Other items in this column include:
* Philately: Dor v’dor
* Political bytes
* Coming our way
* In Memoriam
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – The Lawrence Family JCC has been sending flyers to people throughout the county looking for athletes, artists, volunteers and donors for the 2020 JCC Maccabi Experience, in which over 400 San Diego County teen athletes and artists will become part of a competition among 2,200 teens from throughout the world from Sunday August 2 through Friday, August 7.
Athletes between the ages of 12 and 16 are encouraged to try out for the following team sports: Boys Basketball, Boys Soccer, Boys Baseball, Ice Hockey, Flag Football, Girls Basketball, Girls Soccer, Girls Softball, and Girls Volleyball. Individual competitors also are being sought in such sports as swimming, tennis, table tennis, golf, track & field, e-sports, and as “star reporters.”
Coinciding with the athletic competitions will be an artist’ festival, in which teens between the ages of 12 and 17 are invited to show their stuff in such fields as vocal music, visual arts, rock band, musical theatre, acting & improv, dance, culinary arts, film, and the social media squad.
According to the flyer, team sports tryouts will begin in January; no tryouts are needed for individual sports; and artists should audition or provide a portfolio or video showcasing their specialty. Specific details about tryouts and information may be found via this website. Any teen interested in joining Team San Diego may contact Jason Lobenstein, the local delegation head, at (858) 362-1331, or via jasonl@lfccc.org .
The adult co-chairs of the JCC Maccabi experience are Kira Finkenberg, Larry Katz, and Adam Jacobs. Others deeply involved are Spencer Lynch, director; Rebecka Handler, assistant director; Phil Ginsburg, Lawrence Family JCC chair; Betzy Lynch, Lawrence Family JCC CEO, and Gary Jacobs, a former LFJCC president who today chairs the national Jewish Community Center Association Board of Directors.
To put on this six-day extravaganza, 800 host families are needed to host 1,800 visiting athletes and artists. Host families are asked to house two or more visiting athletes and artists Aug. 2-7; provide daily breakfasts and two dinners for their guests during the week; provide roundtrip transportation for the athletes and artists each morning and evening, either to the Lawrence Family JCC or to local venues; provide evening entertainment to the guests on Host Family Nights, and to attend one host family orientation in May or June at 2020. Interested parties should register on line.
“Hospitality is an important Jewish value,” the JCC flyer states. “By welcoming these young JCC Maccabi athletes and artists into your homes, your family will share the true experience of the San Diego 2020 JCC Maccabi Games, ArtsFest & Access. As a host family , you will join in the excitement and pageantry of the Opening Ceremonies as well as five incredible days of athletic competitions and workshops.”
In addition to the 800 host families, 2,500 volunteers are being sought to make the 2020 JCCMaccabi a success. “Whether you can spare an hour or a year, we have a place for you: sitting or standing, inside or outside,” the flyer states. “You can make a difference as a volunteer.” More information may be found on the website or via (858) 362-1156.
Putting on such games is not an inexpensive proposition. It is estimated that 75 buses will be employed; 500 coaches enlisted; 2,500 pounds of ice used each day; 16,000 lunches served; 38,000 beverages consumed per day, and that the economic impact on San Diego will be approximately $11 million.
In a note to prospective sponsors, the flyer states: “There will be opening and closing ceremonies, games, performing arts, social activities, community service projects, and numerous other opportunities to present your company or organization as a sponsor. Our development and marketing teams will identify creative ways to deliver high-visibility/high-traffic exposure as we take your brand to the JCC Maccabi Games, ArtFest & Access.” Paige Pick, the JCC’s director of development, is the person who can arrange sponsorship possibilities. She may be reached at (858) 362-1355 or via paigep@lfjcc.org
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Philately: Dor v’ dor
The quarterly Israel Philatelist covers not only the stamps of the state of Israel, but stamps documenting the Jewish experience all over the world. The El Cajon-based editor, Donald Chafetz, tells in a column in the current issue how love of stamp collecting, or philately as it is more formally known, can be transmitted from one generation to another. “If the parent or grandparent becomes interested in collecting, there is the possibility that he or she can entice his or her kids into the hobby at some point,” Chafetz writes. “I have been somewhat successful with my daughter Gwynn, and a little bit with my wife Betty. How? My daughter is a great movie buff and has started collecting stamps related to movie stars. She has started on a small scale with the United States issues but is becoming aware of foreign stamps. … My wife … is a very good cartoonist. A few years ago, she added some cartoons to a few slogan cancel covers and I made an exhibit of her ‘collection. She won a silver medal. The judges liked the exhibit and encouraged her to do more.”
