Reflections on Our 50th Anniversary Gala

November 2017 Newsletter Article

Our 50th Anniversary Gala celebration was a phenomenal success! It was the crowning point of this year’s 50th anniversary year of celebrations. I’m writing this a few days later, and I’m still floating high on the sense of accomplishment, gratitude, nostalgia, and enthusiasm that filled the room Sunday evening.

The gala was framed as a tribute to the founding families, to the past presidents, and to our spiritual leaders. But, as master of ceremonies Stephen Rodman pointed out, everyone in the room that night has been a part of the vital community that we call Congregation Shalom.

The 50th Anniversary Committee, chaired by Liz Denly, pulled together a party to rival a wedding or bar mitzvah celebration. Every detail was attended to, from the food and flowers, to the photography, to the Tribute Books on every table. The committee worked together in a way that the best committees do to plan a party that will be remembered for years.

Over 200 members and friends of Congregation Shalom came together at Sky Meadow in Nashua. Before dinner we honored our founding members, a dozen of whom were in attendance. We paid tribute to Rabbi Bard and Rabbi Perry, who both spoke from the heart of their memories of Congregation Shalom. After dinner the program continued, with words about our new Chai Fund and Legacy Giving Program, and then greetings from the Merrimack Valley Jewish Federation. We then honored our past presidents, asking each to stand as we read memories that they had written. We had some joking around from the “Rodman boys”, and a champagne toast. The DJ got nearly everyone on the floor to dance the hora, and there was music and dancing for the rest of the evening.

We held a silent auction for beautiful works of art, and ads had been sold for the Tribute Book. Between the two, ten thousand dollars was raised for Congregation Shalom. My thanks to those who organized these efforts and who made the donations.

We had five framed certificates from a range of organizations, each touchingly personalized and testifying to our significance in the greater community, including:

• a congratulatory letter from the president of the URJ
• a Resolution from the Massachusetts General Court,
• a Special Congressional Recognition from the US House of Representatives,
• a Governor’s Citation, and
• a Proclamation from the town of Chelmsford.

What is harder to describe is what the evening meant to me. I believe we all shared a sense of pride. I cherish the chance I had to talk with people who travelled a distance to attend, for whom this was an opportunity to reconnect with a clearly important part of their lives. It made me proud to show them who we are today, and how vital we still are. Our enthusiasm and the sense of promise of things to come were tangible. The strength of our community lifted my spirits.

L’shalom