Luau on the Lake

This year's newest banquet venue, the Waterfront, will be the setting for a fabulous tropical event which benefits the children's programs at the JCC. Scrumptious hors d'oevres, dinner dancing, boat rides, and a fabulous silent auction will add up to an exciting night out. Event co-chairs Maira Zanrosso and Jodi Stoken along with the "Luau on the Lake" Committee: Jill Barenbaum, Stacey Becker, Roy Birnbaum, Ilene Blau, Deena Cukier, Shari Davis, Blair Dworkin, Daryl Edson, Andrea Falk, Meg Gabay, Jon Marks and Jill Roberts, invite you to join them for a wonderful evening.

School Registration

School registration for 2003-04 will be ongoing during May and the summer months as long as openings exist for each day of the week in all our preschoo classes. Kindergarten and dayschool are 5 day programs which will close when their maximum enrollment is reached.

While there are still openings in most classes, our older threes group only has openings on Tuesday and Thursday at this time.

Please don't hesitate to call Cynthia or Diane at the JCC, 480-897-0588 if you'd like registration information.

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Annual Meeting

All adult members of the East Valley Jewish Community Center are invited to attend the Center's Annual Meeting which will be held on Monday, June 2 at 7:00 p.m. Guest speaker will be Michael A. Pollack, of Pollack Investments. Elections of new Board members as well as the proposed slate of officers for the 2003-04 year will be held. Awards for outstanding service will be given to deserving Board, Staff and Community members. Complimentary desserts and beverages will be served. Please RSVP to 897-0588.

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Israel's 55th Independence Day 2003

Yom Ha'atzmaot
May 11th 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Ina Levine Campus

Join in a community celebration of Israel's birthday. Music, Israeli dancers, camel rides, food, community booths, "Red Tent" mother's day, special activities, fun for the whole family!

AROUND THE CENTER

Terrific Tuesdays for Seniors

Here we are at the end of our season. Hope you enjoyed the many diversified programs we scheduled on "Terrific Tuesdays" and will join us when we resume in September. Have a healthy and happy summer, wherever you may be!!

Tuesday, May 6th - 10:30 a.m. Our speaker for today is Joan Felder, Prof. Emeritus of the University of Massachusetts, who will discuss cloning and the use of embryonic cells for research.

Tuesday, May 13th - 10:30 a.m. Professor Tori Osborne will present her program for exercising your brain, "Cerebral Aerobics." This was previously cancelled due to a prior commitment!

Tuesday, May 20th - 10:30 a.m. The 2003 Community Study of "Jewish Demographics" is the topic of talk by Fred Zeidman, Assistant Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix.

Tuesday, May 27th - 11:30 a.m. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. (NOTE THE TIME CHANGE) at a restaurant of your choice. Our final meeting for the season. Please join us.

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New Picnic Table

Thanks to Dave Wattel, Jeff Geyser, Aliza Fischel, David Cukier and Jonathon Andell, the Day School kids have additional seating during lunch. A new 8' commercial quality picnic table was purchased by these benefactors to add seating to our courtyard for kids and parents. Thanks so much!!

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JCC Graduation

The annual graduation program for two year olds through kindergarten will be held on Friday, May 30 at 10:00 a.m. Children will sing traditional graduation songs in addition to special songs for Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Reunification Day. All children will receive diplomas or certificates, ending another successful school year.

Many thanks to our wonderful staff and parents for their hard work and support.

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Tributes

To ECE Department in honor of Ben & Kendra Benedict from Richard & Linda Rickel.

To Howard Paley - Congratulations on your new position as principal of ?? Elementary School.

To Deena and Howard Charnofsky on their new home.

Erica Davis on her graduation from ASU.

Kim Blau Mason on receiving her master's degree.

New Members

Julia and Chuck Miessner
Barry & Kimberly Gordon
James & Jacquelyn Bergmann

Births

Congratulations to Stacey Whitecotton and Mark Drayna on the birth of their daughter, Carley Marie born March 21st. Big brother Riley is in our Toddler II room.

Congratulations to Karla and Dan Wright, whose son Robbie was born February 23. Big sister Emma is in Elissa's Class.

Mazel tov to Keelan and Jonathon Bodow on the birth of their second son, Spencer born on April 8. Big brother Griffin attends class in Elissa's room.

Congratulations to Maia & Jason Rains on the birth of William Tyler, born April 14th. Big brother Evan is our Younger Toddler Room.

