A Letter to Alumni-Please Read!

[nelpresident]

To the alumni of the North American Federation of Temple Youth-Northeast Lakes Region
(NFTY-NEL, NELFTY, NEFTY, LEFTY),

At this years Spring Kallah, the NFTY-NEL community will be celebrating its 60th Anniversary! On Saturday night, we will be doing a large program where we will be looking back at the past 60 years of history and tradition in this region, and imagining the future of the region which we all love so much.
Therefore, we are looking to you, the alumni of NFTY-NEL to provide us with your knowledge, memories, stories, and resources that encompass the past 60 years. In order to make this celebration a success we are requesting various pieces of NEL history that each of you might have. Here is what we’re looking for:
• Pictures: We are going to be putting together a slideshow of pictures from the past 60 years. If you have any pictures that you would like to donate to this project, please send them to me at the e-mail listed below. Additionally, if you could provide the year and event that the picture was taken it would be greatly appreciated!
• Memorabilia: Have any old items from your time in the region? We are going to be putting together a time capsule on Saturday evening and we would love to add any items that you would like to donate! In addition, we are going to be asking our members to add their greatest NEL memories and their vision for NEL 60 years in the future, so if you would like to add either of these statements, feel free to do so.
• Memories: As part of the program we would like to share old stories and facts from each decade in the history of the region (1948-2008). If you would like to send us your stories and memories from what the region was like during your time to be shared with our members during the evening, we would love to have them! Also, if you are currently still in proximity to the region (or even if you’re not) we would love to have you represent your decade and share your stories in person during the evening. If possible, we would love to have 1 or 2 representatives from each decade so, please contact me if you would be interested in doing this. (The event is going to be held April 11-13, 2008 at Camp Fitch in Erie, PA)
• History: As I went through many of the old Presidential files this past year, I happened to come across a brief history of the region from 1948-71. This can be found online at http://www.nfty.org/nel/about/history_of_nfty_nel/. We are looking to complete this history (1971-present). Therefore, if you are interested in completing this history, working with someone to complete it, or just provide the information from your time in the region, please let me know. We just need highlights from each time period: who the leadership was, membership levels, events (types, where etc.), any major occurrences that changed the region, etc.

If you are interested in contributing to any of these four areas, please contact me. Each of you has been a part of the history of this region, and we would love to have you share that with our current members.

L’Shalom,
Alex Rogers
NFTY-NEL President 2007-08
Buffalo, NY
716.861.5775
AROG9390@aol.com

[nelpresident]

Hello Everyone!

If you would like a more direct question to answer in order to help us with the memories section, please answer this:

Why did you get involved in NELFTY? What was so special about the region that kept you coming back?
-OR-
What is your FAVORITE memory?

We are also looking for any information on the history of various traditions in the region. If you have any insight into this please let us know.

Thanks so much for your help!
Alex Rogers