Page 39 of The Dreidl Disaster

“Thank you for coming,” Levitan continued as Artur settled into a chair next to the mayor. “We’re concerned about the state of the Hanukkah celebration and a few other items.”

“I informed the group that based on information I had and that they should have, I was not concerned,” Jennifer Cohen said.

“But a few of us volunteered to serve on a special committee,” Levitan continued. “To act as liaisons between the larger committee and the both of you, to ensure things were on the up and up after…last night’s meeting.”

Carol added, “It was a conversation that lasted late into the night, and some of the other members needed to be put into their places.”

Artur had three guesses, and he didn’t think he’d actually need more than one.

“But the bottom line,” Levitan continued, “was that we insisted on our assistance, in helping this event to be fruitful.”

Insisted, huh.

Levitan went on. “Let’s start from the beginning. Do either of you think there’s anything salvageable about what came out of last night’s meeting?”

Whichever of the two of them had the idea to go through the notes he’d taken the night before, print them, and put them in binders was a genius.

“Yes,” Liv said, taking out the binders from the tote bag she carried. “Here. Take one, and we’ll give you a few minutes to go over them before addressing the situation.”

“We discussed the meeting,” Artur added. “And organized the comments before coming up with basic ways to address each of the issues that came up.”

Levitan nodded, and Artur turned to Liv. He wasn’t sure how to translate the look on her face, but it looked good. He wanted to say something, but the sound of the pages being flipped was too crucial.

“Absolutely,” Carol said. “Graphics need to be triple-checked, to fix all the concerns about spelling. For sure.”

Jennifer Cohen added with a smile, “And the food traditions need to be taken into account. Gluten-free and parve items need to be on the list as well as fried foods. They need to be added where everybody can enjoy them.”

Of course it was Jenifer Cohen who noticed the food.

“I think we can take care of some of that for sure.” Levitan added. “But didn’t Rivertown have some innovative ideas about food?”

Artur nodded. “Yes,” he said, but knowing his audience consisted of a few people who had connections to Hollowville, he smiled. “But Hollowville did it first. Not exactly in the same way as Rivertown, but the food hall at the Hollowville Festival is a good example of how to involve the community in creating a food space that meshes tradition and innovation.”

“I wonder,” said Carol, her expression thoughtful. Of course Artur had a feeling of where she was going. “I might be able to get some help there. You too, Paul.”

And knowing Carol the way he did, he was entirely unsurprised at Paul Levitan’s reaction. “Absolutely.”

“But, what really stands out to me is this idea of a staging area.” Jennifer Cohen said, “It takes the events away from temple grounds and allows events to be held in a way that wouldn’t disturb services. I wonder…”

“What are you thinking, Jennifer?” Mayor Liv asked.

“I wonder what the rabbi would think about movingTot Shabbatto the staging area, or have a servicein frontof the dreidl, depending on how cold it gets…”

“Or even a Havdalah singalong,” murmured Artur. “Or something like that.”

“Oh, that would be fun,” Liv managed alongside the excited murmurs.

That smile was going to be the death of him. “And that would be a beautiful meld of traditions and community.”

“Exactly,” the mayor said, smiling again. “Speaking of melding traditions, I wonder if your idea of turning the chess table setup into a dreidl table would be a good one to add.”

“I can see it,” Paul Levitan said.

“Yep,” Jennifer Cohen replied. “I really like that.”

“Good thoughts,” Carol said. “I have someone on staff who may be able to help. And by on staff, I mean my second in command here and in Hollowville.”

Yep. The light laughter and a grin in his direction. Carol knew what she was doing.

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