The Charlotte Jewish News - September 2015 - Page 20
Baruch HaBah: Peter Blair Joins Levine JCC as CEO
By Amy Krakovitz
“We just felt in our kishkes that
this was home for our family,”
Peter Blair says of his visit to
Charlotte. “It spoke to me as a
Southern Jew, having been born
and raised in Memphis.”
Blair joins our eommunity as
the new CEO of the Levine JCC
and his enthusiasm and vision are
already well in plaee.
He eomes most reeently from
the Harry and Rose Samson Fam
ily Jewish Community Center in
Milwaukee, but was in the Jewish
edueation field for 15 years prior
to that as Direetor of Early Child
hood Edueation for the Mereer Is
land and Seattle eampuses for the
Stroum Jewish Community Cen
ter in Seattle, followed by a stint
as Head of Sehool for the Merage
Jewish Community Center of Or
ange County in Irvine, CA. His
experienee in edueation plays a
large role in his plans for LJCC’s
future.
“I have a deep eommitment to
the role learning plays in Jewish
life,” he asserts. “... The LJCC
ean be a unique destination for
life-long Jewish experienee, one
that eelebrates our traditions and
diversity, and offers an inelusive
entry point for eommunity en
gagement.”
As important as edueation may
be to Blair, he also feels that the
people are essential, too. “I have a
real simple goal for the near term:
to meet the eommunity and learn
from its members. ... People will
learn pretty quiekly that I am a
hyper-eommunieator. ... I’m not
hesitant to engage in respeetful,
open eommunieations, even when
opinions differ.”
But for all his experienee in
Jewish eommunal work and his
eommitment to eommunieation,
members of the Jewish eommu
nity of Charlotte know one thing:
Shalom Park is a unique and dif
ferent kind of organization than
found in all of the Jewish world.
But Blair feels that the partnership
strueture will not be a stumbling
bloek for him. “I ... very mueh
believe that the sueeess and
strength of any one organization
direetly impaets the other. I eome
from a very eollaborative environ
ment, where a shared vision and
Peter Blair
mission ean be aeeomplished in a
variety of ways. I’m exeited to
join a eommunity where the foun
dation of that eulture is in plaee.”
Blair does not join us alone. He
C h B r I D11 e
brings with him with wife Traei,
ehildren Hudson and Cohen, and
a history of Jewish eommitment.
In Memphis, he “was a member of
Temple Israel - a large Reform
synagogue. ... My parents in
stilled in us the value of eduea
tion, and I’ve made that a priority
in my life through ongoing fel
lowships.” The whole family is
exeited to begin this ehapter of
their lives in Charlotte. “We have
every intention for this ehapter to
be a long one!” ^
Shalom Green Forges Ahead with Initiatives
Efforts to improve environmen
tal awareness and inerease sus
tainability on Shalom Park are
progressing as Shalom Green, the
Shalom Park Environmental Ini
tiative, moves ahead on a number
of fronts.
• Shalom Park Community
Garden - The design for the
Shalom Park Community Garden
is eomplete, and the first work
days for garden eonstruetion and
planting will take plaee in late
September and early Oetober.
Community members are eneour-
aged to partieipate. For more in
Teen campers planting.
You are invited to attend our
ADMISSIONS OPEN HOUSES
TK-Grade 5
October 9,2015 9:30 a.nn.
Grades 6-12
October 16, £015 9:30 a.m.
lyww.chanfotfelatjn.org/OpertHouseffSWP
iwm
formation or to volunteer, eontaet
Yonatan Thull at eatalyst.ahelp-
inghand@gmail.eom.
The Shalom Green Garden
Committee is eurrently seeking
donations to help eomplete the
build out of the garden. Donations
in any amount are appreeiated -
$72 will help purehase a tree;
$360 a reetangular raised bed;
$720 a large trellised raised bed.
All donations are tax deduetible.
Cheeks may be made payable to
the Foundation of Shalom Park
with “Community Garden” in the
memo line and mailed to the
Foundation at 5007 Providenee
Road, Suite 102, Charlotte NC
28226.
• Redueing our Carbon Foot
print
Energy Audits of Temple Beth
El and the main eampus buildings
on Shalom Park have identified
opportunities to save thousands of
dollars, while at the same time re-
%
CHARLOTTE
l.ATTN
SCHOOL
... Urns’ well Ui/ed
9502Providerrce Road Charlotte, North Carolina 28277
Admissions Office: 704,045,7207
w w w.cha r I ot te I at i n. o rg
Teen camp learns about the new garden from designer Bobbie Mabe.
dueing energy usage and impaet
on the environment. Green teams
at eaeh ageney will be evaluating
ways to implement reeommended
ehanges, and Shalom Green’s Car
bon Footprint Reduetion Commit
tee will be supporting these efforts
with information and edueational
programming. For more informa
tion, or to get involved, eontaet
Lisa Garfinkle at environmen-
tal@shalomeharlotte.org.
• Shalom Green Challenge -
Beginning in Oetober, LJCC
Cares will be leading the Shalom
Green Challenge, monthly ehal-
lenges - eonneeted to Jewish val
ues - to live more sustainably at
home. The ehallenge will inelude
learning opportunities, aetivities,
and diseussion topies to get fami
lies working together to go green.
Monthly themes will inelude Ap-
preeiating and Caring for the
Earth, Redueing Waste, Redueing
Carbon Footprint, Conserving
Water, Eating and Growing
Green, and Spring Clean/Green
Clean.
Register by sending an email to
Julie Rizzo at julie.rizzo@charlot-
tejee.org.
• Edueating our Youth - Teen
eampers at the LJCC enjoyed a
morning with Garden Committee
members and Edueation Co-Chair
Rabbi Jonathan Freirieh, as they
learned about Jewish values re
lated to proteeting the planet,
started seeds of fall vegetables for
the eommunity garden with Gar
den designer Bobbie Mabe, and
worked in the Charlotte Jewish
Presehool garden with Garden
Committee ehair Candiee Serbin.
Religious sehool students of all
ages, from kindergarten to high
sehool, will have the opportunity
to learn more about Jewish values
and sustainable living during the
upeoming sehool year. ^
SHALOM GREEN
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Tirtancial Assistance is avaiiablE. PleEtse inq^uife about the ^talone Scbolarship for$pfted Etvdents in Grades 7-\2.