, I will have passed the 7-month mark as Executive Director of Temple Beth El. What an incredible journey! During these seven months, many changes have taken place at the Temple, and I’ve spent a great deal of time getting to know our routines, meeting many members, welcoming new members to Charlotte and the Temple, and evaluating the Temple’s needs.


Some of the changes have included staff additions and changes. Karen Morano joined our staff as Administrative Assistant to the Rabbis and Cantor. After only a couple of months, Karen is handling life cycle events as though she had been here forever, and is managing the clergy’s busy schedules with ease.

Bill Loya, our Maintenance Supervisor, has been a tremendous addition to the Temple. Bill has made great improvements to the Melasky Nursery and the kitchen with his painting skills, has mastered setting up in the Temple and the Education Building for various meetings and programs, and keeps the Temple clean and orderly all week. You’ll even find Bill here late on Friday afternoons helping us prepare for Shabbat. And of course, Donald Thacker is here on Wednesdays and weekends to keep things going and handle set up changes. We have had as many as fifteen different events over a weekend and Donald is here through them all.

Many of you know Robyn Clemente from her role as Administrative Assistant to the Clergy. With Karen on staff , Robyn continues to work part-time for the Temple as my Assistant. One of the most crucial roles Robyn plays is coordinating the B’nei Mitzvah program. With almost 80 Bar and Bat Mitzvah each year, scheduling the clergy’s time to meet with the students for tutoring, speech writing and rehearsing is a great undertaking; but there are also many details to take care of with the parents as they prepare for the big event. Robyn handles all the details with complete ease and very careful attention.

Stephanie DiPaolo continues as Assistant to the Religious School and Interfaith and Outreach Coordinator, and has added Adult Programming Coordinator to her duties. Stephanie will work with our various committees that generate programming and will assist with public relations, promotion
and general coordination.

Holly Gainsboro has been the volunteer advisor of our Junior Youth Group and has led activities and programs this year with attendance of thirty to fifty 5th and 6th graders. We also have the seventh grade Sheva program, an eighth grade program and LIBERTY. Eric Lachowitz has just joined us as
LIBERTY advisor and has had several meetings and conferences recently. Holly has expanded her duties to include supervision of all youth programs, and she will work very closely with Rabbi Jeremy, Eric and the leadership of our youth programs.

Stephanie Brodsky has joined our staff part time as Facilities & Events Coordinator and VOICE editor. Her attention to detail and great coordination efforts will enable us to carry on the busy schedule at the Temple. Did you know there are an average of ten to fifteen events/activities at the Temple each weekend? Stephanie will be working very closely with our weekend staff to ensure these events take place as planned. She is also putting her editing expertise in the VOICE and will be in touch with committee chairs and others who should be reporting in the VOICE.

While staff is critical to the smooth running of all Temple programs and activities, our building upkeep and current systems are just as important. While twelve years doesn’t seem old, it is a point at which more attention has to be paid to the maintenance and upkeep of a building. Thanks to the
generosity of Marc and Mattye Silverman and Fred and Marcy Dumas, we have made wonderful improvements to the David Silverman Social Hall. Many of you have commented on how beautiful the new chairs are and how much the new carpet makes a difference in the room, and more and more people are booking the David Silverman Social Hall for wedding receptions, Bar and Bat Mitzvah Kiddush luncheons and parties, as well as other life cycle events. Norm and Donna Levin, and
the Samarel and the Maniloff families provided the beautiful new sconces in the David Silverman Social Hall, which give us more lighting options. And so many others have been so generous with their time and funds to help the Temple.

I will be celebrating my first Passover as Executive Director very soon and look forward to participating in the Temple’s second Seder and sharing this very special holiday with many of you. Please don’t hesitate to call me with questions, concerns or to talk about ways you can get involved or help the Temple with our ongoing projects.

Sara H. Schreibman, Executive Director