By Ellen Morton

What a warm, delicious, fun, and sentimental evening our MCJC 40th Anniversary event was! We even made a little money for the congregation. And it all happened fairly easily because everyone pulled together so well. Many thanks to all of you who helped make this evening such a success in every way.

We had a great crowd, great fun and enjoyed great food (thanks to Ilene Kaye, Kathleen Mayber and Marian Michaels for taking the lead in putting it all together and to guests who supplied additional dishes).

Miles Purvin displays the contents of a gift basket, trailed by Gene Lindow, Steve Boress and Dale Morton (aka, the Three Auctioneers).

The Woo-Woo drink was a hit! The decorations were great, including Italian themed flower vases from Renee’s Florist — and swap auctioneers, Gene Lindow, Dale Morton and Steve Boress, were perfectly silly and persuasive. Thank you, Sandy Lindow and Dara Turnball, for impromptu suggestions that made the evening even better.

Hunter Purvin shows off a wine rack, an item in the live auction.

Our kids in residence were awesome as runners and gift dispensers. And little Eli with his mustache handing out cookies . . . adorable! Thank you, and we hope you all actually had as much fun as it looked like you did.

The Grover’s ended up with one two many pictures at the end of the swap auction.

Paula Eskoz, your poem was perfect, and we all enjoyed the trivia! It got everyone engaged. Bruce Weiss, your MCJC history will be entered into the annals of our congregation. The slide show on the television screen was perfect, inviting people to visit the old albums and such on display. Bravo to all for these creative efforts!

Havdalah set the right mood, and the light up toys are always a crowd favorite. Thank you Kathleen Mayber, Stew Bailenson, and Herb Franks for your comments and suggestions.

MCJC founding member Stew Bailenson shares some sage advice with the dinner crowd.

With all disposable items, clean up went smoothly and quickly. Thanks to Rabbi Tom, Jonah Markowitz, Brandon Pacyna, Seth Turnball, Isabel Schiffer and others, the kitchen is even in good shape!

Check out was smooth with our ‘keep your own tally forms,’ keeping it easy for our check-out ladies and Renee to keep track of everything.

All told, it was a great evening. Hope you can attend our 45th coming right up in five years . . . . Oh, and if you didn’t know there was an MCJC 40th Anniversary event on Saturday . . . we’re not sure that’s possible, but if you missed your print newsletter, weekly e-nouncements, special emails, Facebook and Twitter posts, and flyers here and there, there’s just one thing to do. Get in touch with the Communications Committee via communications@mcjconline.org and let them know how to reach you!