Sunday October 11th, 2009

Temple Concord

There are many fans in central New York of basketball both for Syracuse University and the NBA. Temple Concord is honored to have one of the greatest 50 NBA players of all time as a member – Dolph Schayes. His son, Danny, played for the Syracuse Orange and was in the NBA for 18 years. Both Dolph and Danny have been part of a rich history of Jewish-Americans in basketball. In fact, the first person to make a basket in the NBA was a Jewish-American. There is a new documentary about the influence of Jewish-Americans on basketball. The special event will feature this film “The First Basket” and the guests of honor, Dolph and Danny Schayes.

Purpose

Creating the planned Schayes Community Fund. Dolph, Naomi and the Schayes family have been major supporters of Temple Concord and the Central New York community. The Schayes Community Fund will honor the family for their contributions. This debut event will benefit the fund and this year support the Food Pantry at Temple Concord. Other events for the Schayes Community Fund are planned for the future. This year’s event will give attendees a chance to see and hear how Jewish immigrants came to the United States, using basketball to assimilate into the American society. The program is a tribute to Jewish-Americans in basketball – past, present and future.

Format

The evening with Dolph and Danny Schayes will start out at 6:30 p.m. with a meet and greet buffet dinner. After dinner, the program will begin 7:45 p.m. with Master of Ceremonies, Bob Snyder, veteran sportswriter and currently a commentator on Syracuse University Basketball radio broadcasts. Bob, who is also a Jewish-American, will host a panel with Dolph and Danny discussing their experiences as Jewish-Americans in basketball. Also invited to participate on the panel is Bernie Fine, associate head basketball coach for the Syracuse Orange. There may be other guests added to the pael as well. Questions will be taken from the audience too. After the panel discussion, the documentary film “The First Basket” will be shown at 8:45 p.m. followed by a dessert reception at 10 p.m. Attendees have two options: Enjoy dinner, the program and the dessert reception or attend just the program and dessert reception.

Audience

The event is open to the general public. We expect basketball and sports fans from the Jewish and non-Jewish community attending as well as the Central New York community who’d like to support Dolph, Danny and the Schayes family.

Promotion and Visibility

The even will be promoted to the members of Temple Concord through email and in the temple bulletin, as well to the general Jewish community with invitations, ads and articles in the Jewish Observer along with announcements to Jewish organizations and other synagogues. We are also planning to have media marketing through TV, radio and print with articles, features and advertising to the general public. Sponsors will have recognition in the program book & at the event. Sponsors receive benefits depending on their donation.

Tribute to Jewish-Americans in Basketball Flyer -