The Charlotte Jewish News - February 2014 - Page 15
Andrea and George Cronson
Andrea and George Cronson
are among the 198 individuals
and families in our community
who have created legacy gifts to
support its future. Please take the
time to read their story and thank
them for their generosity. It is our
hope that you will be inspired and
encouraged to think about how
you can create your own Jewish
legacy.
By Andrea and George Cronson
Andrea was bom and raised in
Greensboro, NC. Although she
lived in a tight-knit Jewish eom-
munity and around the eomer
from a synagogue, it wasn’t easy
growing up Jewish in the south.
She ahended a Jewish Day Sehool
throughout elementary sehool
with only seven students in her
graduating elass. Andrea was al
ways aware that being Jewish
made her a minority. Andrea’s par
ents were involved in teaehing
Sunday sehool and fundraising for
the eommunity.
George grew up in Lexington,
MA. His parents moved their
young family to this Boston sub
urb from Rhode Island for its
larger Jewish population in eom-
parison to other eommunities in
the area. George’s family was ae-
tively involved in their temple, as
well as a havurah that greatly en-
haneed their Jewish life and sense
of eommunity. We were both
raised by parents who led by ex
ample. We saw firsthand the im-
portanee of volunteering and their
support of the Jewish eommunity.
We met at Northeastern Uni
versity in Boston. After we mar
ried, we moved to Raleigh and
then to Charlotte in 1992 to open
a new store and expand our fabrie
eompany. We were exeited about
Charlotte and the opportunity to
live near Shalom Park. It is a very
speeial and unique plaee. Sinee
our arrival in Charlohe, it has been
the eenter of our family’s life.
Many of our family’s most mean
ingful experienees have happened
at Shalom Park.
When we first moved to Char
lohe, Temple Israel’s Young Cou
ples elub enabled us to establish
meaningful friendships. Our ehil-
dren, Deena and Seott, attended
the Charlotte Jewish Presehool
and the Charlotte Jewish Day
Sehool. The Levine JCC is also
important to us, for the programs
and fitness faeility. Our ehildren
went to Camp Mindy and partiei-
pated on LJCC sports teams for
many years. Temple Beth El,
BBYO, Hebrew High and other
organizations have shaped our
family and have eonneeted us to
other Jewish families in Charlohe.
We have followed our parents’
example by donating our time and
resourees on a regular basis serv-
Create^^
"ou^ewish
Legacy
cl'
ing on numerous boards and eom-
mittees. We feel strongly about
our obligation to support and help
sustain Jewish organizations.
We are very eoneerned about
the eontinuity of the Jewish eom
munity. It is very important to us
for future generations to have the
same Jewish experienees as our
family. Creating our Jewish
Legaey will help to insure that the
organizations that are most impor
tant to us will eontinue to prosper
making it easier to grow up Jewish
in the south. ^
Our Jewish Community’s Newest Legacy
Donors
The following individuals/fam
ilies have reeently informed our
eommunity, through Foundation
for the Charlotte Jewish Commu
nity (FCJC) or one of the ten Cre
ate Your Jewish Legaey
eommunity partners, that they
have ereated a legaey gift to sup
port the future of Charlohe’s Jew
ish eommunity. These individuals
have established 34 new legaey
gifts. Some are ereating legaey
gifts for the first time while others
have added new organizations to
their previously ereated legaey
plans. There are now 198 individ
uals/families throughout our Jew
ish eommunity who have ineluded
a loeal Jewish organization in
their legaey plans ereating 390
unique legaeies. We thank our
newest legaey donors and wel-
eome them into our eommunity’s
Book of Life Soeiety.
Andrew and Elka Bernstein
Samuel and Nancy Bernstein
Ron and Frances Liss
Jennifer Monroe
Martha and Brian Yesowitch
Melvin Segal
Suly and Richard Chenkin
Paula and Richard Klein
Staci and Darren Mond
Steven and Olivia Cohen ^
Create
yoii^ewish
^ Leciacjj
c5'
Insurance for Home, Auto, Business and Life.
The Vacant Lot on
Providence Road
By Richard A. Klein
I have no memory of 1727
Providenee Road without the
building that was onee Temple
Beth El. The initial eonstruetion
took plaee when I was two years
old and the first serviee took plaee
before I was three. And just a
short time ago, the building, most
reeently the Dore Aeademy, went
down in a flash and is no more.
I look at the empty lot and it re
minds me of the mouths of my
younger grandehildren who are
missing their baby teeth. Gone
with a yank. And with the eol-
lapse of the brieks and mortar go
the thousands of moments spent
in the sanetuary, edueational
building, fellowship hall, and the
downstairs edueation rooms —
the original fellowship hall.
It was the downstairs part that
always reeeived the most eom-
plaints through the years. The
nearby ereek rarely left that hall at
peaee. Flooding was an on-going
problem for years. But the down
stairs was also filled noisy elasses,
assemblies, soeials and even
Broadway-like plays.
Charlotte was a small Jewish
eommunity in the 1950s and the
eongregational memberships at
Temple Beth El and Temple Israel
grabbed every opportunity to get
together at home eongregations or
the Amity Club on Sharon-Amity
Road. Among the highlights at
Temple Beth El were the oeea-
sional opportunities for talented
eongregants to dress up like
Broadway stars and sing show
tunes to the delight of the atten
dees. Hilbert Fuerstman often or
ganized and performed in those
events. The shows were so popu
lar that the eongregation was mo
tivated to add a large stage to the
new soeial hall addition that was
on the same level as the sanetuary.
Strangely, I don’t reeall any
(Continued on page 19)
"My father. Harry, founded Swimmer Insurance Agency over 60 years ago offering
security to the community and helping families through times of trouble. Today, we con
tinue that tradition of service with everything we do. We will be there for every mile
stone, every hardship and every transition your family or business experiences.”
- DAVID SWIMMER
Swimmer
Insurance
Agency
725 Providence Rd
Charlotte. NC 28207
704.333.6694
WWW, swimmerinsurance.com