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Mitzvah Man

Recognized this month for his generosity to the JCC is Gary Bowen of Bowen's Horticulture, a local landscaping business. In addition to getting plants and materials for us at cost, his staff did all the planting at no charge and has worked on the watering system several times. A great big JCC thank you to Gary Bowen for the many mitzvot he has performed for the JCC.

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Wish List for JCC Early Childhood Department:

Bookcases
Filing Cabinets
Riding "Toys"
Doll Houses
Plastic "Occupation" hats
Bean bag chairs

SCHOOL • YOUTH • CAMP

Summer Camp Shalom and Camp Pitzel

Join us as we beat the heat and hit the road for a summer of fun at the East Valley JCC. Many new programs and ideas are being offered, along with our favorites from summers past. We anticipate the best Family Picnic ever (June 19), along with overnighters, and a week full of Maccabiah Games sure to ignite a spirit of teamwork and sportsmanship. This year parents of children 1st grade and up will participate in a number of Maccabiah games during the Family Picnic to help their children's team. The Israeli Scouts will be on the road as well, and stopping at our camp on Israel Day (July 22). All are welcome to join us for that special event! Our fourth annual Mitzvah Mania Week is sure to be another great success, thanks to all the campers and their families who donate time, food, clothes, etc. We'll be hitting the lights "Off Broadway" for our annual Rock Show (July 17), with Broadway tunes and costumes galore. Don't miss it!

Our field trips look great. We've planned many new field trips that compliment our favorite old trips that we always enjoy. They include two plays, "Beauty & the Beast" and "Wizard of Oz", Makutu's Island, the Circus, Sunsplash, the Rock Gym, and much more. Our field trips don't end there! We have away trips that the 5th - 8th graders will really enjoy. The first trip is to San Diego, where we'll be hanging out on the beach and Sea World. The second trip we're off to Northern Arizona so we can beat the heat in Tempe!

We also have our CIT program for 9th graders. This is a great program for any young teens that may want to become counselors themselves one day. They will gain practical experience in a fun, social setting while learning the basics of camp counseling and programming through workshops and other hands on projects. Some of their projects include: Maccabiah Games (programming, judging, evaluating, etc.), planning for the family picnic, and working on Mitzvah Mania Week. It's the perfect program to mold young teens into effective camp counselors.

We have our new Getaway Gang program starting this summer. This program is open to any 7th, 8th and 9th grader interested in "getting away" for a few days! You may sign up for just the Getaway trip or sign up for both the Getaway trip and camp. We are offering 3 exciting road trip adventures this summer; June 11-13 - Six Flags Magic Mountain, July 1-2 - White Mountains in Arizona, and July 31-Aug 1 - Tucson. Call Lisa for more details.

Summer Stock will be back with an exciting new production of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown". This after camp theatrical program is open to all children from kindergarten through 8th grade. It should be another summer of great fun rehearsing, creating, and performing. Please contact the JCC for more information.

This summer will prove to be one of the best summers ever and we're looking forward to seeing everyone at camp!

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Summer Stock 2003

Summer Stock is back for it's fourth season! This summer's production is "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown"!

Summer Stock is an after camp theatrical experience that offers a unique, non-competitive ensemble for children entering Kindergarten thru 8th grade. Julie & Mitch Solomon are directing again, and if you were there for any of their summer productions, "Pinocchio", "Snow White" or "The Wizard of Oz" you know that this will be an incredible experience with acting, dancing, singing, sets, lights, costumes and that special East Valley JCC twist. It should be another summer of great fun rehearsing, creating and performing.

Placement auditions will be held on Monday, June 16th starting at 3pm. Bring your imagination, your loudest voice and get ready to have some fun! Rehearsals begin Thursday June 19th and are held on Mondays & Thursdays (Additional Wednesday rehearsals for selected roles) from 3:00 - 5:00pm.

Two performances of You're A Good Man Charlie Brown will be held on Sunday August 3rd. Cost is $165 per child (10% 2nd child discount).

Enrollment in the JCC Summer Camp is not a requirement.

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BBYO

Join the coolest Jewish Youth Group in town! Now is the time for all current 8th graders and all high school students to check our BBYO, the B'nai Brith Youth Organization. We meet each Wednesday at the JCC from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. BBYO is youth led, adult supervised. That means all programming planned by us, is of interest to us. Some typical programming includes athletics, social community, service, Judaic and much more! Reznikoff AZA is the guy's group and Tovah BBG serves the girls. All Jewish teenagers in the community are eligible to join. Call the JCC for contact information.

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