summer 2012

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~ ~ 2012 July 5772 INSIDE This Issue Don't Call Me Coach! page 5 Deputy Consul General page 5 Touro's New Website page 7 I f it ain't broke, don't fix it–an old adage that’s quite appropriate for Touro and its recent elections. With just one exception, the men who have led Touro in recent years have been asked by the membership to continue their successful efforts for at least one more year. The list is headed by the officers of the Board of Directors. For the 12th consecutive year, Robert Miller has been elected chairman, placing him in the company of several past chairmen who have earned the respect of the organization for terms in the double digits. Elected along with Miller at the Board’s annual organizational meeting June 13th were Barry Schiff, vice chairman; Marc Gertsacov, secretary, and Steven Waldman, treasurer. This will be Schiff’s first term in that position. Gert- sacov and Waldman have held their spots for several years. The theme of call- ing on men to continue their work for the asso- ciation carried through to the lodges as well. Norman Dinerman was elected to another term as president of Harmo- ny Lodge. Jeffrey Pad- wa, vice president, and Touro Fraternal Officers & Board of Directors 2012-2013 By Arthur Poulten Manochehr Norparvar, treasurer, were reelected as well. Andrew Shuster will be in his first term as secretary of the lodge. At Friendship Lodge all newly-elected offi- cers were carry-overs from last year. Lester Nathan moves up from vice president to lodge president. Andrew Liss was a lodge secretary last year. Michael Levin, the new treasurer, was secretary last year. And the new secretary, Richard Cohen, served as lodge treasurer last year. All lodge officers serve one-year terms. Six men were elected to three-year terms on the board of directors, all of whom are incumbents. They are Jed Brandes, Andrew Lamchick, Nathan Lury, Bruce Weisman and Brothers Miller and Schiff. All newly-elected officers and board members were installed at Touro’s annual Installation Dinner May 23rd (See story page 4). Again this year, the secretar- ies of both lodges cast unani- mous ballots at the May 2 election for the candidates, all of whom were unop- posed. Ried Redlich, outgo- ing president of Friendship Lodge, was appointed to fill a one year unexpired term on the board of directors. Norman Dinerman, President, Harmony Lodge Lester Nathan, President, Friendship Lodge Installation 2012 page 4 A Good Story: David Brandt page 4 First Row: Nathan Lury, Barry Shaw, Edward Deluty, Michael Smith, Milton Bronstein, directors; Jeffrey Padwa, vice president, Harmony Lodge; Barry Schiff, vice chairman, Board of Directors; Max Guarino, inside guard, Friendship Lodge. Second Row: Manocher Norparvar, treasurer, Harmony Lodge; Andrew Liss, vice president, Friendship Lodge; Lester Nathan, president, Friendship Lodge; Adam Halpern, Andrew Lamchick, directors; Robert Miller, chairman, Board of Directors; Steven Waldman, Association treasurer; Rodney Locke, director; Richard Cohen, secretary, Friendship Lodge; Michael Levin, treasurer, Friendship Lodge; Norman Dinerman, president, Harmony Lodge. Third Row: Andrew Shuster, secretary, Harmony Lodge; Ried Redlich, Stevan Labush, Jeffrey Davis, Steven White, Bruce Weisman, Alan Lury, directors. Not Shown: Jed Brandes, director; Marc Gertsacov, Association secretary; Arthur Poulten, chairman emeritus, Board of Directors; Judah Rosen, Association chaplain.

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The Summer 2012 edition of the Tourogram

TRANSCRIPT

~ � ~

2 0 1 2July

5 7 7 2

INSIDEThis Issue

Don't Call Me Coach!page 5

Deputy Consul Generalpage 5

Touro's New Websitepage 7

If it ain't broke, don't fix it–an old adage that’s quite appropriate for Touro and its recent elections.

