(By our Easton Correspondent)
The attention of the Jewry of the Lehigh Valley is now focused on the nineteenth annual state convention of the Y.M.H.A.’s and Y.W.H.A.’s of Pennsylvania, which will be held at Allentown on September 1, 2 and 3. After this convention is over, plans will be started for what, it is believed, will be the busiest winter season the Jewish communities of Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown have as yet experienced.
An interesting program has been planned for the entertainment of the delegates to the convention. A marathon swimming meet on September 2 will be the first event of importance, the meet taking place in the swimming pool of the new Jewish Community Center home at Allentown. The formal opening of the convention will take place at 2 o’clock of the same day, when Rabbi Hammer, of Allentown, will deliver the invocation and the delegates will be welcomed by Mayor Gross, of Allentown, and Hyman Rockmaker, president of the Allentown Jewish Community Center. Charles Kline, honorary president, will also speak.
The opening night, Saturday, September 1, will be devoted to a session of the executive committee. Max J. Finkelstein, Scranton, is chairman of the executive council, while Dr. A. R. Feinberg, Wilkes-Barre, heads the executive board. On Sunday afternoon, September 2, the initial business meeting will be held. Addresses of welcome will be delivered by Hyman Rockmaker, president of the Allentown center; Charles Kline, honorary president; and Mayor Gross. That afternoon, Allentown J. C. C. will oppose the Y.M.H.A. of Harrisburg in a championship baseball game. Several social events, including a dinner, have been arranged for the night. Rabbi Bernard Heller, Scraton, will be the dinner speaker.
Nomination of officers and a sight-seeing tour will make up the Labor Day morning program, and at the afternoon business meet, officers will be elected, an educational round-table gathering held and new heads later installed. Among those scheduled to deliver papers are: Max Sokol, York, Pa., Y.M.H.A.; H. Passamaneck, executive director Pittsburgh Y.M.H.A.; A. Goldblatt, Harrisburg Y.M.H.A.; Samuel Shair, Scranton Y.M.H.A.; and L. Abelson. field secretary for the associations of Pennsylvania. That night, a formal dance and banquet will bring the convention to a close.
Following the convention, Easton, Allentown and Bethlehem will begin formulating plans for the winter season. Since each city has a new center, new buildings having been erected, in these cities during the past three years, the season is expected to be very active. Basketball teams will be formed, as was the case last year, when the Easton Y.M.H. A. won the State championship; volley ball and gymnasium teams and probably football teams.
For those not athletically inclined, a number of clubs have been formed which are holding weekly debates and participate and arrange the social events, a number of which are planned.
The Easton Y.M.H.A. Boy Scouts, who spent the greater part of the summer at the Boy Scout encampment in New Jersey, again carried off most of the honors, many of the Scouts winning merit badges and otherwise distinguishing themselves. The Scouts have been making a good showing at every encampment and have been praised several times by the Executive Council of the Boy Scouts of the city.
Jewish residents of Lehigh Valley are also taking an active interest in the coming political campaign and a number of both Smith and Hoover rallies are being planned. The Easton Civic League, a political organization composed of the leading Jewish business men of Easton, have not as yet announced whom they will support, but a statement is expected soon.
Several changes have been made in the pulpits of Easton. Rabbi A. S. Kleinfield, who occupied the pulpit of the Temple Covenant of Peace, here, for the past two years, has accepted a call to a congregation in South Carolina, while Rabbi I. Weinberg, rabbi of the Orthodox congregation here, has accepted a call to Lancaster, Pa. Their places are expected to be filled before the holidays.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
