Men’s Club Musings

Well, the Sukkah went up, and it came down, but not as planned.You all remember that early snow in October, the one that took out the power for so many, and resulted in so many downed branches, that many streets looked like a war zone.  Well, I was at the Shul for something else (we had to delay the take down a week because of the snow), and Michelle mentioned that the roof was sagging.  I went to check it out, expecting that the plastic blinds we use had slipped, or perhaps a support 1x2 had broken but.......

Shock of shocks, the wood was all in place, and the plastic blinds were fine.  The 2" galvanized STEEL pipe that makes up the roof (and the rest of the frame) was sagging.  I don't mean a little, I mean A LOT.  Like a 3 foot sag from the sides to the middle.  I calculated the amount of snow that would be need to cause this (with some critical help from my son David), and it comes to about 11,000 pounds of snow. (gasp)

Rather than wait for a full crew to remove the sukkah, Bruce Reich and I (along with one of his employees)  took down the sukkah right away, since it was a hazard.  Those roof pieces will need to be replaced next year (just try and straighten steel pipe) and we discussed adding additional support, but this is such an unusual occurrence (both the early snow and the timing right after Sukkoth), that this will not be necessary.

I have pictures if anyone wants to see.  Just send me an email.

The plans for the remainder of the year are still nebulous. Some things under consideration are a Bowling Evening (with our significant others), and joint event with Sisterhood, of course the Iron Pigs next Summer.

In the Spring, we will be trying to organize a Men’s Club Shabbat, a Mother’s day event, and possibly one more. Of course we are always looking for ideas. Autumn is here, get the snow-blowers ready, rake those leaves, and bundle up.

We could always use new ideas for activities so email me at . Look for updates in this bulletin and on the Beth El Website www.bethelallentown.org.

Fred Eisenberg
Men's Club President