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Political bytes
* Congresswoman Susan Davis announced congressional passage of her bill to permit the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue to making housing payments with educational benefits for veterans and reservists who are called back to 30 days or less of active duty. Previously such veterans were required to pay back the housing allowances because of what Davis described as a “glitch” in the law.
*Assemblyman Todd Gloria attended the Veterans Day Parade on Monday and promised to devote considerable attention to the 200,000 veterans in San Diego County if he is elected mayor of San Diego. “I will take real action to end homelessness in San Diego, because every hero who wore the uniform deserves a roof over their heads,” he said. “I will bring real economic opportunity to our city, so that our veterans will have good jobs available to them once they are home. I will continue to support initiatives that improve access to veterans service like connecting the Trolley to the VA Medical Center.”
* San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry has unveiled the slogan that her yard signs will bear in the race for mayor of San Diego: : “Barbara Bry for Mayor: A Problem Solver. Not a Politician.” Meanwhile, in a City Council discussion concerning a proposed policy not to invest in companies that operate private prisons, build the border wall, manufacture firearms, make single-use plastics, or manufacture or distribute smoking or vaping materials, Bry said she agreed with the idea in principle, but said the problem is in the details. How could the city know if a lumber company’s product was being used for the border wall? she queried, according to a story by San Diego Union-Tribune reporter David Garrick.
* San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez has been endorsed for mayor by County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher. “I know San Diego’s vets and working families will have no greater advocate in Congress than Georgette Gomez,” he said, adding that the city council member “has spent her life fighting for cleaner air, reducing veterans’ homelessness, expanding affordable housing, and ensuring no San Diego community get left behind.” Gomez is a candidate in the 53rd CD from which Susan Davis is retiring.
*Escondido City Councilman Olga Diaz, a candidate in the 3rd County Supervisorial District, has a pair of fundraising meetings scheduled, Saturday, Nov. 16, and Sunday, Nov. 17, respectively at 3 p.m. in Rancho Penasquitos and at 2 p.m. in Rancho Santa Fe. Diaz invites attendees to ask such questions as “What is the role of the County Supervisor?” “How can the county better support mental health services, housing, and transportation issues?” and “What is the county doing about the climate crisis?”
* Dan Rottenstreich, campaign manager for City Attorney Mara Elliott’s reelection, described as “crazy…total b.s.” a contention by her opponent Cory Briggs that the cameras on city light poles were compiling private information on individual citizens that in turn could be sold for profit. “There’s not much I can do about the media reprinting lies all the time but its fundamentally false and untrue,” he told San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Katy Stegall. He described Brigg’s contention as a “Trumpian misinformation campaign designed to scare San Diegans.”
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Coming our way
{Items in this portion of the column may be found in our Jewish events calendar, which can be accessed from the top of any page.}
The Jewish Men’s Choir will concertize at 3 p.m., Sunday, February 9, at Congregation Beth Israel, with the $20 ticket cost including both the concert and a dessert reception to follow. Reservations may be made via this website*
In Memoriam
* Am Israel Mortuary reports the death of Betty Lee Roman, 92, on Saturday, Nov.9. Funeral services will be conducted at noon Thursday, Nov. 14, at El Camino Memorial Park.
* Ben Olan, 96, longtime sportswriter for the Associated Press and other publications, an award recipient from the National Hockey league Hall of Fame, and member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, died Nov. 11. Bruce Lowitt, who writes from Florida an occasional sports column for San Diego Jewish World, relayed the news about his former AP New York Sports colleague.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com