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JA World Uncorked

Posted on 30 January 2018 by LeslieM

By Rachel Galvin

This year’s, JA World Uncorked event at the Huizenga Center on Broward College’s North Campus on Saturday, Jan. 20, went above and beyond. Besides a long line of tables filled with delectable tidbits from restaurants, and plenty of spirit distributors ready to pour, there was a champagne room and a beer garden. Out front, there was a Plinko game. People paid $20 to play and everyone was a winner of a bag filled with items like wine and wallets. People could also get their photo taken with the fotoboyz and take it home to capture the event. Of course, there was a long line of silent auction items and a raffle. There were so many sponsors involved in making this event a reality, including Presenting Sponsor Breakthru Beverage.

We doubled the amount of food vendors, probably 40 percent more,” said Tim Hogans, who has been on the board for three years and is chair on the governance committee. He also works with Florida Power & Light, which he said has supported Junior Achievement for 25 years.

This Circle of Wise Women Signature Event is a fundraiser for Junior Achievement of South Florida’s educational programs like JA Biz Town, which teaches kids about the work world interactively, instructing them about everything from finances to career opportunities. (https://jasouthflorida.org).

At JA World Uncorked, the entertainment always gets a lot of attention. This year’s was more ambitious than ever. Sponsored by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood (www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com), the event included a whole stage set up with lights, singers interacting with the crowd, a band and models dancing, and even twirling while suspended above, put together by Event Services Group (http://esgfla.com), said emcee and singer Eliot Valentin, who added that the performers were called Pulse Vibe. The “Pulse” part is the band and the DJ is Vibe, so when they come together, they combine their names. He said they recently performed at an industry holiday party and got asked to do this event by the Hard Rock.

Also, in an alcove nearby, was the very intimate and dimly lit bar by Kuro, which is located inside the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood.

It seemed like around every corner there was something new to see at the event.

This was the first year for Seasons 52.

They reached out to me to see if we wanted to participate,” said Tonya Prueter, sales manager, who was serving up pecan pie with a vanilla mousse on the bottom and also a red velvet dessert. (www.seasons52.com).

Nearby, Liquid Xcream served up ice cream with liquid nitrogen, made on-the-spot. For ice cream flavors, they had the ultra rich tequila strawberry cheesecake and honey cinnamon whiskey ice cream. They have over 70 flavors available, in addition to 20 popcorn flavors. They do not have a brick and mortar store, but just go to events like these. (www.liquidxcream.com).

The Temple Street Eatery (www.TempleStreetEatery.com) has been to the event before. This year, they served up Asian style roast pork sliders, with homemade pickled vegetables, and chocolate mousse with a chocolate cookie crumble.

We try to do a lot of events,” said the manager, B.J. Lee. “This is an amazing cause… to be able to present different career options to kids. Young kids don’t think about culinary as a career. It is nice when kids come into our restaurant and [they can experience flavors they may never have experienced]. They get excited about it.”

The General Manager of the 4 Rivers Smokehouse (www.4RSmokehouse.com), Will Davis, and his crew were very excited to be a part of the event. They opened up in Coral Springs a year and ½ ago.

This event is excellent. I love it!” exclaimed one of the carvers for the meat station they had set up. “I had a lot of fun… with the music playing, it is perfect,” added the caterer.

For more information on this event, visit www.jaworlduncorked.com.

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Yom HaShoah: Remembering the Holocaust

Posted on 27 April 2017 by LeslieM

By Rachel Galvin

At Century Village’s Le Club, members of Temple Beth Israel and Bnai’ Shalom got together to remember the Holocaust on April 23 a day before Holocaust Remembrance Day. The president of Temple B’nai Shalom, Sondra Schmier, welcomed guests, which was followed by the presentation of the colors and everyone joining in to sing the “Star Spangled Banner.” Ted Schneider accompanied with the trumpet. Rabbi Ezring, of Temple Beth Israel, gave the invocation and later recited Psalm 23.

