An evening of praise at Rockville Centre fundraiser

It was an evening of charity and fun as hundreds of Rockville Centre residents rubbed elbows with former and current elected officials, a few candidates and guests with ties to the village who turned out for the 23rd annual Mayor’s Golf & Tennis Classic and Dinner Monday night at the Hempstead Golf and County Club. The event was a benefit for the Rockville Centre Community Fund, which has provided more than $950,000 in emergency assistance to village residents in need since it was established in 1987.

Intermittent showers throughout the day — some of them heavy — forced the postponement of the golf and tennis activities. The golf is now set to take place on Oct. 18, with tee time at about 11 a.m. As usual, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and awards will follow play. The tennis was rescheduled for this Friday, Oct. 1, and will also end with refreshments and awards.

The evening’s guest of honor was Dr. Barry Dov Schwartz, the longtime rabbi of Temple B’nai Sholom, who retired in July. His friend Msgr. Frank Caldwell, of St. Martha’s Parish in Uniondale, offered the invocation, and described Schwartz as a leader, a constant preacher of charity as well as an inspiration to Jews and Christians alike in Rockville Centre.

Mayor Mary Bossart said that Schwartz was a great friend to the event — the Community Fund’s largest fundraiser — and has attended it almost every year. Bossart added that he always supported the fund’s mission. She praised Schwartz for his warmth, wit, wisdom and generosity of spirit. “Rockville Centre has been blessed by his 37 years of leadership and service,” she said.

In remarks that were peppered with humor, Schwartz took full responsibility for the uncooperative weather. “This weather is indeed the fault of the Jews,” he joked, explaining that one of the prayers for the current Jewish harvest holiday of Succoth asks for rain.

Turning more serious, Schwartz said that he has treasured his years in what he described as the “wonderful” community of Rockville Centre, which has a mayor, he said, who “leads the village with grace and pulchritude.”

He said he felt “bittersweet” to be honored at the dinner. “My connection is my great attachment — 37 years in Rockville Centre,” he said. Although he and his wife, Sonia, recently moved to North Woodmere, Schwartz said he would continue to offer his services to the village. Adding that one of his wishes for the new year is that the economy improves, he called on the audience to support the Community Fund, the village and its leaders. “Be a spine, stick up for what’s right — our society of democracy and integrity,” he said, “safeguarding those principles of love and security.”

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