Matthew Tinkelman, our 2009 Person of the Year

Woodmere’s Matthew Tinkelman keeps himself very busy with Hewlett High School’s Youth Leadership Forum, the school’s chamber orchestra (he plays violin) and the concert chorale (he sings tenor), while also maintaining a rigorous academic schedule as a High Honor Roll student.
Despite his hectic schedule, however, the 16-year-old junior spent a year and a half organizing a Hewlett High “Friend-Raiser,” which took place on Oct. 18 and featured musical performances and art exhibitions from various schools and organizations around the Five Towns.
The first Friend-Raiser was such a success that Tinkelman is hoping to make it an annual event. Participants included students from the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools, the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, the Lawrence-Woodmere Academy, the Brandeis School and the Kulanu Torah Academy. The Five Towns Senior Center, the United Chorale Society and the Jewish Community Center of the Greater Five Towns also took part.
For the hard work the Woodmere teen devoted to creating such a unique event and his commitment to fostering community harmony, the South Shore Record is proud to name Tinkelman its 2009 Person of the Year.
“We need to get everyone in the community interacting with one another,” Tinkelman said of the motivation behind the Friend-Raiser. “It was just one big step toward creating an idealistic community.”
Tinkelman, a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society, describes himself as a “music kid” who is also very “shy and humbled,” but the event he organized clearly had a huge impact on the Five Towns: In the two months since the Friend-Raiser, participants have continued to tell him how touched they were by it. Though school keeps him busy, Tinkelman hopes to find the time to not only make the event an annual one, but to create a series of smaller events throughout the year that bring people together.