In the group were several Holocaust survivors. Gerda Hollander and Claire Eskind recited the poem “We Do Not Understand,” written by Rabbi Jill Hausman. Rosalie Blady, talked about how her husband, a survivor, would awake from nightmares screaming as he remembered the horrors.

Survivors are reticent to speak; to do so, would be to relive the horrors,” she said, recalling how her husband was reluctant to talk about it with her, but did confide in his brother.

She recited the words to the song, “Where Can I go?” See some of the lyrics of the song featured on this page.

Although some survivors wish not to speak, others cannot speak enough, wanting to make sure people never forget. Morris Dan is one of those people. Even before people were sent to the camps, the horrors began. He recalled a Jewish man who did not do as he was told by a German Nazi soldier and the soldier ordered his own son to hang him for the misdeed. He recalled his trip into Auschwitz, at 17 years old, saying he was standing on the cramped train with 80 people, no washroom, no water and only a pail, heading to the camp that held 20,000 people.

There was a German officer with a stick who said, ‘You go to the right; you go to the left. My mom and my two sisters go [one way]. I go to the [other]. I came into the camp…20,000 people in the camp… I asked a fellow inside, ‘Where is my mom; Where’s my dad?’ They showed me a chimney. I thought it was a mental place. I couldn’t believe him. I ran into someone else. He showed me the same thing. By the third time, I realized. They were gassed and burnt. I worked as a slave near that place. I saw it going on day after day, night after night, 24 hours a day … going into the gas chamber. How can I go on? I didn’t want to believe it was possible … that my mom was not alive, my dad, my family. When I came in, they told me to undress, take a shower and gave me shoes. [They asked me to give them my arm on which they tattooed a number]. From now on this is your name. I had to remember it.”

He was piled into barracks filled with bunks with multiple people in each bed. The beds were made of straw without a cushion and only a blanket.

If you had to turn, everybody had to turn,” he said.

He continued, “I thought if I want to live and tell other people, I have to be strong. I worked. If I didn’t do it fast enough, they would hit us on our heads. A lot of people were sick and they didn’t feel good. They were killed on the job. I was trying to survive to be able to talk.”

He went into the camp in 1942 and was not freed until he was liberated by the Russians in 1945. Today, he shares what he experienced.

I go into schools, churches, private clubs. I have done it for the last 40 years and I will do it until I die. Thanks to God, I did make it.”

From nine kids – seven brothers and two sisters, only he and his brother survived.

Fran Oz also told a tale – of a young baby and a few others who were spared only because a German officer needed a tailor to make him a uniform and boots. That baby, she said, is now 75. That baby is she.

Many other survivors were present and chose not to share their stories, but did come to the front and lit a memorial candle. They were joined by those who lost family members to the Shoah and others who felt the need to light a candle.

Cantor Sherman and the B’nai Shalom Choir sang and the Mourner’s Kaddish was recited before the closing comments.

Rabbi Ezring made a compelling point at the beginning. He shared how people wish to strip away reminders of the Holocaust, and mentioned how many people who were alive then are rapidly dying off or have dementia, as well as how others wish to deny it ever took place. He said it is up to us to remember, to continue to tell the stories of those no longer with us.

He said, “It’s up to us to pick up the torch. If we don’t, the slogan ‘never again’ and the call to ‘never forget’ will go away.”

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JA Uncorked + Crafted VII

Posted on 30 January 2017 by LeslieM

By Rachel Galvin

Junior Achievement of South Florida benefited from another successful JA Uncorked event Jan. 21 at the JA World Huizenga Center at Broward College in Coconut Creek. Created by the Circle of Wise Women, this event was presented by Breakthru Beverage Florida. Guests could sample a wide variety of cuisine from South Florida restaurants and sip quality wines and craft beer. After bidding on items in the silent auction and eating to their heart’s content, guests listened to music by The Edge and kicked up their heels to dance the night away. Visit www.jaworlduncorked.com.

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