With just one exception, the men who have led Touro in recent years have been asked by the membership to continue their successful efforts for at least one more year. The list is headed by the officers of the Board of Directors. For the 12th consecutive year, Robert Miller has been elected chairman, placing him in the company of several past chairmen who have earned the respect of the organization for terms in the double digits. Elected along with Miller at the Board’s annual organizational meeting June 13th were Barry Schiff, vice chairman; Marc Gertsacov, secretary, and Steven Waldman, treasurer. This will be Schiff ’s first term in that position. Gert-sacov and Waldman have held their spots for several years. The theme of call-ing on men to continue their work for the asso-ciation carried through to the lodges as well. Norman Dinerman was elected to another term as president of Harmo-ny Lodge. Jeffrey Pad-wa, vice president, and

Touro Fraternal Officers & Board of Directors 2012-2013By Arthur Poulten

Manochehr Norparvar, treasurer, were reelected as well. Andrew Shuster will be in his first term as secretary of the lodge. At Friendship Lodge all newly-elected offi-cers were carry-overs from last year. Lester Nathan moves up from vice president to lodge president. Andrew Liss was a lodge secretary last year. Michael Levin, the new treasurer, was secretary last year. And the new secretary, Richard Cohen, served as lodge treasurer last year. All lodge officers serve one-year terms. Six men were elected to three-year terms on the board of directors, all of whom are incumbents. They are Jed Brandes, Andrew Lamchick, Nathan Lury, Bruce Weisman and Brothers Miller and Schiff. All newly-elected officers and board members were installed at Touro’s annual Installation Dinner

May 23rd (See story page 4). Again this year, the secretar-ies of both lodges cast unani-mous ballots at the May 2 election for the candidates, all of whom were unop-posed. Ried Redlich, outgo-ing president of Friendship Lodge, was appointed to fill a one year unexpired term on the board of directors. Norman Dinerman,

President, Harmony LodgeLester Nathan,

President, Friendship Lodge

Installation 2012page 4

A Good Story: David Brandtpage 4

First Row: Nathan Lury, Barry Shaw, Edward Deluty, Michael Smith, Milton Bronstein, directors; Jeffrey Padwa, vice president, Harmony Lodge; Barry Schiff, vice chairman, Board of Directors; Max Guarino, inside guard, Friendship Lodge.Second Row: Manocher Norparvar, treasurer, Harmony Lodge; Andrew Liss, vice president, Friendship Lodge; Lester Nathan, president, Friendship Lodge; Adam Halpern, Andrew Lamchick, directors; Robert Miller, chairman, Board of Directors; Steven Waldman, Association treasurer; Rodney Locke, director; Richard Cohen, secretary, Friendship Lodge; Michael Levin, treasurer, Friendship Lodge; Norman Dinerman, president, Harmony Lodge.Third Row: Andrew Shuster, secretary, Harmony Lodge; Ried Redlich, Stevan Labush, Jeffrey Davis, Steven White, Bruce Weisman, Alan Lury, directors.Not Shown: Jed Brandes, director; Marc Gertsacov, Association secretary; Arthur Poulten, chairman emeritus, Board of Directors; Judah Rosen, Association chaplain.

~ � ~

SocialScene

By Andrew LissVice President, Friendship Lodge

Hello, my name is Andrew Liss and I am the new Vice President of Friendship Lodge. Today, I am writing my first “Social Scene” col-

umn for the Tourogram; I do hope you enjoy it. I want to report the amazing Annual Dinner Dance we had at the Venus De Milo, on Saturday, June 9. The food was fantastic, and the Ed Massa Band was right in tune. On June 27, Touro Hall was filled with members to hear from the Touro-sponsored students who had just returned from the “March of the Living Experience” this past spring. Tuesday, July 3rd Touro returned to the PawSox for an evening filled with baseball and great fireworks. There are several events coming up in the next few months, and I am hoping everyone can attend.

Saturday, August 25th - Newport Playhouse & Cabaret. Back again to see “Squabbles” which is set in an apartment in Stam-ford, CT. It pits a father-in-law against a mother in a succession of squabbles. Doors open at 6 pm. The buffet opens at 6:15. Make your reservations early, it is sure to be a sellout.

Wednesday, September 19th - Harmony lodge presents the roast of our beloved brother, Milton Bronstein. Be there to go back over the years and share a laugh or two. Milton has helped shape Touro Fraternal in becoming the proud association it is today.

Thursday, October 18th - The Membership Committee is hold-ing a membership drive at Dave and Buster's at Providence Place Mall. This includes a buffet and power card–all for only $20. There will be a private room, with team games too. This is a first for this kind of an event, so don’t miss out. Bring a friend, and show him what Touro Fraternal is all about. Doors open at 6:00 pm.

Saturday, October 20th - Our next Two-fer at Nino’s on Lake Tiogue in Coventry. More information to follow, as this date draws closer.

