Portland Israeli Folk Dance Celebrates 40 Years!

Our 40h anniversary celebration, 4/20/2013, was made possible by the generosity of sponsors, donors and energetic volunteers – and of course all the participating dancers and friends.

Thank you so very very much! We had over 200 participants dancing, learning, dining and celebrating, all to commemorate 40 years, and nod to the future of Israeli folk dancing in Portland, Oregon. The event was also part of the Food For Thought Festival and your food donations benefited the Oregon Food Bank.

Many dancers traveled from out of town including Marna Kleinman Snyder from Israel (founder of dancing at the MJCC in 1972), and Ayalah members from the ’70s and 80s who traveled from the Midwest. Dancers and session leaders from the Seattle and Vancouver BC areas joined us, as well as world renowned dance leader/choreographer, Nona Malki from Vancouver, BC, and our very special guest from Israel, also world renowned, dance leader/choreographer Elad Shtamer.

To see loads of pictures taken at the festival, see our Facebook page: Israeli Folk Dancing in Portland, Or.

Below, is a list of sponsors, donors, special mentions, and a detailed list of volunteers. Thank you all again for the support and help in

making this event a huge success!

Planners,

Debbi, Sue, Donna, and Avi

Event Sponsors

Jewish Federation of Greater Portland – especially Marc Blattner, Laurie Rogoway, Allison Specter, and Nicole Walters

Mittleman Jewish Community Center – especially Bethany West and Beth Germain

Major Donors

Diane Betcher

Finishing Touches by Donna Cole

David Karlin

The Kostiner Cultural Education Fund at MJCC

Debbi Montrose

Vicki Wasserman

Honored Donors

Dudi Amir & Jois Brownstein

Melba Davidson

Shannon Ellis

Bob & Mimi Epstein

Sara Harwin

Cindy Merrill

Esther Swart

Ted Scheinman

Special Mentions

Our Portland session leaders from 1972* to present:

Marna Kleinman Snyder 1972-73

Sue Kern Wendel 1973-77

Ann Fischer with Dee Wolf and Bonnie Bliesner 1977 – 1985

Hoa Brown 1986-88

Dudi Amir 1988-2010

William 1997-2004

Allison Victor 1997-Present

Robin Bacon Shone 2002-2007

Avi Tayar 2002-Present

Donna Cole 2010-Present

*and Bill Nelson early 1960s-Present

And thank you to Allen Levin Century Catering and

Oregon Jewish Magazine – especially Deborah Moon and Amy Kaufman

Volunteers

Dudi Amir – Oldies Session Leader

Roz Andronescu – Photography

Jeffrey Baker – Greeter

Diane Betcher, – Portland Israeli Folk Dance History, “Why We Dance”

Bonnie Bliesner – Greeter

Myra Coblens – Registration

Sarah Coblens – Registration

Todd Coblens – Greeter

Zachary Coblens – Registration

Donna Cole – Planner, Logo design, and Oldies, Partners and Party Sessions Leader

Warren Cole – Portland Israeli Dance Website

Sarah Cole & Jen Keene – Greeters

Dinner Program Dancers – Allison’s Ai Ai Ai Dancers, Joanna’s group, Melba’s group, Rachel and Dorice’s Teen/Young Adult dancers

Gary Fox – Historical books display

Deborah Freedman – Portland Israeli Dance CD’s

Yafit Heyman – Decorations

Dorice Horenstein – Teens, Young Adult Session Leader, Rondo Leader

Ruti Kenan – Families Session Leader, and children’s performance at dance party

Debbi Montrose – Planner, home hospitality

Alan, Elise and Jeremy Montrose – Technical help, dinner slide show

Tamara Patrick – Decorations, flowers

Arlene and Ravid Raphael – Greeter and Dinner MC

Duane Robbins – Technical and sound equipment support

Ronnie Schechter – Water bottles donation

Gary Sherman – All-day Greeter and assisting

Elad Shtamer – Energetic participation throughout

Eric Singer & snack helpers – All-day snacks

Rachel Stern – Teen/Young Adult Session Leader

Candi Swan – Facebook

Susan & John Swank, Michelle Jaeger – Greeters, Registration

Avi Tayar – Planner, Partners Session Leader, home hospitality

Allison Victor – Newcomer Adult and Party Sessions Leader

Sue Wendel – Planner, outreach & publicity

Peter Wendel – Technical support

Max & JoAnna Wendel – Helpers

NOW, ON TO THE NEXT 40 YRS!!