Brian Newman and Stanley Wiesen to be Honored May 18 at Mandell JCC Annual Meeting; Theodore Kaplan Nominated President; Student Musical and Theater Performances Featured

The Mandell JCC will celebrate the best in family, arts, fitness, and community at its 96^th Annual Meeting Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 7:00 p.m., at the Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT, announced Annual Meeting co-chairs Michalee Merritt and Gayle Temkin. The event will honor outgoing President Brian J. Newman, of West Hartford, and celebrate the agency’s accomplishments in family and cultural arts programs, fitness and wellness activities, fundraising and development during his two-year term.

Incoming President Theodore N. Kaplan heads the 2011-2012 slate of nominated Officers and Board of Directors members to be elected at the event, which will also feature performances by the Mandell JCC casts of Annie, 13 the Musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Hazamir Hartford, the new teen choir. Stanley Wiesen, who has served on the Board of Directors since 1957, will receive The Gerald M. Steinberg Leadership Award.   Donors to the construction fund for the new elevator will be thanked at a formal dedication, and Mandell JCC staff will be recognized for distinguished service.  A dessert reception will follow.

A fourth generation Hartford native, Ted Kaplan and his wife Bobbie Woronow reside in West Hartford, CT where they raised their daughter Lauren (married to Benjamin Weisberg) and son Alexander. Mr. Kaplan is the president and founder of the Kaplan Insurance Group in Farmington, CT, and also the former president of Bisys/Crump, a national wholesale life insurance brokerage agency. A Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Mr. Kaplan received a JD degree from George Mason School of Law and is a graduate of George Washington University. He is an active member of the Beth El Temple, and Vice Chair of the Long-Range Planning Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford. He also serves on the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford’s Board of Trustees, and is a former Board Member of the Solomon Schechter Day School.

New members of the Mandell JCC Board of Directors who will begin their terms on May 18 include Benjamin Albert, Sue Gellerman, Fran Landy, Joyce Leibert, Adam Silverman, and Lauren Tafrate. The Officers slate for 2011-2012 include: President: Theodore Kaplan; Chairman of the Board: Brian J. Newman; Vice-Presidents: Brad Drazen, Peter Fishman, Pat Kazakoff, Andy Mandell, Scott Margolis and Gayle Temkin; Secretary: Michalee Merritt; Treasurer: Richard Fechtor; Assistant Treasurer: Jack Kramer.

To RSVP for the Annual Meeting, which is free and open to the community, contact Sheri Gaudet, 860-231-6351, sgaudet@mandelljcc.org or call  860-236-4571. The Mandell Jewish Community Center is supported by funds raised by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, a recipient of funding from the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, a beneficiary agency of the United Way and a member of the JCC Association of North America. For the full slate of 2011-2012 Mandell JCC officers and directors and more information visit www.mandelljcc.org.