Wednesday, October 24th - Friendship Lodge presents our Pre-Election coverage with NPR columnist Scott MacKay. Gain valu-able political insight and have a delicious meal with your brothers. More details to come. Well, that is my report. We hope to see you soon. Any ques-tions, feel free to call the office, email at [email protected] or message on Facebook. One last thing, if you can, please bring to the next meeting a non-perishable kosher food item for the Louis and Goldie Chester Full Plate Kosher Food Pantry, to help out the less fortunate. Thank you.

From The Chairman

And so it goes. We have new officers in place for another year and it looks like we have a great team to lead us into the future. All is well here

at Touro Fraternal Association. It has been an interesting year, from my perspective, as I begin my twelfth term as chairman. I thought about stepping aside and allowing others to step up and grab the reins to take on the responsibilities that go along with the job. I thought long and I thought hard and decided that I had to do at least one more year. Why? Wow, a tough question to answer. Over the last 38 years, there have been only three chairmen of the Board: Marshall Bornstein, Arthur Poulten (sitting chairman emeritus) and myself. There have been many changes and issues over those years and each of us has guided Touro through these and strengthened our core values of Harmony, Friendship and Benevolence. Our building continues to be the hub we envisioned, maintaining a focal point for monthly meetings, committee meetings, special events and a hall available for family functions for our members. It really is the place for us to call home. We have developed a system for grooming and developing our officers to maintain a solid group of our volunteer leadership. Touro does run like a well-oiled machine. We are active in the community supporting those causes we can, both financially and with manpower, when needed. My goal for this year is to continue to develop our future leaders. I will begin to delegate more of my responsibilities as chairman to those who might be interested in carrying on the torch. I have asked those members of the board having this desire to submit to me an e-mail stating why they want to be chairman and why they think they are qualified to do so. Over the course of this next year, I will begin assigning duties and responsibilities to these individuals in addition to allowing them to conduct a board meeting or two. I also have a personal goal to achieve, since in my eleven years as chairman, I have yet to miss one board meeting. I intend to make it twelve.

Fraternally,Robert D. Miller-ChairmanBoard of Directors

~ � ~

TOUROGRAPHY: DAVID BRANDTBy Jed Brandes

You might ask: What qualities must a brother possess to inspire the Communications Committee to write his Tourography? First and foremost, he should be a mensch.

Also, we gravitate toward brothers who are active in the association. This could mean participation as a lodge officer or board member. Or, it could be as simple as regular attendance at lodge meetings and other functions. But mostly, we like to tell a good story. And so, we submit for your enjoyment, the tale of David Brandt. David was born in Germany. His family was for-tunate to leave Germany, immigrate to Russia and then journey through Mongolia and China. Finally, in 1949 at the age of 18, David came to the United States. By 1951, he had been drafted and was sent to Korea in 1953. Upon his return to the states, David earned a degree at the American Culinary Institute. He jumped into his new profession, working the night shift as a cook for Johnson Hammocks. Shortly thereafter, in 1960, he married Shirley Wilk (Touro President Sam’s first cousin). Together they have three children and three grandchildren. One of the grandchildren, Jor-dan Harpel, recently spoke at the Touro Steak Fry. He received a Touro grant that helped him participate in the March of the Living. David spent the rest of his career as a restaurateur. For 20 years, he was a partner at the renowned Fore ‘n Aft Restaurant

in Bristol. This was followed by 14 years as the owner of the Bo James Restaurant in Providence. David became active with Rhode Island Jewish Fraternal As-

sociation, serving as its treasurer, then president and chairman. When the association dissolved, he was instrumental in liquidating its assets. In this role, he arranged for several cemetery plots to be sold to Touro. The proceeds of those sales were donated to charity as the association’s final act. Today he is ac-tive in the community working on the Rhode Island Holocaust Memorial. Now in his retirement, David primarily keeps himself busy with golf. He and his partner Len Buckler shoot three rounds each week at Cranston Country Club. He also enjoys regular trips to Fen-way Park, where he recently attended the 100th An-niversary game. And he attends Celtics games with

his son, who has a season subscription. David has an interesting take on what he finds compelling about Touro. Like most of the brothers, he enjoys the great events and camaraderie. And certainly, he appreciates all the good Tou-ro does in the community. But he also marvels at all the hard work done by the leadership. He ruefully suggests that if Rhode Island Jewish Fraternal had had brothers with such dedication, it would still exist! So there you have it! A mensch who comes to meetings, and has a good story to tell!

