The annual meeting of NCJW Southern Maine Section drew a capacity crowd to Bet Ha’am’s soaring social hall on June 10, 2015. Christy Altman’s party planning savvy was on display with a tasty spread of snacks and drinks, and colorful flowers popping against elegant black linens on the tables.
President Lynn Goldfarb encouraged the 80 plus attendees to take their seats before Immediate Past Co-President Ginny Squires-Eklund delivered the moving invocation. Lynn’s President’s Report detailed the accomplishments of the past year, and some plans for the future.
Scholarship Chair Barbara Peisner awarded scholarships to 19 area students attending college in the fall. Honorary Vice President Rosalyn Bernstein assisted in handing out three Sarah Bernstein scholarships. Two special scholarships were awarded this year in memory of Myer Marcus, who left a generous bequest to augment the Frances Marcus Scholarship Fund.
Steve Gleit took great pleasure in announcing a new scholarship fund set up by his daughter, Naomi Gleit, Facebook’s Vice President of Product Management. The Selma Gleit Memorial Scholarship for Women in STEM honors Steve’s mother, Naomi’s grandmother. It is designed to encourage young women to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, fields in which women are underrepresented. Dana Robbins helped hand out inaugural Gleit STEM Scholarships to two students.
In total, our Section is helping 20 scholars defray the costs of a higher education.
Honorary Vice President Gail Volk gave a brief look back at Section activities in the 1920s soon after our founding. She read excerpts from our archives, which have found a home in the Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, part of the Special Collections at the University of Southern Maine Libraries. Our papers will be conserved and available to scholars while we retain title to all content. Members are encouraged to search their homes for any NCJW material that can be added to the archive.
Gail installed Officers and Board members to conclude the meeting. The skies were still light as we headed home.