From the Federation Executive Director

From the Desk of the Federation Executive Director: With gratitude 11/19/21

By Shelley Hubal

My grandparent’s home on Wedgewood Terrace in DeWitt, NY, was the center of our large Jewish family. With three first cousins, multiple second cousins, scores of aunts and uncles, and one neighborhood family that we adopted as our own, my sisters and I never ran out of pl…

From the Desk of the Federation Executive Director: With gratitude 10/08/21

By Shelly Hubal

Big Mama is a majestic pine tree that lives by a small bend on the Vernal Pool Trail at the Binghamton University Nature Preserve. My family gave the tree that name many years ago when we started hiking the preserve on a regular basis. You can’t miss its thick, twisted roo…

From the Desk of the Federation Executive Director: With gratitude 8/26/21

By Shelley Hubal

Hanging above my desk are several postcards created by my Dad. He was a whiz with Photoshop, and I count his postcards among my most cherished possessions. Some of the captions are “Poppa Steve’s Summer Camp for Wayward Children” and “Josh Hubal Stars in the Attack …

From the Desk of the Federation Executive Director: With Gratitude (7/30)

I wouldn’t call my desire an obsession. Let’s use the term “dream.” For years, I have been wanting to go to Cherry Springs State Park. Have you heard of it? Located in Northwest Pennsylvania, about a two and a half hour drive from Binghamton, it is one of only a handful of places on …

From the Desk of the Federation Executive Director: With Gratitude (7/16)

“I pledge to be funny.” Those are the words my son Joshua wrote several years ago when he was asked to sign a behavior contract before going to sleep-away camp. Not satisfied with just committing himself to respecting others and following the camp rules, he made a commitment that to keep…