As the old saying goes, “one door closes, another one opens”. My two years as Social Committee co-chair-

man have concluded, and so begins my first term as Friendship Lodge president. I thank Ried Redlich, our outgoing

president, for the time and effort he devoted to Touro during the past three years. I appreciate all the knowledge and informa-tion he has given me about my new duties and responsibilities. I look forward to a solid partnership with my fellow lodge of-ficers. In my new role, I have graduated within the Tourogram from the Social Scene column to the President’s Report. I plan to share with you my perspective on Touro’s social activities, how well the regular events have gone, some new event ideas and ways to increase member participation. Communicating information has always been important to me. One year after joining Touro, I volunteered to join the Communications Committee and work on the Tourogram. I’ve served as a writer, photographer and proofreader. In the earlier years, event flyers, meeting announcements

and the Tourogram were our primary means of communication. During the nineties, the Internet emerged as a new communi-cation medium. We worked to design Touro’s first website and popularize its usage during the 2000s. This allowed the social calendar and event flyers to be available on-line. More recently, we’ve:

● Used iContact to send out e-mail reminders prior to events ● Built a group page on Facebook, allowing member feedback● Redesigned our website, which utilizes FLICKR, a photograph application and ISSU, a document archival application

As you might guess, the committee has a lot going on, both in print and on the internet. We’ve also found many clever ways to link them together, such as linkage between the website and iContact to a flyer file. We have more enhancements in the pipe-line and I am sanguine about the future. But the bottom line is this: great communication tools are only a means to an end; we need your support and participation to make them worthwhile.

More Ways to CommunicateBy Lester Nathan, President, Friendship Lodge

~ 4 ~

Installation of 2012 Touro Leaders

By Lester Nathan

Elected to the Board of Directors (l-r) Jed Brandes, Andrew Lamchick

and Nathan Lury

Elected to the Board of Directors(l-r) Robert Miller,

Barry Schiff, and Bruce Weisman

Harmony Lodge Officers (l-r) Andrew Shuster, secretary; Manochehr Norparvar, treasurer;

and Jeff Padwa, vice president

Friendship Lodge Offices (l-r) Michael Levin treasurer; Richard Cohen, secretary; and

Andrew Liss, vice president

On Wednesday, May 23rd, the Touro member-ship gathered at Touro headquarters for the annual installation of officers, preceded by

another well-catered brisket dinner. After most of the monthly business meeting was conducted by Chairman Robert Miller, he handed the gavel to the evening’s installing officer, Ed Deluty. Mi-chael Smith, as master of ceremonies, administered the oaths of office. The first three brothers to be installed were board members Jed Brandes, Andrew Lamchick and Nathan Lury. The next three brothers, also in-stalled as board members, were Robert Miller, Barry Schiff and Bruce Weisman. Lodge officer installations followed those of the directors. Harmony Lodge’s officers for the upcoming year will be President Norman Dinerman, Vice Presi-dent Jeffrey Padwa, Treasurer Manochehr Norparvar and Secretary Andrew Shuster, who will be serving his first term of office. Friendship Lodge’s officers will be President Lester Nathan, Vice President Andrew Liss, Treasurer Michael Levin and Secretary Richard Cohen. After Brother Smith completed the oaths of office for each group, Installing Officer Deluty followed with some informative and amusing remarks about each brother. President Dinerman took the opportunity to thank House Committee Chair-man Nate Lury, outgoing lodge president Ried Redlich and the Friendship Lodge officers for their past work, as well as welcoming Andrew Shuster to the team. He concluded by saying: “To end, I would just like to say how lucky we are to have a place that we can come to as Jews, where we fight, bicker, and do good deeds for the community, and where at the end of the day, we have incredible friendships … like Ed Cooley says, ‘I love you man’ ”. Incoming President Nathan thanked Ried Redlich for his help. He then re-flected on the last two years he spent as co-chairman of the Social Committee and its connections with his service on the Communications, Orientation, Ritual and Membership Committees. He encouraged participation from our new members, either as officers, committee service or via community involvement. Afterwards, he called brother Redlich up to the stage for a gift presentation. It was then Ried’s turn to make a thank-you speech. Master of Ceremo-nies Smith concluded the ceremony with the final declaration. In appreciation for Ried’s efforts during the past three years, he was presented with a past president’s sweater and a plaque by Chairman Miller at the end of the business meeting. All of the mentioned brothers have stepped up and given of their time so that Touro Fraternal can move forward and flourish through our centennial year of 2018. Let us thank them by also stepping up and giving service in the same manner as they have.

