Lag Ba’Omer 5771

In years gone by, one of the highlights of the Westmount year was the annual Lag Ba’omer celebration at the King City home of Jackie & Larry Garber. The setting was perfect – with a lake and trees all to ourselves. But since King City Garber-style is no more, we needed to find another venue.
The challenge was given to our fearless Youth Director, Oren Dishy. And his energy and vision made it happen. The idea was beautiful in its simplicity.  As opposed to a city-wide event , we would have something intimate –  just for our kehillah.  Instead of balloon rides and jugglers, we would have old-fashioned games like three-legged races, potato sack races and tugs of war. We would involve all the kids at their levels and give them all prizes and glow sticks.  Rather than commercial food vendors and line-ups, we had the staple of all family get-togethers—hot dogs. And it worked. Everybody has commented about how special it was.
It’s hard to explain why.  For sure it had to do with the basic appeal and simplicity of the games and the hot dogs.  Seeing the kids of all ages having a great time with each other was a pure delight.  Perhaps it was also that with so many other people in the park, we naturally drew closer together.  And perhaps it was because of the pride we felt in showing how great our kids were, in showing that we were a fun community and of course in showing that we had the best fireworks of anybody at G. Ross Lord that evening. Whatever the reason, it was an evening to be treasured.
Yasher koach to Oren Dishy who, almost single-handedly, conceived and ran the evening. He arranged for all the kids to get basketballs or soccer balls. We all saw his jovial, friendly demeanour, which makes him so beloved to the children and adults. Thanks also to Marni Dishy and the Dishy kids. Do you know how long it takes to pre-barbecue 250 hot dogs? Thanks to Devorah Deverett for coordinating the prizes and races.  Thanks to the Rabbi for arranging the weather (see below). And a special thanks to the Lerners who noticed that we needed water and cups and plates and so Hopalong went to SuperCentre to get huge supplies, including barbecued chicken. In fact , It was moving to see how everyone who brought food shared it with those who were less prepared.
And thanks to everyone who came out for making it a memorable Westmount moment.