Love’s in bloom
Maybe there’s something in the water at the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay, where a flood of engagements and marriages are on the agency’s calendar. Among them are Steve Brown and Alissa Hauser, who recently tied the so-called knot; Lisa Tabak and Jeff Lipsett, Jennifer Beck and David Joseph, and Miriam Wilson and Gregory Wild-Smith. Wild-Smith, who lives in England, met Wilson in an Internet dating forum in 2003, then met in person the following year. They got engaged a year later. He’s moving here and a wedding is planned for August 2007!
Well-deserved recognition
Dan Cohen and his Full Court Press, a Berkeley-based PR and crisis management agency, have offered their services — often pro-bono — to many Jewish groups, including JIMENA, California Israel Chamber, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the East Bay federation’s Israel Task Force. Now Cohen is being recognized by the East Bay Business Journal as one of the Journal’s “40 under 40” — young business leaders who have contributed their time and energy to organizations and causes that make their communities better places to live and work. “I think they liked the fact that we work on behalf of businesses, foundations and nonprofits who want to use communication and PR to make social change,” Cohen tells Faces.
The long way home
Marin’s Marc and Marci Dollinger and their daughters had an unexpected extended vacation in Rome this month. They were on board a British Airways flight on their way home through Heathrow Airport on Aug. 10, when they were told to disembark due to “security concerns.” It took a call home to his dad to find out what was going on (the London terrorism arrests) and six hours in the airport to book an Alitalia flight for two days later. They did arrive back in time to go to the 25th reunion of their high school Israel trip — which is where they first met. “Glad to be home, and thankful for British intelligence,” says Marc.
A peak experience
Ellen Kahn of Greenbrae climbed Mount Shasta and raised more than $100,000 from people who believed in her and the work of the Breast Cancer Fund, the sponsor of the climb. “The summit had eluded me twice before, but … this was my time,” she wrote to supporters in a thank-you note after the climb. Before leaving the summit, the group “pulled our prayer flags from our packs, and read the names of our friends who are survivors or who have lost their battles with breast cancer.” One of the names was Kahn’s friend Andrea Martin, who founded BCF and who, she said, “inspired us to take on these challenges.”
Short shorts …
Gary Malkin and Julia Gilden have called out the talents of a diverse group of Middle Eastern musicians for a “multicultural, multi-religious” peace concert at 7:30 pm Thursday, Aug. 31 at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. Composer, pianist and vocalist Malkin will be joined by Geralyn Gendreau, Roger Housdon, Yair Dalal, Naser Mousa, Souhail Kaspar and Dror Sinai. Contact www.wisdomoftheworld.com for info … Los Gatos Congregation Shir Hadash celebrated the 25th anniversary of the ordination of Rabbi Melanie Aron on July 30 with guest speaker Rabbi Judy Shanks, co-president of the Women’s Rabbinic Network … Don Linker’s pastels are on display at the Fairfax Library in Marin County through August.
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