Once, Twice, Thrice! Master of Ceremony

Michael Smith closes the Installation

(l-r) Outgoing President Ried Redlich receives his president's plaque from

Chairman Bob Miller

~ 5 ~

The guest speaker for the April 18th meet-ing was basketball coach Ed Cooley of the Providence College Friars. We were

expecting mostly basketball talk, including stats, new recruits and prospects for the coming season. What we got was a talk about life lessons. Ed said a big reason he agreed to speak at Touro was because of the good work we do for the community. He said that he may have been the recipient of our goodwill. Ed had a hard up-bringing and many times found himself at a shel-ter or food bank. Fortunately, he was taken in by a great family who allowed him to reach his po-tential. He attended Central High School, where he was twice the Rhode Island Player of the Year. Before college, he spent a year in New Hampshire at the New Hampton School. While there, he met a teammate from Maine who was looking at him curiously. Ed asked him what the problem was; the teammate had never seen a black person. As luck would have it, these two men became the best of friends and still are to this day. From there Ed went to Stonehill College. He was basketball team captain for three years and earned Northeast-10 all-academic honors. Following college, he taught history before climbing the coaching ladder. His first assistant coaching job was at UMass, followed by jobs with Al Skinner at URI and then BC. Finally, a head coaching job came his way at Fairfield. They made the NIT Tournament in his last year as coach, which led to his current job at PC. Ed explained that it is not easy coaching men 18 to 22 years of age. There are times when he is their father rather than coach. He tells them to call him at any time (even if there is trouble). Things are looking up for PC as the incoming class is one of the best in the country. Ed did make a point of saying: “Don’t call me coach. Coaching is what I do, not who I am”

Those who attended the March lodge meeting had the opportunity to meet our special guest Ronit Nudelman

Pearl, Deputy Consul General of the Israeli Consulate of New England, and learn about today’s life in Israel. The evening included a

business meeting, conducted by Harmony Lodge, and was followed by a wonderful dairy dinner. First, some background on Consul Pearl. After serving her military service and attending Hebrew University, she began her career as an edu-cational advisor. Later, in 1992, she was accepted into the prestigious Ca-det’s Course at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1994, Ms. Pearl worked closely with MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development and Cooperation. Ronit moved with her husband, Baruch, and their three daughters, to the Boston suburbs several years ago. Coming from a warm climate, the family needed some time to become acclimated to New England and its four seasons. Another difference, she mentioned, was that after growing up in a secular environment, living in the America had made her feel more connected to her Jewish identity. Consul Pearl discussed her responsibilities in the consulate, where there are two principal diplomats, the Consul General and the Deputy Consul General. Boston is one of the nine Israeli consulates in the U.S. And while the Consul General position is political, hers is not. Consul Pearl made an analogy between Israel and Rhode Island – both are small “states,” but have much different kinds of neighbors. Nonethe-less, changes are occurring very quickly in the region. There is presently a rebellion in Syria and tensions remain high in Egypt. She said that Israel needs to be very careful as her neighbors are waiting for her to make a wrong move. When asked about President Obama, she felt that he has made very good changes, especially with regards to Iran. One current domestic problem, brought up by a Touro member, is the protest over housing. The government is trying to do something about that, as well as have discussions with the Palestinians. But, she said, it’s “very difficult to offer packages and deals when the other side doesn’t want to sit down with you.” When asked about the ultra-Orthodox, she stated that Israel was founded as a religious state and the government doesn’t support them any more than “others,” such as Shas. To conclude the Q&A session, she cited several impressive facts about the Middle East’s only true democracy:

◆ Israel’s GDP is almost $30,000 per capita

◆ Growth rate is currently 4.7% and the unemployment rate is 5.5%

◆ Israel has the second most NASDAQ-listed companies, after the U.S.

◆ Life expectancy is up to 81 years, 8th in the world

◆ Israel is #2 in developing clean energy

◆ It has the highest number of lawyers per capita in the whole world

ED COOLEY: Don't Call Me Coach

By Howard Wasser

Israeli Consul Pays a Visit to Rhode Island

By Lester Nathan

~ � ~

Coach Ed Cooley Motivates Touro's Open HouseBy Andy Lamchick, Membership Chairman

Once a year, we put on our best face for prospective new Touro Members during our annual New Member

Open House. This year was no different! We brought out a new PowerPoint pre-sentation to explain what Touro is all about.

