In This Issue:
- MAN OF THE YEAR DINNER – SA 3/9*
- MARCH 10 MEMBERSHIP MEETING*
- NCAA BASKETBALL SQUARES ON SALE
- MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL TIME
- DINING OUT AT RED ROBIN – TU 3/26*
- ON THE HORIZON
- IN CLOSING
(* indicates updated items)
From the Editor: The goal of the Weekly is to get MoTAS members the information they need on upcoming activities, and then get out of the way. If you have any information on MoTAS activities you need to get out to the membership, please contact the Weekly Editor at cybermaven@tasnorthridge-motas.org.
1. MAN OF THE YEAR DINNER – SA 3/9
Larry Pfefer was honored at the January MoTAS Shabbat as our 2024 Man of the Year. The MRJ Man of the Year Dinner, where our honoree will be feted, together with the honorees from other MRJ congregations from the MRJ Pacific Southwest region, is Saturday, March 9, 2024 at our congregation: Registration has closed as of when you received this message (although you can call Roger just in case), but do remember to mark the date and congratulate Larry when you see him.
2. MARCH 10 MEMBERSHIP MEETING
The next MoTAS membership meeting will take place in the TAS Activity Center, Sunday, March 10, 2024, at 8:45 am. The educational presentation will be by John Bescup from JPL:
Abstract: This presentation will summarize Computed Tomography (CT) X-ray imaging on a set of hydrothermal vent samples gathered from a site in the mid-Atlantic Ocean called the Lost City. Hydrothermal vents are stalagmite-like structures that precipitate on the seafloor driven by interaction between the water, minerals, and heat from within the Earth. It is theorized these locations may be potential origin-of-life sites either here on Earth or on moons of the outer system established to have sub-surface water oceans, which has driven interest for study by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Speaker Bio: John Bescup is the Non-Destructive Evaluation team lead for the Analysis and Test Laboratory group at JPL. He specializes in post processing of CT data using Volume Graphics VGStudioMAX and Object Research Systems Dragonfly software. He has been a speaker at over a dozen failure analysis conferences and was awarded the NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for development of novel techniques for Computed Tomography X-ray, generating exceptional microstructural imagery to advance planetary geology science.
A full breakfast, including bagels, lox, and eggs, will be available.
3. NCAA BASKETBALL SQUARES ON SALE
Now that football season is officially over, it’s time for basketball and the craziness known as the Final Four, in early April. Once again, MoTAS is happy to offer you the opportunity to help raise some needed funds for special TAS projects, and maybe you’ll earn some $$ along the way. In other words: NCAA Squares are now on sale. To get all the information (and in some cases, more than you could ever want), go to http://squares.tasnorthridge-motas.org/ where you’ll find the instructions, a sign-up form you can download and then print, and a link if you wish to order your spaces online. Registration closes Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 6pm, unless otherwise announced.
To summarize: each name on the board can have up to 3 spaces. The squares are priced at $36 each. The game is for both the men’s and women’s tournament (semifinal two games each, and final games), so there are 12 opportunities to be a winner, since there is a winner at the half and final score. If the board is fully subscribed at all 100 spaces, the payout is $150 per win. Once again, we’ll use our “tie-breaker” method to determine a winner if a winning square is unsold (If there are unsold squares, the payouts will be adjusted.) The tie-breaker is your prediction of the total number of points both teams will score in any game, for example, if you think the final score will be 82-61, your number = 143. Here’s a hint for those who are unfamiliar (or don’t really care….): the average score for the men’s tournament for the last two years was 147, and the average score for the women’s tournament was 134. You get only one tie-breaker per person, so choose wisely.
4. MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL TIME
The MoTAS Shabbat marks the start of our annual appeal. MoTAS does not collect membership dues — we depend on contributions from our membership to do what we do, and to help Temple Ahavat Shalom. You should be receiving the appeal letter shortly. To contribute online or to print a donation form, just visit support.tasnorthridge-motas.org or go directly to https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/about/support-motas/. The online direct donation page is here; the link to our Box account with the downloadable PDF form is here.
5. DINING OUT AT RED ROBIN – TU 3/26
“Dining Does Good” has returned. Things have gotten more complicated since the pandemic with all the delivery apps and such, so this is DINE IN or PICK UP only. Let’s support MoTAS, and all show our smiling faces at Red Robin in Northridge on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Would you like an easy way to help MoTAS financially? How about taking your family to dinner. The MoTAS “Dining Does Good” allows you to go out to dinner, and have the restaurant donate a portion of your check support the Men of TAS. Our March Dining Does Good” will be Tuesday, March 26 at Red Robin, 9301 Tampa Ave, Northridge, CA 91324. Just present the flyer or mention the fundraiser when you order or pick up your take out order in person. You can even order online: (1) Start your order at order.redrobin.com and select the Northridge location. (2) In the menu, go to the category labeled “Fundraisers (To-Go Only)” and click on that item. (3) Click the “add” button, and then “add to bag.” (4) Add your meal items and check out. (5) Arrive at Red Robin, come in, say hi, grab your food and be on your way! If your location has curbside pick-up, they can bring it to your car too!
How do you get a flyer? You can find a flyer for the event at https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/activities/dining/ (click on the image of the flyer) or download PDF from our Box account . Once you are at the Box version of the flyer:
- If you are on a PC or Mac using a browser: (1) click on the white DOWNLOAD button; (2) there will be a pop-up about logging in to do more — ignore that – just close the popup box; (3) You will be prompted on where to save the download, or it will go into the downloads directory; (4) when the download is complete, open the PDF and print it. DO NOT right click and attempt to print from the Box page.
- If you using a browser on an Android phone: This takes you directly to the PDF. You can download or print from there.
- If you are using some other method, please send it to me and I’ll include it on this list.
- If you can’t figure this out at all: Drop me an email at cybermaven@tasnorthridge-motas.org , and I’ll send you the PDF as an attachment.
We really encourage you to come and support these events: we raise a little extra funds for our work, but more importantly, we come together and break bread as a Temple family on a regular basis. It is a real joy to walk into a neighborhood restaurant and see your Temple friends, to sit down and share a table and talk. This is the heart and goal of MoTAS: Building Relationships.
6. ON THE HORIZON
The following events are on the MoTAS Horizon. Future weeklies will have appropriate links.
- March 17 – MoTAS hosting breakfast for school parents. Possible game day. Volunteers will be needed to help. If you will be available to help, contact Larry at president@tasnorthridge-motas.org.
- March 26 – Dining Out at Red Robin
IN CLOSING
As always, remember that the Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom is *your* organization. Keep up to date on our activities at http://www.tasnorthridge-motas.org/ and participate. Sign up for our action alert list at http://tinyurl.com/motas-action-alert. We want to serve all the men of Temple Ahavat Shalom and welcome new participants from the TAS membership. Join our Facebook group and “follow” our website. Join the MoTAS Google Group at https://groups.google.com/g/tas-motas (you may need to be logged into your Google account, if you have one). Come be part of the Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom!
Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom 