Our Town

ARIZONA THEATRE COMPANY has launched BackstageCoach, a transportation program to bring patrons from communities such as Vail and Saddlebrooke to select Saturday 4 p.m. performances. For more information, call the box office at 622-2823.… Read more »

Pima County Attorney BARBARA LAWALL will receive the Public Service Award at the American Jewish Committee’s Judge Learned Hand Awards luncheon on March 14 in Phoenix. She is being honored for her contributions to the advancement of equality and democratic principles through her work in the nonprofit and public… Read more »

FRAN KATZ, associate publisher of Tucson Lifestyle, will be honored by the American Advertising Federation Tucson at its ADDY awards dinner on Feb. 18 as the winner of the Phyllis Ehlinger Women of Excellence Award. The award recognizes women business owners or executives who have demonstrated success within their… Read more »

SHEILA WILENSKY has been named associate editor of the ARIZONA JEWISH POST. Wilensky, a former teacher and bookstore owner, has been assistant editor of the AJP for the past eight years. 1ST RATE 2ND HAND THRIFT STORE has given $100,000 back to the Jewish community since its inception in… Read more »

REBEKKAH DIAMOND, a science teacher at Canyon Del Oro High School, was chosen to participate in the National Science Teachers Association yearlong fellowship program. One of three teachers chosen from Arizona, Diamond will receive an NSTA membership package, online mentoring, the opportunity to participate in web-based professional development seminars… Read more »

ASHER SUSSER, former visiting scholar in modern Israel studies at the University of Arizona, has a new book, “Israel, Jordan, and Palestine: The Two-State Imperative,” which will be published this month by Crown Books/Brandeis University Press. DAVID MONTEFIORE has posted several YouTube videos in honor of Chanukah, featuring selections… Read more »

Congregation Chaverim has received a grant from Poets & Writers to fund writing workshops with Rabbi Stephanie Aaron and Deborah Mayaan at Chaverim, the Arizona Cancer Center and Casa de la Luz Hospice. The workshop schedule is available at chaverim.net or deborah mayaan.com. Mayaan was asked to write an… Read more »

Jeff Sambur, a retired firefighter, has published a book about his San Diego to Maine bicycle ride, “Destroying Demons on the Diagonal,” a lighthearted account that takes readers to the highest points in three states and 15 baseball stadiums, among other places. For more information, contact the author at … Read more »

PROJECT ISAIAH, the community-wide High Holidays food drive sponsored by the JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, collected 6,335 pounds of food and $3,824 for the Community Food Bank and Catalina Community Services. Every $1 collected buys $10 worth of food for the food… Read more »

BARBARA R. LEVY, ACFRE, has been named chair of the Ethics Committee of Association of Fundraising Professionals, which represents 30,000 individuals around the world. Levy currently serves as president of the Tucson Symphony Society Board of Trustees. She is principal in her firm, Organization & Fundraising Counsel, and has… Read more »

Tucson natives REBECCA GOLD (left in photo) and SHANA CUTLER have created LOVE JAY GIRLS, a collection of flower girl and special occasion dresses for girls sold through bridal boutiques and high-end children’s stores. Gold earned a bachelor’s degree in retailing and consumer sciences from the University of Arizona,… Read more »

Tucson resident JOHN NEWPORT, Ph.D., has written “The Tucson Tragedy: Lessons from the Senseless Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords” (Outskirts Press). RABBI STEPHANIE AARON of Congregation Chaverim, a longtime spiritual advisor and friend of Giffords, wrote the forward. Drawing on media accounts, the book summarizes the events and aftermath of… Read more »

THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA has promoted MARLYNE FREEDMAN to senior vice president. Freedman joined the Federation in 2002 as director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, after serving as executive director at Temple Chai in Phoenix. She became the Federation’s director of Women’s Philanthropy in 2004 and… Read more »

RABBI SHAFIR LOBB recently published High Holy Day prayer books for care facilities. The “To Life!” series includes Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and a combined edition.… Read more »

SIDNEY FINKEL, a Holocaust survivor and educator who speaks to students in Tucson and nationwide, will be awarded an honorary doctorate in public service from Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Ill., and will deliver their December 2011 commencement address. Finkel is the author of the memoir “Sevek and the… Read more »

1ST RATE 2ND HAND THRIFT STORE, Tucson’s Jewish nonprofit community thrift store, has hired JENNI STEINBERG PAGANO as manager. Pagano has experience running nonprofit, online vintage and designer shops. She  has worked in commercial and residential interior design and is one of the founding editors of Refashion Co-op, a… Read more »

JENNIFER FERRELL has been hired as the part-time assistant for the WEINTRAUB ISRAEL CENTER, a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Tucson Jewish Community Center. A Tucson native, Ferrell previously worked with her husband, Chris, at Ferrell Insurance Agency.         U-SWIRL FROZEN… Read more »

JOYCE FINKELSTEIN of Green Valley has been selected by AARP to receive Arizona’s 2011 AARP State Andrus Award for Community Service. Finkelstein serves on the board of Green Valley Recreation as treasurer. She is secretary of the Greater Green Valley Community Foundation and a member of its allocations and… Read more »

BARRETT AVIGDOR has joined the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, a Tucson-based nonprofit organization, as deputy director.  Avigdor is a graduate of The University of Chicago Law School and a former Fulbright scholar to Brazil.  Prior to joining the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, Avigdor… Read more »

CAROL KARSCH, the executive director of the JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA for the past 23 years, will retire in May 2012. The Foundation board has assembled a group of community leaders to begin the search for her successor. The qualifications guiding the search can be found on… Read more »