For those who were away during Yom Kippur this year, or otherwise unable to attend, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the latest winner of the President’s Award and share with you the award announcement that I gave prior to the Kol Nidre service.

This year’s winner is the epitome of volunteerism. Spanning over the many years of membership with our synagogue this person has been involved in numerous aspects of our synagogue life, both in the background of planning activities and in the forefront of running the programs themselves. Our winner this year has educated their children in our religious school, has been a Board member, many times, a Trustee and an ever-present fixture in our building. This person has given countless hours to us, making this building and what we stand for better at every turn. This person’s leadership roles have been varied, but all have been performed with the same enthusiasm and energy. Our winner is a person who knows the backstory to many of our organizational decisions, going back for many, many years, because they were a part of those decisions. Through all of the normal ups and downs in life, our awardee continued to be involved, and continued to do so without the need for accolades. So now, I am here to praise those efforts and to thank our winner, most likely embarrassing them in the process.

It is with great pleasure that I present this year’s award. The award reads, “In recognition and appreciation of your longstanding dedication and commitment to the improvement of our community” to Amy Long.

If you see Amy and haven’t already done so, please give her a big Mazel Tov!