In just one year, Deal Sephardic Network (DSN) has transitioned from a group of dedicated parents with a few amazing ideas to over 500 children participating, on a monthly basis, in our sports leagues (baseball and football), Sunday Mania, Travel Mania, open center nights, and holiday trips. Although the focus of DSN in the infancy stage was on the children, the breadth and wealth of what is being offered is limitless. As we grow, our mission and vision will be to provide social and recreational programming to the entire community. From parenting classes to Daddy and Me, from sports leagues for boys, girls, and adults, to women’s fitness classes, from cultural trips for kids and adults to card tournaments and ballroom dancing—our family events will be remembered for their quality and for their ability to bring the community together as one big family!
Over the past year, DSN has grown by leaps and bounds. “Deal Sephardic Network is an extension of your family. Through the dedicated leadership of our board of directors, the extended involvement of the committee members and volunteers and the participation of the community, DSN is a grand slam!” says Carrie Fischbein, the Executive Director. “The beauty and strength that I have witnessed by the families of this community, truly allow me to feel grateful that I was invited to share in this experience. In my professional world, I have a saying, ‘for you—by you’, that’s what DSN is—created by you, driven by you, attended by you, enjoyed by you.”
Baseball 2009
Like the opening of the Yankees new stadium and the Mets’ CitiField, DSN celebrated an opening day at a new field as well—the magnificent Saka Field at Hillel Yeshiva. When DSN gets involved in something, they make sure that every detail is handled to perfection. From start to finish, hands down, this is youth baseball at its best. Opening day may have been in late April, but this baseball season began months earlier. To begin with, every coach was certified after participating in a special coaching seminar provided by Rutgers University, teaching our volunteer dads the basic rules and safety guidelines for little league play. Registration and tryouts began in mid February at Frozen Ropes to really examine the kids playing ability. “DSN is taking baseball very seriously; it’s great for our kids to be part of something so professional,” said Ikey Dweck, father of two boys in the league. As the uniforms were ordered, the equipment purchased and the teams announced, you could feel the excitement all over Deal.
Sunday, April 26th came up fast and the weather was perfect—clear skies, 80 degrees and everyone wanted to be outside! The best place to be—opening day! Over 400 kids came out to play ball at two different locations: the beautiful Saka field at Hillel Yeshiva and the fields on Logan Road. The scene was unreal—organized games with real umpires, kids and coaches in full uniforms, the bleachers filled with parents, siblings, and grandparents! The league commissioner, Joey Tobias did a spectacular job of pulling it all together and making it happen with the help of some pretty amazing people: Abie Ades, Andrew Maze, Jackie Ashkenazi, Marc Seruya, Sammy Saka, Marc Cohen for his efforts with the Yeshiva league, Abie Heiney and David Rishty for pulling it together for the pre-kindergarten boys, Charles Serouya for developing the Pink A’s and for pitching in and doing the same for kindergarten boys with the help of Danny Betesh and all of the fabulous dads who volunteer their time to coach the teams.
“It’s all about the kids,” said Joey, “what an amazing feeling to visit the fields every week and see all the kids and the fans enjoying themselves. I am so proud to be a part of it. Deal is the place to be.”
New this year is the expansion of the leagues to include a full fledged girls program for 2nd through 5th graders, lead by Jeffrey Saka, Albert Hakim, Marc Dwek, Izzy Steinberg and Joey Mizrahi.
“It’s amazing to spend a Sunday with my daughters and their friends playing ball,” said Marc Dwek. “It’s great to see the girls engaged in organized sports,” said Shirley Franco. With the hope of developing real athletes and exposing our little ones to baseball early, there’s even a league for Pre-K and kindergarrten girls called the Pink A’s and it’s the cutest thing to see these little “pink angels” take the field.
On Sunday mornings, school is in session for many boys in the community, so DSN has also added an afternoon league to give them the same great experience as their friends. Over 75 boys are playing in this Yeshivah League and two weeks into the season, we have heard talk of amazing fielding, great hitting and tremendous sportsmanship. Yet again, DSN has extended its arms to include everyone.
Even head umpire Monte Rosen remarked, “What an improvement over last years’ league. The coaches are taking such an active interest in really teaching the fundamentals of baseball and I am thoroughly enjoying watching them interface with the kids.”
Really, our snacks are cheaper than all the new stadiums, if you happen to be in Deal on a Sunday, stop by; it’s truly amazing what is happening here. The league runs every Sunday through June 21st (for more information, schedule and play by play game stats visit www.dsnlive.org).
Creating an organization is not about bricks and mortar, however, the blood, sweat, energy, when coupled with the creativity and loyalty of dedicated volunteers and staff, are the building blocks to a solid foundation. DSN’s programs are deeply rooted in the traditions and values of the Sephardic community. It is this passion, tradition, and feeling of ownership that is the driving force behind our success.