Next, we served up our traditional Open House meal of K.B.C. (kosher baked chicken) with all the fixin’s. Then we pulled out our trump card ... our guest speaker: Providence College basket-ball coach and Providence native, Ed Cooley. The Coach cap-tivated the crowd with his stories of growing up in Providence, building a team, and all around motivational discussion. Coach Cooley was dynamic, and complimentary, when speaking about the greatness of our organization. All who attended agreed that the Coach was one of the finest speakers we’ve ever had in our building. When all was said and done, our members went home with full stomachs, motivation, and the knowledge that there

Touro Cemetery UpdateBy Rodney Locke, Chairman

Touro Cemetery Committee

Touro has added to its holdings at Lincoln Park Cemetery. The land, previously owned by the

Rhode Island Jewish Fraternal Association, has been designated for use by single regular Touro members and assigned in rotation as needed. Perpetual Care will be the responsibility of the member’s family. It will be assessed and payable at the rate being charged by the Chased Schel Amess Association at the time of the intern-ment. Checks payable to Touro Fraternal Association will be collected by the funeral director handling the arrangements and forwarded to Touro. All Touro regular members are entitled to a plot on Touro land, in rotation, as long as they are available. There is no cost for the plot but the member’s family is responsible for perpetual care. The member may reserve the adjoining plot for his surviv-ing spouse at a cost set by the Touro Board of Directors. If the member is predeceased by his spouse, the adjoining gravesite will be reserved for the member. When a plot is used or reserved, a deed is issued by Touro and the land becomes the property of the owner and/or his or her family. Responsibility for its upkeep rests with the owner and within regulations set by the Chased Schel Amess Association, operators of Lincoln Park Cemetery.

Touro Fraternal Association has had an-other successful quarter of helping out the Rhode Island community. We have

helped out several organizations. Recently, the Community In-volvement Committee voted to donate money to the RI Com-munity Food Bank and luckily, there was a matching donation program going on. We also donated to the RI Jewish Seniors Agency. We helped them purchase an iPad for use at the Seniors Nursing Home. They intend to use the high tech piece of equipment to challenge senior citizens with games to keep their minds sharp. We also voted on donating to the URI Hillel for the purpose of sponsoring Shabbat dinners. This is a great way for the URI students who intend to stay in RI to see that there are organiza-tions they might wish to join after graduation. We also participated in cooking for the Ronald McDonald House. A delicious chicken salad dinner was prepared by Chef Andy Liss, assisted by Bruce Nasberg and yours truly. The Committee will continue to look for causes to partici-pate in. Whether it is a walk to help raise money, participate in helping at a soup kitchen, or maybe volunteering at a hospital. I will be asking you, the membership, to think hard and let me know your ideas. Email me at [email protected].

Touro Continues the Act of Giving

By Steven White, Community Involvement Chairman

will be some new brothers joining Touro soon. Now, I’d like to announce our next opportunity for Touro members to share our organization with their family and friends. We will conduct a Tourothon at Dave and Buster's in the Provi-dence Place Mall. No, this is not a fundraiser! It’s a fun event including video games, a full buffet and some friendly competi-tion. Here’s the perfect opportunity to target “regular” members at a brand new, fun event. It will take place Thursday, October 18th. Yes, I said Thursday. We wanted to have an event on a dif-ferent night to see if we can open it up to some members with Wednesday conflicts. We’ll have many more details as the event progresses, but for now, I encourage you to line up prospective “regular” members to join our phenomenal organization! You can expect some prizes for the member who signs up the most new “regular” members. Good luck, and get ready to take on your brothers for a fun night!!!

ANYONE FOR BRIDGE?

Classes will be open to all Touro members and their significant oth-ers. Singles are welcome. Lessons will be conducted by a qualified instructor. Game play will be included each evening. Others will be dependent upon your participation. There is a sign-up fee of $30 (As with our Lodge meetings, $5 will be refunded at each lesson when you arrive). Come to all six lessons and your participation isfree! After six lessons, if there is continued interest, a regular game at Touro Hall will be arranged.

