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My wife Deena and I really enjoy our involvement in a variety of local  community organizations. In 2022, I completed a decade of service on the board of a fabulous local institution, the Discovery Museum in Acton, MA and still serve on the Nominations & Governance committee there. Before that - from 1992 to 2013 - I was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Acton Memorial Library, and was President for the four years ending in 1999, when the Library completed a $6.3 Million dollar expansion. Another happy memory was working with Mary Michelman and others to create a lovely garden in front of the Library in honor of a beloved former Acton resident, Charlotte Sagoff. 

Deena and I are both active in our local synagogue, Congregation Beth Elohim, and for years we shared the position of Vice President of Operations and now are the Building & Grounds chairs. Until 2010, I wrote a regular monthly column for the synagogue called "The People of Chelm Want to Know" and revived it again in 2019.

For over 30 years, Deena and I have been active members of the Acton Town Democratic Committee, which is chartered by the Massachusetts Democratic Party. We have been delegates to many State Conventions, and worked to elect Governor Deval Patrick (another Chicago kid). For several years, I have been treasurer of the campaign committee of our outstanding State Senator, Jamie Eldridge. Then in 2020, we worked to  elect  Dan Sena, a terrific young man who is now the State Representative for the 37th Middlesex Representative. Dan, a former Dreamer from Brazil, is the first Brazilian immigrant elected to a state legislature in America. I currently serve as his campaign treasurer. Also, I have served as treasurer for several other local candidates.

In other town activities, Deena has volunteered with the Friends of the Acton Libraries for over 25 years and now devotes time to Mothers Out Front. She also devotes significant time to Na'aseh, Beth Elohim's social action group which also supports immigrants, particularly a lovely Afghan refugee family. 

Back in 2002 after the discovery of a major Native American site in Acton, I founded a group known as the Friends of Pinehawk, Since then we have sponsored over 120 lectures, films, school visits, and field trips - all focused on Native American history and archaeology. Our book group has also read over 3 dozen books on these themes. It has been a wonderful educational and personal experience. Since 2020, I have been a member of the Acton Historical Commission, which has expanded my appreciation of the Town and its people. In 2022, the AHC led a successful effort to pass a innovative bylaw to better protect archaelogical resources here. These activities led to becoming a member of the Acton 250 Committee. The Committee's charge is to plan events leading up to 250th anniversary of the commencement of the American Revolution

I love all kinds of sports and played rugby for thirty years but had to give it up because, well, I'm too old. So now it's racquetball, where I've had good luck of late, having won both singles & doubles 60+ Massachusetts titles, a 4th place medal in the National Masters 65+ age group singles, and in 2019 the New Hampshire and New England 70+ singles titles. In 2022, my partner Mark Scheier and placed third in the 75+ division at the National Masters Tournament in Maryland.