Under the leadership of Jeffrey Saka, founding President, DSN has hit a home run. “We’ve pumped life back into Deal, it’s a wonderful place to live, the quality of life is superior to others. I am amazed at the impact we have made, it’s rare to find a family in our community that hasn’t been touched by DSN. I’m very proud of our accomplishments.” he said.
We’re Growing
Any business person would tell you to grow your business slowly, keep a pace you can maintain, don’t try to be everything to everyone, just do what you can and build on the strong foundation. Well, DSN threw that advice out the window—they’ve exploded! With the expertise and efforts of Doris Dwek, VP of programming, this year’s events have touched everyone.
“You can’t imagine what it feels like to give this community exactly what was missing and see the success on everyone’s faces. It’s fantastic,’’ she said. Within the past six months, more has happened in Deal than one could imagine—there have been great family events such as a Hanukah party, complete with dreidels, potato pancakes and fun games for the everyone. DSN hosted New Year’s Day Bowling at Bradley Bowl where dozens of families came on a cold winter’s day to enjoy an afternoon of old fashioned fun. There was also a terrific SuperBowl Sunday Bash, good food, great game (even without the Giants).
Sunday Mania and Wacky Wars
In the late fall, DSN had so much for our kids to do. “My four-year-old has been begging me; I want to go to DSN! Sunday Mania gave her the opportunity. It was so nice to drop my kids off in one place, where I knew they would be safe and happy,” exclaimed Margaret Ashkenazi. Sunday Mania offered so much for Pre-K through 5th graders. Every Sunday was packed with camp-like specialties, like: drama, crafts, art, sports, music, hip hop, aviators, and cooking. Every other week brought a show like Mad Science or a fun trip.
For our middle schoolers, “We worked hard to find places that the kids would love, the parents would trust, and would be cooler than 7-Eleven,” said Stephanie Matut, Chair of the 6-8th grade Travel Mania program. Our middle school kids were overwhelmed with the fantastic trips that Travel Mania offered, like NYC’s Madame Toussaud’s Wax Museum, laser tag, ice skating and paintball.
As the director said, this organization was created for you by you, so in February, as a response to the effect that the economy was having on everyone, DSN made a decision to re-evaluate their Sunday programming in an effort to make it more affordable for the community, what a responsible decision.
“Wow, these DSN people really care,” said a father of four children in the program. I love spending time with my kids as much as the next guy, but my kids missed Sunday Mania and couldn’t wait to see what DSN had in the works.” It was then that DSN rocked the house with Wacky Wars—three fabulous, fun filled weeks of color war activities for kids of all ages. There were games, songs and skits, banners, pie eating contests, human ice cream cone races and so much more, as the blue team duked it out with the purple team. The last week was over the top, as parents joined their kids in volleyball games, relay races and other great activities. The purple team won by just a hair and everyone agreed, even the blue team, that it was DSN’s best program to date.
Not Just for the Kids Deal Gets “Zumbafied”
In early December, while the kids programming was off and running, the busy moms wanted something for themselves. So, DSN re-introduced Zumba to the area. “It’s so much more than just exercise—it’s an addiction,” said Sophia Serouya, the women behind DSN ZUMBA MADNESS! “Zumba is the best way to get in the best shape,” said Milene Schweky “Dozens of women show up to Zumba in our morning and evening classes and they are hooked! It’s like going to a club everyday,” said Laurie Beth Mandel.
In early April, DSN hosted a two hour Zumba-thon attended by over 100 women. In lieu of an admission fee, women were asked to bring non-perishable food items to be donated to the Sephardic Food Fund. A truckload of much needed food was delivered the very next day. Not only did the women exercise their bodies that day, but they exercised their spirits as well! “Zumba has breathed new energy into this town,” said Rina Betesh.
And the Zumba fever is contagious, as DSN now has classes for middle school girls as well as Pre-K and kindergarten—you go girls!
Next Up
DSN plans to kick off the summer with a Family BBQ on Memorial Day at Deal School. From family competitions to organized sports, hotdogs, steak sandwiches and more, it promises to be a fun-filled day to kick off the summer together, as one big family!
The summer will be filled with an expanded fitness schedule, the 2nd Annual Father/Child Fishing Trip, a concert in the park for the kids, beach parties, youth basketball leagues, and so much more.
As DSN continues to grow at an amazing pace, it is very clear that there is a tremendous need for these social and recreational programs within the community. The commitment of the many boardmembers and volunteers speaks to the community’s passion for helping and for taking ownership. Get involved, support this great organization and continue to nurture the year-round Deal community that is flourishing.
DSN didn’t just bring people together; it created a network to keep the community connected.
