Q: What do you get when you combine beautiful weather, several dozen kids from two different schools, lots of great activities, and pizza and water ice?
A: A phenomenal field day!
Established over 15 years ago, the Charles and Ethyl Blumenfeld Memorial Field Day serves as a one-day event for 3rd and 4th grade students from Kellman Brown Academy and Politz Day School.
Each spring, a total of about 50 students hop on buses from their respective schools and spend most of the school day enjoying a visit to the Katz JCC, where the JCC's Fitness and Wellness Department does a fabulous job of creating a memorable day for the children.
Annual funding to ensure the continuity of this program is provided by the Charles & Ethyl Blumenfeld Memorial Endowment Fund managed by the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc.
How Did this Endowment Fund Start?
Following the death in 2005 of her husband Charles (z"l), who was known affectionately as Charlie B., Ethyl Blumenfeld (z"l) established this endowment fund to memorialize several of his admirable traits, including his legacy of giving back to the community, enjoyment of sports, and desire for kids to take part in Jewish activities while also having fun.
Tell Me about the 2022 Field Day!
This year's field day, which took place on the beautiful, summery morning of June 8th, fulfilled these goals with many great activities:
Jewish-themed icebreaker to help students from both schools meet and interact
Swimming in the outdoor pool for the girls while boys played tug-of-war (where even some teachers got in on the act!) and a memory game on the field
Boys' swim and girls on the field
Delicious pizza and water ice lunch!
Plus, on their way out, each child received a free water bottle to commemorate the day.
Click on the photo above to open a slideshow of images from the event.
Alan Blumenfeld, son of Ethyl and Charles, took part in the day as well, enjoying the smiles on kids' faces and knowing that his parents would be thrilled with how the program was going. In fact, for several years before her passing, Ethyl attended the annual event and relished seeing the kids have so much fun, all in her husband's memory.
Near the end of the program, while the children were seated at their tables for lunch, Rabbi Chaim Greenwald of Politz Day School asked some of them to share what their favorite parts of the field day were, before returning to the buses to leave. The kids' answers included "pizza!" and "swimming!" and even "getting to meet kids from another school!"
All excellent answers indeed!
With the field day having been on hold for two years out of caution during the covid pandemic, uniting everybody once again made for a wonderful sight and a memorable occasion.
Thank you to the Blumenfeld family for creating this event; the Katz JCC for hosting; and Kellman Brown Academy and Politz Day School teachers and administrators for helping to make it a success. The kids had a blast!
Can't wait to see everybody next year!
Create Your Jewish Legacy Today
Leaving a legacy for future generations like the Blumenfeld family has done is sure to warm your heart, plus it can be very easy to do and even cost you nothing during your lifetime. To learn more, contact the JCF today at 856-673-2560 or infojcf@jfedsnj.org.