B’nai Amoona will host family fun day

BY MIKE SHERWIN, STAFF WRITER

B’nai Amoona will host a multicultural showcase with music, martial arts demonstrations, magic, food and games during the Community Wide Free Family Fun Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 25.

The event will raise money for the 14 eighth grade students at Solomon Schechter Day School of St. Louis, supporting their two-week class trip to Israel this summer.

Admission is free for the event, although guests can buy raffle tickets for a variety of prizes, and they can opt to purchase a Kosher lunch.

Michael Raileanu, assistant head of school at Solomon Schechter Day School of St. Louis, said the event will be a fun program geared toward families. Raileanu credited Rabbi Lynn Goldstein, of Kol HaNeshama, with much of the planning and programming for the event.

The St. Louis Osuwa Taiko Japanese Drummers, who perform the traditional Japanese art of percussion, will give a performance utilizing a variety of sizes of hand-crafted drums.

There will be a demonstration of black belt practitioners of Okinowan Martial Arts. Later the same day, the audience will be able to interact and learn from the performers as the martial artists teach self-defense techniques.

Paul Zarky, the executive director of the Metro Strikers select soccer club, a former professional soccer player, and a collegiate All-American, will hold a sports clinic at the event.

Rachel Armoza will give a demonstration of Israeli dancing. Armoza has taught Israeli dance with the Central Agency for Jewish Education, and has been a member of the local Israeli dance troupe, Hora Gil.

There will also be a magic show, and areas for games and crafts.

However, the raffle is where most of the fundraising will take place, Raileanu said.

“What you do is you buy a bunch of tickets, 20 tickets for $10, and you put down a ticket in front of the item that you want to win. So, the more tickets you put down, the more likely you’ll win that prize,” he said.

All the prizes were donated, Raileanu said, so all of money spent on tickets will go toward the students’ trip.

“It should be a terrific, wonderful day and it will help support our eighth-grade students going to Israel,” Raileanu said.