Hebrew Health Care installs officers, trustees

WEST HARTFORD>>Hebrew Health Care hosted its Annual Meeting and Installation Event on October 16, 2013. With Board Members, management staff and special community guests in attendance, Hebrew Health Care celebrated the organization's events, programs and relationships that we have formed in our history of caring for Greater Hartford's elderly.

 

The program included opening remarks from Outgoing Chairman, Richard Rubenstein; message by President and CEO, Bonnie B. Gauthier; installation of Board Members and Officers, along with an awards ceremony. Hebrew Health Care Board Member Richard C. Robinson was recognized with the Georgette Koopman Trustee Award for Excellence for his service and leadership in HHC's fundraising efforts. Staff recognition through the Elaine Gollis Employee Award for Excellence was presented to Sub-acute Unit Secretary Becky Gibson for her exemplary performance and work ethic.

 

In addition, HHC recognized two staff members who recently celebrated their 50^th service anniversaries, Sarah Gamble and Vere Haynes. The 2013 Annual Meeting at Hebrew Health Care marked the installation of its new Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ross Hollander by LeadingAge Connecticut's President, Mag Morelli.

 

Hebrew Health Care is a non-profit, non-sectarian health care provider featuring a full spectrum of integrated and seamless in-patient; out-patient and community based geriatric services to meet the needs of older adults in the Greater Hartford community. Hebrew Health Care is committed to providing comprehensive care of the elderly. Not simply saying it, not simply building it, HHC does it – every day, every week, every year, for over 100 years. Hebrew Health Care's commitment to the elderly in the Greater Hartford area is unparalleled and is the foundation on which our reputation for excellence is based.

 

 

Gurlz J.A.M. at Blo Blow Dry Bar

Middle School girls and their moms found a place to have some stress-free bonding time at Blo Blow Dry Bar in West Hartford. Gurlz J.A.M., a program sponsored by Beth El Temple, The Commission on Jewish Education and Leadership of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford (CJEL) and  Jewish Teen Learning Connection (JTConnect) brought the group together for a night of fun, conversation and learning about what Judaism has to say on the balance between beauty and vanity. While the girls enjoyed being pampered under the supervision of Blo owner Stacey Cohen, moms discussed the challenges of raising tween girls in an age of mixed messages and conflicting values. Moms and their daughters came together at the end of the evening to talk with each other about enhancing your outer beauty by feeling confident and allowing your inner beauty to shine through.

Beth El Temple, CJEL and JTConnect will be offering 3 more programs in 2013-14. The next event, entitled, "Walk A Mile in These Shoes", will be held on Wednesday, December 11^th. Gurlz J.A.M. is open to all Jewish girls in grades 6-8 and their moms or female adult Jewish role model. Reservations are required and the cost of each event is $15 per girl, $50 for the entire series. Email or call the JTConnect office to register or for more information. 860-727-6110 or office@jtconnect.org

Gurlz J.A.M. is generously supported by a grant from the Lillian Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford.

JTConnect is a learning and social community that offers a rich experience for teens, enhancing their connection to Jewish heritage, traditions and values. The program is designed for students in 6^th through 12^th grades. Synagogue membership is not required.

Solomon Schechter gets grant to teach Hebrew language fluency

The Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford has received a grant from a national foundation to strengthen its Hebrew Language curriculum to enhance the Hebrew fluency of its students.  This fall, the school will launch the Enhancing Hebrew Fluency at Schechter Project, though which the Hebrew Language faculty will engage in a course of professional development and create new curricular materials to support learning in the classroom.  Through this project, Schechter teachers will work with the experts from Hebrew at the Center, which is a cutting edge institution that is engaged in revolutionizing the effectiveness of teaching and learning Hebrew in educational settings. 

 

"As a Jewish Day School, Schechter is committed to the teaching of Hebrew as the language of the Jewish people, past present and future," said Head of School Rabbi Elliot Goldberg.  "Fluency in Hebrew opens up pathways for students to connect to the canonical texts of our tradition, modern literature, and, most importantly, their brothers and sisters in Israel."

 

"Our goal is to increase the degree of fluency our students possess as they graduate from our school," said Hebrew teacher and project coordinator Ziva Kovner.  "We are excited about the high quality teacher training that we will receive from our consultants from Hebrew at the Center.  We look forward to integrating what we learn from them into our classrooms."

 

During the three years of the grant, the school will focus upon developing new materials and instructional strategies in Kindergarten, first and second grades.  As the new curriculum takes root, the focus will shift to enhancing the curriculum for grades 3 through 8. 

 

In addition to the grant, the school has received funding from alumnus and current Trustee Ben Zachs, and alumni parents Susan and Alan Solinsky, and Jessica and Eric Zachs.

