Friedel Gala 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Garden of Eden, by Friedel students.

On the evening of June first, more than 200 community members came together at Beth Israel for an Israeli themed dinner, Friedel style. Honorees were retiring Principal Cookie Katskee, Dr. Eric Phillips and his wife, Friedel art teacher Julie Phillips, and board member Donald Gerber. Emcees of the evening were Debbie Denenberg and Lloyd Roitstein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

f.l.t.r.:honoree Cookie Katskee, Rabbi Jonathan Gross, honorees Donald Gerber, Dr. Eric Phillips, Julie Phillips

Board member Bruce Potash, who was the driving force behind organizing the event, said: “The committee, consisting of Jeff and Sherry Taxman, Jeff and Danielle Gordman, Bob and Kim Goldberg, and my wife Linda Potash, did a fantastic job pulling it all together. Also, we are very grateful to the honorary chair, Phyllis Friedel. We were very pleased to see so many friends of Friedel together in one room. We are already thinking about next year, and we are planning to make the Friedel Tribute Celebration an annual event.”

Rabbi Jonathan Gross, who was one of the presenters, introduced honoree Donald Gerber, who has devoted much time and energy towards Friedel. “I believe it is important for a community to have a heart beat,” Gerber said in his speech, “and a healthy, robust day school, supported by this many people, is certainly evidence Omaha has that heart beat.” Rabbi Gross added that, since he made a quip about emptying his pockets during graduation, he had come to the conclusion “$1.36 was not enough to start a trust fund. We’ll need quite a bit more than that, and I hope this dinner will be the first of many. Friedel Jewish Academy is teaching the future of our community, and we can all be very proud of the school for the quality education and wonderful atmosphere they provide.”

                                                 Donald Gerber, Gaston Bogomolni, Jeff Taxman

Retiring Principal Cookie Katskee had the honor of introducing Dr. Eric and Julie Phillips, and the guests were given a first-hand look at what the Friedel students learn in art class. Bob Goldberg coordinated a short film, showing students eloquently explaining what Miss Julie and her art instruction means to them. The children said, “Art is art”, and art can be anything you want it to be. One student explained that even when something goes “wrong” it can be turned into something else, an idea that is very important to Julie Phillips: “It is good for children to see that when things don’t turn out exactly the way you expected, it doesn’t automatically mean you throw it away and start anew. You can keep working with the same materials, but in a different direction. This is a notion that can be used for life, relationships, all sorts of problems we run into; art can be a great metaphor for life in general.”

Board member and Treasurer Jerry Gordman introduced Cookie Katskee, who was celebrated for spending the past five-and-a-half years at the helm, and helping Friedel grow and flourish. Bob Goldberg coordinated a film for Cookie as well, giving the staff and teachers at Friedel a chance to speak out on everything she has done for the school. Cookie was given a standing ovation, as well as a surprise, when several older students showed up carrying in one of Cookie’s most beloved art projects. Several years ago, Friedel students created a painting, “The Garden of Eden”, which Julie Phillips had framed in order to present it to Cookie upon her retirement. “This is such a wonderful gift,” Cookie said, “I’ve always loved this piece so much. I noticed it was missing from the school, and have been wondering all this time what happened to it!”

Nancy Mattly provided guests with an absolutely fabulous menu, which, in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, included many Israeli themed dishes. “The food was great,” guest Tippi Denenberg said. Denenberg attended with her husband Steve, sister-in-law Debbie, as well as Steve and Debbie’s parents Norm and Eunice Denenberg. “It was such a haimische experience, and it was a wonderful opportunity to get pumped for next year.” Tippi and Steve’s son Danny will be starting Kindergarten at Friedel come Fall, as will Debbie’s son Levi and daughter Rebecca, which gave the whole family plenty of reason to support Friedel whole heartedly.

Susan Fellman-Witkowski, who attended with husband Isaac, and is the current President of the school board, was equally impressed: “This was a wonderful warm gathering of around 200 extended “family” members, all coming together to celebrate a few of their own who have worked countless hours to help FJA grow into the successful thriving school that it has become.  The planning committee for this tribute dinner did an outstanding job making the evening memorable and elegant; yet somehow, it felt like having a night out with a few of your closest friends.  We couldn’t have asked for a better event!”

The evening ended on a musical note, as Donald Gerber, Gaston Bogomolni, and Jeffrey Taxman treated the audience to an inspirational and very entertaining concert. Rabbi Gross gave a short speech in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, and many attendees lingered long beyond the official end time of 8:30 to enjoy the music, the great company, and maybe the last few bites of that delectable chocolate dessert.