By Judy Shapiro
(Calgary) – A warm atmosphere. Lovely music. Great food. A lively and fun auction. It was a night to remember!
Over 170 supporters of Temple B’nai Tikvah gathered on May 4 to celebrate the evening’s honouree, Al Osten, and raise much needed funds for the maintenance of the synagogue building.
“The Boilermaker’s Bash exceeded every expectation,” said event co-chair Caron Glickman. “We doubled our fund-raising goal, everyone had a great time, and we paid tribute to a wonderful man. Al Osten has done so much for the Calgary community and this was our chance to say thank you.”
The thank you came in the form of three speeches – from Temple B’nai Tikvah Rabbi Mark Glickman, niece Ellen Sue Mesbur, who traveled from Ottawa for the event, and longtime friend Myrna Ghitter. All praised Al’s generosity, modesty, great smile, and warm friendship. The depth of that friendship was evidenced in the friends and family who traveled from across Canada and the U.S. for the event and the community members who turned out to honour Al.
The evening began with a silent auction, the signature Al-tini (a dirty martini, Al’s favorite drink), and lovely music by Elliott Steinberg and pianist Jon Day. The guest of honour was ushered into the social hall to the strains of “Graduation Day,” the Rover Boys hit single that was a highlight of Al’s musical career. Then, with grace and humour, MC Josh Hesslein guided guests through the tribute to Al, delicious dinner catered by Gruman’s, a message from Temple President Michael Clark, followed by a lively and entertaining live auction with guest auctioneer Jay Fiske.
“We are so grateful for the generosity of our community in supporting Temple B’nai Tikvah,” said Caron. “We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our guests, sponsors, donors, volunteers, and the many vendors who helped make the Boilermaker’s Bash a success.”
Funds raised through the Boilermaker’s Bash will help support the many repairs needed to keep the aging Temple building operational (including the new boiler!). Those repairs will allow the congregation to host its warm and inclusive worship services and important social action initiatives, from serving meals at the Drop-In Centre, to providing lunches for Brown Bagging for Kids, to interfaith dialogue. And it allows the Temple building to be a welcoming hub for partner organizations.
“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am at the success of the Bash,” said co-chair Roz Oppenheim. “A sign of a good event is that guests don’t want to go home – and that night people just wanted to stay and shmooze. Best of all – Al was very happy and that makes us all happy too!”
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