Family law attorney named a ‘New Leader in Law’

WEST HARTFORD >>Attorney Pamela M. Magnano was selected to the Connecticut Law Tribune's "New Leaders in the Law" for 2013. Out of nearly 300 of the best and brightest nominees, Magnano was one of 60 attorneys to be recognized in the New Leaders in the Law 2013 yearbook published by the Law Tribune. Winners will receive a plaque at the New Leaders in the Law awards dinner on November 7.
Attorney Magnano practices family law with Attorneys James Flaherty and Sandi Girolamo at Flaherty Legal Group in West Hartford. She has been selected to Super Lawyers' New England Rising Stars for four consecutive years. Pam also sits on the board of directors for the Children's Law Center, a non-profit child advocacy agency that protects the best interests of children in family court and advocates policies which advance their well-being. To learn more about Attorney Magnano, please visit www.flgfamilylaw.com.

Hartford doctor educates women on diet to cut cancer risk

WEST HARTFORD>> In connection to National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, more than 60 women from the West Hartford community gathered at Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant to hear Dr. Rochelle Ringer speak on ways to reduce the risks of breast cancer.
The event, organized by Connecticut Wealth Management, featured a talk about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet in reducing the risks of breast cancer. Ringer, of Hartford Specialists, practices breast surgery exclusively and is committed to providing preventive care and surgical disease management to women in the Greater Hartford area.

Local teens perform in ‘Wedding Singer’ at NCTC

NEWINGTON>>West Hartford teens, Catie Gillespie and Cassie Orkin, take to the Newington Children's Theatre Company stage in their upcoming all-teen fall musical, The Wedding Singer, October 25-27, 2013. Performances are at 7p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2p.m.and Saturday and Sunday.
---- Tickets for adults are $12 ($15 at the door) and $10 for seniors, students and children ($12 at the door). Performances will take place at the NCTC Performing Arts Theatre located at 743 North Mountain Road in Newington.
---- Based on the popular 1998 romantic comedy of the same name, The Wedding Singer takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room. It's 1985 and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey's favorite wedding singer. He's the life of the party, until his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. As luck would have it, Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever.
---- For tickets, or more information, call 860.666.NCTC (6282) or visit www.NCTCArts.org.

Universalist Church to dedicate community kitchen

WEST HARTFORD>>The Universalist Church in West Hartford will dedicate its newly renovated kitchen from 10:15 – to 10:45 on October 27.
---- The new kitchen will allow the church to provide community meals to all who are in need. The first event on October 28 coincides with the church's ongoing support of the Food Share Mobile program, serving 125 clients at 9:00 a.m. every other Monday morning.
---- The new kitchen will be dedicated between church services with local speakersto remark on this major step to help create a hunger-free community.
---- The long term goal of the new initiative is to add lunches, and eventually dinners, to the suite of offerings focused on helping to feed people that otherwise go hunger.
---- This is a very important step forward for the church, which a short while ago polled its members as to what areas of need they would like the church focus on to help the maximum number of people. The results rang loud and clear that feeding those in need should be our number one priority.
---- Among other charitable initiatives, the church also actively supports the Sanchez School in Hartford, and Hawkwing to help Native American tribes in South Dakota.
---- The church is located at , located at 433 Fern St. For more information and specific dates and times of our food ministry efforts please go to: www.westhartforduu.com .

Park Road Parade contingents win awards

WEST HARTFORD, CT- A grand tradition took place this past weekend with the 16th Annual Park Road Parade. The festivities included bands, clowns, dancers, cars, and local businesses. This year's parade paid tribute to the late Richard Patrissi, who was regarded as the unofficial mayor of Park Road, in West Hartford.
---- Awards were given to several contingents, with Darlene Zoller and Sean Harris of Playhouse on Park presiding as judges. Best Float was given to Whiting Lane School. Folkloric Group Kuskalla of Hartford won Best Costumes. Best Community Spirit went to Hello! West Hartford. Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy was awarded Best Musical Group. The Overall Winner for the 2013 parade was Renbrook School.
---- Next year's parade will take place on October 4, 2014.

Adult reading program a big hit

The Adult Summer Reading program, "Fishing for a Good Book," was very popular in its first year with over 1,000 entries. The program ran from July 1 to August 31 across the three West Hartford Library branches and was administered by librarian Ann Marie Salerno.
---- The program was easy: Read any book, rate the book on a "fish form," then drop the form into the Summer Reading fish bowl (forms and fishbowls were located at all of the West Hartford Library branches). Patrons must have been 18 or older to participate. There were fish bowls located at each library branch. Fish Forms requested the book read, author, the persons' name, and a brief review of the book if they wanted.
---- All entries had a chance to win weekly prizes with a drawing for a gift card to a local business for each branch. Lisa Gassner, a patron from the Bishops Corner Library, won the grand prize drawing of a Kindle Fire HD. The adult summer reading program was made possible with generous funding from the Friends of the West Hartford Public Library. Overall, the program was a big success, staff said.