Regional Spotlight

Middle Atlantic Region dines out

By Larry Nathanson

Our Middle Atlantic Region proudly launched a new program this year we call “Dinner Guys Night Out.”

We divided our Middle Atlantic Region into four subregions: Northern Suburbs; New Jersey; Philadelphia and the West Suburbs; and Bucks County. Each subregion formed a separate committee made up of representatives from each Men’s Club in its subregion.

Each committee then scheduled a dinner at a local restaurant and promoted each dinner throughout our entire region. The food at each dinner was delicious and either dairy or pareve. The idea was to get the men in our region together for a night out without any agenda to make new friends and get to know each other better.

The dinners have been a great success, with 30 to 40 men attending each dinner. The Bucks County subregion kicked off our events with a great dinner at a local Italian restaurant called “Giuseppe’s Pizza” on Feb. 12. The Northern Suburbs subregion came next with an excellent dinner at the “Yard House” on Feb. 24, followed by the Philadelphia and West Suburbs subregion with a buffet dinner at a Chinese eatery, the “Golden Bowl Restaurant,” on March 25, with over 40 guys in attendance. The last dinner is scheduled for April 23 at “Mr. Sushi” in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Through these dinners, we are promoting FJMC International and its core mission of promoting Friendship, Judaism, Mentorship, and Community.

These dinners have been the brainchild of Howard Elgart, who for years has been organizing similar dinners for the Men’s Club at Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnewood, Pa. Howard inspired many others from our region to expand his program to our entire region.  Thanks to the hard work of Steve Pilchick, Steven Marx, Lester Shapiro, Alan Horowitz and Steve Orland, Howard’s dream has become a reality. These dinners have been a great success, and we plan to expand on them next year.

Larry Nathanson is president of the Middle Atlantic Region of FJMC International.