Morgantown, West Virginia, USA (26/07/2009)

1)  So, we are the Tree of Life, Morgantown, WV  We also have the West Virginia University (WVU) Hillel. I believe that at least on one occasion, Soul Train has visited their location. We invite the Hillel students to activities at the synagogue.
 
2)  Our community is a university town. However, we have a few families from the neighboring communities who travel to us.  Many of our members have young children. We have about 90-100 families and about 50 children in the Sunday School. There is a midweek Hebrew class for older students.
 
We have a Sisterhood and Hadassah and just recently, Chabbad established a presence.
 
Our synagogue is officially Reformed and most members fit under that rubric though we have a handful of more religious individuals. 
 
In the last few years, it has been difficult getting a good turn out for activities. People are so busy. I understand this is the same problem all organizations are having across the country, even churches!  Activities that draw a large crowd in our synagogue include the Chanukah party where families show up, we eat latkes, etc.  The Purim adult party has a reasonable turn out. The kids party is suffering as we have few high schoolers now to run it as in the past.
 
3)  Morgantown is a beautiful, safe community, with a river that runs through it. The riverWe have lakes 6 miles from downtown, mountains and incredible places to hike, 10 miles from downtown. We are 70 miles south of Pittsburgh and 3 1/2 hours from Washington, DC and Baltimore.
 
4)  Some of the other Jewish communities that have been within a 45 minute drive, Fairmont and Clarksburg, have folded in recent years. Their members have "joined" us.  The Jewish community in Charleston, WV, about 2 1/2 hours away has an annual large event to which we are invited. A couple of families attend.  Pittsburgh, PA is even closer. There are a couple of families who attend events there. There is an orthodox member who goes there often.
 
5)  Contact people for Soul Train:    Monique Gingold  (myself)  email:  mgingold@gmail.com, Home phone:  304-292-5946  Cell:  304-290-7988
                                                                                      Roz  Becker
email: rebroz@comcast.net      Home phone:  304-292-2983  Cell:  304-685-6446