5782 High Holy Days Gratitude from Laurie Frankino, High Holy Days Service Coordinator

We have publicly thanked Rabbi Ross, Cantorial Soloist Robin Selinger, and Accompanist Peter Tavens for their performances during these difficult but meaningful holiday services, but I’d like to thank the TBS congregants who volunteered their time in the preparation and execution of our High Holy Days services.

• Your TBS Board of Trustees who struggled with the decisions that needed to be made regarding safe in-person worship during the Delta variant epidemic. Very special thanks to Rabbi Michael who guided us thoughtfully and carefully to our final decision to offer the option of worshiping together or on Zoom.
• Drew Dallet designed the service programs for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
• Eric Chupack, our chief audio engineer, trained Adam Alderson, our new Zoom Manager, to ensure that our congregants who participated on Zoom experienced the most professional level of service possible for all services.
• The TBS Brotherhood members were invaluable in helping to ready our building for our May Bar Mitzvah service and the High Holy Days. Their contribution of time and a generous donation made it possible to keep our timeline for opening our building. Members Mark Schildhouse, James Field, Jack Telesman, and Art Busch also ushered, directed traffic, operated the chair lift, checked tickets and answered the many questions asked of them during all five holiday services.
• Kim Strausser, Mike Miller and Jean Rhodes cleaned and vacuumed the sanctuary, social hall, and kitchen in preparation for services. Kim and Mike also donated and planted the lovely floral display in the cement urns outside our front door.
• Beth Madis coordinated our holiday prayer book lending program.
• Toby Liberman helped to assemble the gift bags distributed to all in-person service attendees after Erev Rosh Hashanah services.
• Jean Beasley and Art Busch read Torah so beautifully during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services
• Susan Terkel read the Haftorah English translation during the Torah Services at Yom Kippur morning services
• Len Rose gave us another award-winning rendition of Jonah
• Our Shofar Squad, David Terkel, Sarah Suntheimer, Julius Hess, & Len Rose
• Marcy Caplin coordinated this year’s Food Drive and those who donated to it
• Jean Rhodes made herself available for whatever was needed, including manning the guest ticket table outside the building with Marcy Caplin even though neither of them attended in-person services.
• Wendy Hess led our afternoon education session during the Yom Kippur service break and the congregants who participated with her. Wendy also led our project to both repair broken pieces of our stained glass windows and replace the Alpha-Omega pane in one of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary with a new Torah design which is being installed on Friday, September 24.
• The Asher family for attending Children’s Zoom services
• Jonathan Selinger, my partner as well as editor of the weekly e-Megillah, kept the congregation updated on changes to holiday service events and oversaw the entire high holy days event, assisting me with creative solutions to logistical issues.
• The volunteer service readers, candle lighters and ark openers who participated in all five holiday services
• Amy McCormick assisted in reorganizing the sanctuary after the holidays, including changing out the new holiday prayer books for our Shabbat prayer books and boxing the old holiday prayer books for donation to another synagogue.

Thank you all for your valuable contributions.