In the Loup is a bimonthly publication of the Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center and the Mizel Arts & Culture Center
350 S. Dahlia St., Denver, CO 80246.

From the Director

Our Annual Dinner is the biggest event of the year for the Robert E. Loup JCC.Whatmakes the 2008 dinner on Nov. 20 so extraordinary is that it is the first time in recent memory that we are not spotlighting an individual honoree. Instead, the theme of the evening is Nurturing Our Children: Body, Mind and Spirit.We believewholeheartedly that the children’s programs at the JCC and Mizel Arts andCultureCenter are the building-blocks of a thriving Jewish community, and therefore we’ve decided to focus our efforts on raising funds to support children’s programming and scholarships through this special evening.

We are indebted to our Annual Dinner cochairs— Debra & John Aleinikoff, Kathy & Rob Klugman, Gary & AimeeWagner, Gary & Terri Yourtz and Elaine Wolf & Sandy Wolf-Yearick—for their leadership, organization and inspiration in making this evening a reality.Though the real inspiration comes fromthe stories of children and families whose JCC experiences are so impacted by thewonderful opportunities that our programming and scholarships provide.Be sure to read about these stories in our Annual Dinner feature on page 5.

By the time this issue arrives in your mailbox, the MACC will be in the beginning days of its inaugural JAAMM Fest (Jewish Arts,Authors,Movies &Music Festival).An expansion of the longstanding Leah Cohen Festival of Jewish Books & Authors, the retail component of JAAMM Fest is the JCC Boettcher Lobby book sale, featuring an unmatched selection of Jewish literature and the best place in Denver to buy your Hannukah gifts. The complete JAAMM Fest schedule can be found on page 7, and if you are looking for a can’t-miss event to attend the first weekend of November, we encourage you to attend theMACC’s first ever operatic production, The Dybbuk Project: A Multimedia Chamber Opera.

We are actively in the planning stages for the 2010 Denver JCC Maccabi Games, a colossal week-long, teen sporting event. These games will be the largest event ever hosted by our JCC. I encourage everyone to become involved as a volunteer, host family or participating athlete. To read the latest on what the JCCMaccabi Games are all about, turn to pages 12–13.

Mentoring and teaching is a theme that rounds out this issue,with stories about: the ECC Buddy program (page 14); S&F instructor Elaine Smith who has been teaching at the JCC for the past 20 years (page 15); 2009 film festival honoree Charlie Miller, who has returned to the MACC as a mainstage director (pages 16–17); and MACC director Nick Sugar who will shape the acting talents of aspiring teens in this fall’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (pages 19–20).

Be sure not to miss any of the great end-ofthe year holiday happenings, reminders, anecdotes andmore. Fromall of us at the JCC, we wish you a very joyous Thanksgiving and a happy Hanukkah and holiday season.

Stuart E. Raynor
Executive Director