The weather was perfect, the garden was gorgeous and the guests were great. Thanks to a star list of donors and a great team of helpers, the Netanya fundraiser held in June went off without a hitch…(well almost).

The garden of Yudke and Heather Friedman in Kfar Yedidya made the perfect setting for an evening of cheese, wine, socializing and entertainment.

The fun began in the morning with the Netanya Committee meeting at the house to arrange the food, drinks and road signs – which  became a little problematic, but was all sorted out by noon. What couldn’t be packed into the fridge was packed into cooler bags layered with ice.

The fun continued into the afternoon with our resident expert laying the tables perfectly – what a shame the wind turned up as soon as she’d finished. What an even bigger shame that the food was then unpacked and found to be swimming at the bottom of the cooler bags! Soggy cheese? Watery humus? Drowned eggplant? But, as luck would have it, the Friedmans are vets and used to crises, so most of the dying salads were saved…

The fun continued into the evening when the main entertainer arrived to set up the music…”Oh no!” he cried, “I smell horses! I’m out of here.” After much explanation that this was a moshav and the smell was turkeys, he calmed down.  We learnt a good lesson – ask people about their allergies before employing them.

The guests arrived, the wine was cold, the food was dry and the sounds were happy…

The fun continued…our wonderful troupe of Russian dancers arrived, 25 children with gorgeous costumes made by their teacher. The teacher found me happily getting ready to introduce her, and…”Oh no!” She cried, “We brought the wrong music.” Wasn’t it lucky she lived in Netanya and not Carmiel? Wasn’t it also lucky that the mandolin players wanted to come early and leave early? But where were they? At that moment my phone rang – “Nyet nyet we’re all ready but can’t find a taxi. The taxi that was supposed to collect us had to take some teacher back somewhere to collect music.” “Well, is there only one Russian taxi driver in Netanya? Take three other taxis – just get here.”

The dancing teacher arrived, and the guests were enchanted by these gorgeous little dancers…and the mandolin players arrived, and they delighted us with their lovely tunes. The raffle was fun and the winner of the first prize, a new immigrant just two weeks in the country, was ecstatic.

The musicians recovered from their equine-phobia and played some lovely music and the best of all was the crowd – happy, there to enjoy and oblivious of all the headaches we were having behind the scenes.

Special thanks to our sponsors: Abetrans Logistics Ltd. and Mendel Green & Sons; to our donors: Gad Dairies, Teperberg Winery, Tempo Soft Drinks, Naor Printers, Prudag Netanya, Shoshanna’s Cakes and to the raffle donors: Gordon Tours, Carol Smith, Canton Chinese Restaurant, Ha Roah ba Café, Ha Yekev Restaurant.

We will let you know where to join the fun next year!