06/21/2023
YLD Summer Soirée Attracts 170 to Ohio City Venues
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The Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Young Leadership Division kicked off the summer with its annual Summer Soiree at Pins Mechanical, Inc. in Cleveland. CJN Photo / Courtney Byrnes
COURTNEY BYRNES
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Young Leadership Division kicked off the summer with its annual Summer Soiree June 15 at Pins Mechanical Co. in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland.
Prior to the nearly 170 attendees arrival at Pins, about 30 individuals attended a New-ish and Jew-ish ice cream social across the street at Mitchell’s Ice Cream hosted by the Federation and jHUB.
Amy Rosen, Michelle Newman, Bretton Keenan, Jacob Hassan, Annie Cohen and Elianna Miller. CJN Photo / Courtney Byrnes
“This is one of the biggest events of the year,” Mark Collins, event co-host, told the Cleveland Jewish News. “It’s an opportunity to just get all the Cleveland Jewish community young professionals, the age range we’re looking for, bring them together, get them to meet, get them to greet.”
He said the New-ish and Jew-ish event is an opportunity for those who are new to Cleveland or those looking for a way to connect to meet and engage with a small group before the big event. He recognized the difficulty for many to meet people during the COVID-19 pandemic, and events like these allow people to connect.
“Especially New-ish and Jew-ish, we’re bringing people in from outside the community to be a part of the community, and it allows them to meet similar people from different sorts of walks of life to be able to connect under the Jewish canopy,” Collins said.
He speaks from his experience of finding a close group of friends from getting involved and attending events. When the summer soiree returned in-person last year, it was one of the first events Collins attended after moving to Cleveland from Australia.
While attendees were able to enjoy the games, food and drinks at Pins Mechanical Co., they could also take photographs using Polaroid cameras or pick out a sticker that speaks to them and could be used as a conversation starter.
“It’s all about allowing people to find their subgroup of people,” he said. “And I think we’re very lucky, we have a beautiful, amazing community here.”
