PATRICE PHILLIPS PRESIDENT’S CUP HONOREE

Temple involvement allows you to meet a great many committed people happy to do things. Everyone here should know Patti Phillips. She is a doer and has been doing things her way for the benefit of Temple her entire life. As long as anyone can remember, she has headed the Catering Committee. It was a job well done with our previous caterer during many of his 17 years of service. Shortly into my term, we had about three months to find a new caterer. Patti put together a functioning committee that included experienced restaurant owners. Once that happened, there was lots of commotion all over the administrative offices and kitchen. Patti only contacted me two or three times a day. She contacted Tessa Goldberg at least four or five times a day. This was a huge job. While finding the right caterer, she was also working with a variety of vendors replacing all the dishes, silverware, glasses and cookware. This all had to be completed by January 1. Of course, this is not all we require from the catering committee chairperson. She then organized the Kitchen Shower that raised more than $11,000. She also made it clear that her husband wondered what Temple was demanding of his wife.

Giving my first President’s Cup Award to Patrice Phillips was just about the easiest decision I have had to make in my first year as president. Come up here Patti and accept a well-deserved honor.

MIRIAM COHEN, PRESIDENT’S CUP HONOREE

A change I implemented this year was the assignment of each officer as a liaison to a group of standing committees. When choosing who to assign to which committees, I thought it best to give each person a group of committees that best reflected their profession and what they had been most interested in at the Temple. My thought was this would allow for an easy transition.

An easy decision was to ask Miriam Cohen to work with Patti Phillips since she has been on the catering committee for about as long as Patti. It also occurred to me that she had the same kind of connection with our cantor and she accepted working with the music committee. When Patti was working so hard, her companion was Miriam. She went with Patti to meet all the vendors and give important advice to all concerned. She and Patti must have had at least 10 daily calls after spending hours together every day. The results of this effort are reflected in the positive response we hear all the time concerning the quality of food we have for our congregants. This was a major effort that had to be done right in a very short time.

At the same time, Miriam was working with Patti, the soundboard of the piano in the DeRoy Sanctuary cracked. This meant the piano would not be playable at any moment. The urgency needed to get this situation under control was clear to everyone since we had events scheduled for our Temple families in the sanctuary. Without going into the details, Miriam Cohen was able to help solve two problems at the same time while trying to have a wonderful life in retirement with her husband.

I want to thank Miriam, not just for all the effort she gave but also for making it easy for me to give a second President Cup’s award this year. Please come forward, Miriam, and receive your award.