Last year, sensing a need in our temple, we began a new social group called BASS (pronounced “base”), which stands for Beth Am Social Series.  The purpose of this group was to offer a monthly activity to those members whose kids are out of the house and whose lives don’t center around car pools, soccer practices and dance lessons.  Under the enthusiastic leadership of Nancy Marcus, BASS ran a series of events including, but not limited to, Bingo Night, a Hip Hop class, a trip to Harvard’s Hasty Pudding and a Scavenger Hunt in conjunction with our Membership Committee.  All the events were well attended and we received some wonderful feedback, so we would like to continue the momentum and put together another year of fun programming.

To that end, there will be a meeting on Thursday evening, October 12^th at 7:15pm in the temple library to plan the year’s social events.  If you did not have the opportunity to be a part of this new venture, now is the time.  We are grateful that Nancy has agreed to stay on as the Chair of BASS, but we are in need of committee members with fresh ideas and a desire to see continued programming for our empty nesters.  Please join us on October 12^th for this important meeting as we set up the BASS calendar for ’07-’08.

If you’re not sure whether BASS is the place for you, or if you’re just not sure where you fit in to the temple infrastructure, then All-Committee Night is for you.  On Wednesday, October 24^th at 7:00pm, all our temple committees will meet in the Social Hall for some refreshments and some schmoozing.  At 7:30, the committees will go to different rooms where committee members will be available to share information on what their committees are about.  Do you even wonder what our Worship Committee does?  Are you curious about how our Religious School policies are shaped?  Are you a “people person” who could help our new members feel more comfortable acclimating themselves to our temple community?  All-Committee Night is the time to feel out the smaller groups that are the heart of our temple.

I realize that all of these events that I’m talking about are over a month away.  We have a very busy September to get through and I am looking forward to welcoming the new year with you, sharing apples and honey and decorating the sukkah together in our garden.  I also know, though, that our calendars book up very quickly and I want everyone to be able to set aside time for these important meetings.  My goal is for every member of Temple Beth Am to play an active role in some aspect of temple life.  I welcome your input and your participation in whatever aspect of our community is of special interest to you. 

Gene and Madison join me in wishing all of you a happy and healthy new year.