By Sharon Wisch-Ray
sharonw@texasjewishpost.com

I was privileged last week to join Liz and Murray Cohen at Globe Life Ballpark when the Rangers licked the Kansas City Royals in a crisp 2-hour, 15-minute outing. It was extra fun to see the seat bearing Shirley Cohen’s name on it. Shirley, as many of you know, now a Legacy Willow Bend resident, hasn’t missed an Opening Day since the Rangers came to Arlington.
Speaking of octogenarians, it was pointed out to me recently that I neglected to give credit where credit was due. When we ran the bios of the 8 over 80 in two recent TJPs, we didn’t mention that they were ably written by resident archivist, historian and journalist Hollace Weiner. Incidentally, Marc Sloter took the beautiful photos of “the 8” for all the promotional materials for the event. It is often those working invisibly behind the scenes that make these events so successful… Kudos to everyone involved.
Rachel Yacobi tells me that on May 1, Lil Goldman Preschool honored Michael Goldman, the son of Lil Goldman, at a special Kabbalat Shabbat celebration. Lil Goldman was the first director and teacher at the preschool 62 years ago when it had only six children. “Mikey” (as he likes to be called by the kids) loves to visit the school and surprise the students with toys at least once a year.
The kids love him and they enthusiastically thanked him in a song (all in Hebrew!) and presented him with many beautiful thank-you cards that each class designed. I remember my own experience with Miss Lil fondly, from both the preschool and at Beth-El’s religious school.
The Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County will hold its annual meeting at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 2 at Beth-El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Road. Jeffrey Hochster, president, will discuss the state of the Federation.
Among the action items are approval of the 2015-2016 board of directors and slate of officers and approval of the 2015-2016 Jewish Family Services committee, and any other business as may be properly brought before the meeting. This year’s Jerry and Sylvia Wolens Award honoree will be recognized.
The special guest and speaker will be Daniel Agranov, deputy consul general of Israel to the Southwest U.S.
A dessert reception to honor our outgoing and incoming volunteer leaders will follow the meeting.
The federation slate of directors and officers for 2015-2016 are: nominated for 3-year terms, Julie Goldstein, Lisa Rein and Cheryl Visosky; nominated for 2-year unexpired terms, Sandy Hollander and Irwin Blum; and nominated for 1-year unexpired term, Jerry Appel.
The following officers are nominated to serve a 1-year term: Lon Werner, president; Diane Kleinman, vice president, campaign; Todd Blumenfeld, vice president, administration; Robert Simon, vice president, community relations; Cheryl Visosky, treasurer; and Alyson Halpern, secretary.
The following directors remain on the board: Rhoda Bernstein, Rabbi Andrew Bloom, Nancy Blount, Rebecca Cristol, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, Jeffrey Hochster, Karen Kaplan, Dr. David Klein, Sheldon Levy, Rabbi Dov Mandel, Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger, Roger Nober, Alex Nason, David Nudleman, Dr. Dan Oshman, Howard Rosenthal, Jeff Rothschild and Ronald Sivernell.

Scholarship deadline May 31

The Isadore Garsek B’nai B’rith Lodge No. 269 of Fort Worth is now taking applications for its annual scholarship award. The lodge is offering two scholarships of $1,000 each. Applicants must be high school seniors graduating in May or June 2015. Parents or guardians must be members of the Isadore Garsek Lodge and/or of an established Jewish congregation in Tarrant County. The parent or guardian must be a member in good standing for a period of 12 months prior to submission of the application.
Children of deceased parents are also eligible if the parent died while a member for at least 12 consecutive months.
The scholarship is competitive and will be awarded based on academic achievement and BBYO participation but accomplishments, demonstrated interests and participation in both school-oriented and outside activities are also important considerations.
The deadline for applying is May 31, 2015. For more information or to request an application contact Dr. Barry Schneider at dr_barrys@yahoo.com, or your youth adviser, education director or rabbi.