Well, here it is…my last message as President of the Temple. It’s been an interesting two years. I have learned a lot and, hopefully, you feel like I have brought some good to the Temple. It has been an honor to serve as your President and to work with the incredible Board members that have served during that two-year period. Obviously, as the Immediate Past President, I will continue to serve on the Board this year – so you are not entirely “rid of” me – and I don’t expect to completely step back into the shadows, but I am ready to pass the baton…
January Birthday Celebrations
Everyone deserves to be remembered on their birthday! So, starting in 2018, the plan is to have monthly celebrations recognizing all birthdays during that month. Based on that plan, we will be celebrating January birthdays next Friday (the 26th). I believe that includes Rabbi Nancy, Sybily Abroms, Alvin Rosenbaum and Sara Shapiro. Am I right and/or am I missing anyone? If so, please let me know so that we can be sure and recognize and celebrate you next week! Until then…Happy Birthday Month to all of you! (By the way, if you have not shared your birthday during the annual dues pledge process, and would like to be part of the celebration when the month is right, please let me know and I will ask Kim to update the directory.)
Soup Kitchen Weekend
This is our weekend to provide desserts for the Soup Kitchen. Please plan on helping us meet the need by either baking up a batch of whatever dessert you would like to contribute or picking something up at the store and bringing it by the Temple no later than 9:30 this Saturday morning (January 20). If you don’t have time to do either of these, finacial donations are also apprecited! Please let Fran Jacobs know if you will be bringing a dessert item to donate.
Annual Congregational Meeting
Our annual congregational meeting will be held this Sunday, Janauray 21 at 10:00am. As always, we will hold the meeting at the Temple and I hope that everyone will do their best to join us! This is the best time for you to share your ideas for the future of our Temple and it is important for you to be there to vote on a proposed amendment to the Constitution as well as the proposed slate of officers. A couple of weeks ago, on Sunday 12/31/17, all congregants should have received an email from me that included: 1) the meeting agenda; 2) the proposed Bylaws amendment; and 3) the minutes for the 2017 annual meeting. If you did NOT receive this communication, please let me know asap and I will forward a copy of it to you.
The slate of officers that will be voted on is:
- President – Ken Wolf
- Vice President – Sybil Abroms
- Secretary – Eugene (Buddy) Bernstein
- Treasurer – Marty Abroms
- Director (completing the 2nd year of a 2-year term) – Nancy Opler
- Director (for a 2 year term) – Alvin Rosenbaum
- Past President – Traci Welch
Requesting Your Help with a Name
We are in the process of updating the Yahrzeit List for 2018. During 2017, someone requested that Adele Cote be added to the list, but we do not have her date of death and we do not know her relationship to a Temple member. If you have this information, please provide it to Buddy Bernstein as soon as you can.
Finance Committee Processes
As I shared last week, in December the Finance Committee met and developed some guidelines for future budget planning. Because we are putting some new processes in place, I wanted to go ahead and let you all know what to expect. As has been the annual responsibility of the Finance Committee, an operating budget will be developed and submitted to the Board for approval in early 2018. (When I say operating budget, I am referring to the revenues collected through annual dues and expenses like: paying the Rabbi, the power bill, insurance, etc.)
In addition (and new), the Finance Committee will also develop a capital expenditures budget (these are items that are not part of the daily operations – like a need for a new Yahrzeit board or repairs to the roof, etc) and submit it to the Board for approval. What this means is that any capital expenditure that is requested and/or needed for the upcoming year will need to be presented to the Board, along with the appropriate estimates, no later than February 15 of each year. Because this is the first year of this process, there will be some flexibility in the that deadline but we will make every attempt to stay as close to it as possible. Therefore, if you believe there are important capital expenditures needed, please work with a member of the Board to submit the necessary information and estimates so that it can be considered and voted on during the first Board meeting of 2018.
This process will be discussed further at the Annual Meeting but I wanted to get you started thinking about it now.
Service Schedule
The service schedule for for Janaury is:
- January 19 – Rabbi Nancy
- January 26 – Rabbi Nancy
As always, congregants and members of the Shoals community, at large, are invited to attend the weekly Torah Study session which is held each Saturday morning at 9:30, at the Temple.
Reminder items:
- Soup Kitchen – Saturday, January 20, please have donations at the Temple no later than 9:30am
- Annual Meeting – Sunday, January 21, 10:00am at the Temple
Thank you, again, for allowing me to serve as your President and to represent the Temple in the community! I hope everyone has a fabulous week and I will see you Friday night.
Shalom!
Traci Welch