Lessons are scheduled on the following Sundays:December 16, 2012 January 13, 2013 January 27, 2013 February 17, 2013 February 24, 2013 March 10, 2013

Call 785-0066 ore-mail to

[email protected] sign up.

~ 7 ~

SPRINGTWO-FER

Touro’s New Website Launched in May

By Lester Nathan

The Communications Committee re-launched Touro’s website, www.tourofraternal.org, on May 7th. Fully redesigned and enhanced, it replaces

the old website which was 10 years old. The Commit-tee used an outside resource, Tim Gaulin, as its techni-cal developer and created a special subcommittee. The team completed the project on schedule and also se-lected a new web hosting site, GoDaddy.com. The new Home Page is divided into four sections. The top section features four photos from recent events with the site menu underneath. The center area will be used for upcoming events, with a link to the flyer or for important messages. In the left-hand column, links to Facebook, Twitter and flyers for the next two events appear, while the right-hand col-umn contains links to the Photos and Tourogram pages. The What is Touro? page shows our new membership brochure, which can be viewed as a digital book. The next page is reserved for Touro history, cur-rently a work in-progress. The Membership page contains links to application forms and lists our member benefits. The Calendars page displays our upcoming events. By click-ing on an event, the program displays its description with a link to the flyer (which can be downloaded and printed). A link to a calendar of Jewish holidays is found on the bottom of the page. The Photos page contains photos from our last two events, and each is viewable as a slideshow. There are also links to past events on our new FLICKR (a photography program) page. The latest edition of the Tourogram page also opens up like a book. Back issues will be archived in ISSU (an archival program) in-stead of on the website and are linked to this page.

TOUROFAMILY SOFTBALL

The Leadership page is revamped and links to the Com-mittee page, which describes what the committees do. Mem-bers can send e-mails to the committee chairmen using the links attached to the committee names. The last page, Contact Us, contains the various ways to contact and find Touro. Finally, a QR code, used by smart phones for scanning and linking to the website, has been created for future use in Touro’s ads and other publicity. Overall, the new website technology brings Touro into the 21st century. Further enhancements are being planned.

~ � ~H A R M O N Y • F R I E N D S H I P • B E N E V O L E N C E

HARMONY LODGENorman Dinerman, PresidentJeffrey Padwa, Vice PresidentAndrew Shuster, Secretary

Manocher Norparvar, TreasurerBarry Schiff, Inside Guard

FRIENDSHIP LODGELester Nathan, President

Andrew Liss, Vice PresidentRichard Cohen, SecretaryMichael Levin, Treasurer

Max Guarino, Inside Guard

Bruce Weisman, Editor

Columnists: Jed Brandes Howard Custis Norman Dinerman Andrew Lamchick Lester Nathan Arthur Poulten Barry Jay Schiff Howard WasserStaff Photographers: Jeffrey Davis Edward Deluty

Touro Fraternal Association45 Rolfe Square, P.O. Box 3562, Cranston, RI 02910Phone: 401-785-0066Fax: 401-941-8781E-Mail: [email protected]

Robert Miller, ChairmanBarry Schiff, Vice ChairmanSteven Waldman, TreasurerMarc Gertsacov, SecretaryJudah Rosen, Chaplain

Barry Shaw, Inside GuardArthur Poulten, Chairman Emeritus

TOURO BOARD OF DIRECTORS2012-2013

Visit Touro at www.tourofraternal.orgor scan the QR code.

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDProvidence, RI

Permit #719

2 0 1 2 JULY 5 7 7 2

Jed BrandesMilton BronsteinJeffrey DavisEdward DelutyAdam HalpernStevan LabushAndrew LamchickRodney LockeAlan Lury

Nathan LuryRobert MillerArthur PoultenRied Redlich Barry SchiffBarry ShawMichael SmithSteven Waldman Bruce WeismanSteven White

MILTON BRONSTEIN ROAST

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

UPCOMING TOURO EVENTS:

Ried Redlich, Faithful Guide

MEMBERSHIP EVENT: DAVE AND BUSTER'S

OCTOBER 18, 2012

SQUABBLES

Newport PlayhouseNewport, RI

Saturday August 25, 2011$50 per Touro couple

$80 per Non-Touro coupleTicket price includes buffet dinner, play and

caberet after the show.Watch for the flyer in the mail or go online to:

www.tourofraternal org

P.O. BOX 3562CRANSTON, RI 02910

Return Service Requested