Happy Chanukah
Hadassah members gather for holiday luncheon
STORY AND PHOTOS
BY STEPHEN VRATTOS
Ben’s Best Kosher Delicatessen
in the Wheatley Plaza of
Roslyn Heights served as the
site for the annual Hadassah Migdal
Chapter Chanukah get-together.
And what better time than the final
day of the 2018 Festival of Lights,
Monday, December 10, to celebrate,
as well as honor Migdal Chapter’s
Woman of the Year.
This year’s recipient is Migdal
Executive Board Member, Dolores
Goidel, who devoted her life to
teaching and helping kids with
special needs. Known in the educational
field as a pioneer in the
designing innovate educational and
therapeutic programs for physically,
speech- and hearing-challenged
children, “Dee-Dee”—as she is more
popularly known—believed early
on to fight for those who cannot
fight for themselves.
For her incredible efforts and
accomplishments, she’s won numerous
awards and distinctions from such
esteemed organizations as United
Cerebral Palsy, and prominent recognition
from the New York Senate
and Assembly, and City Council.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli
honored Goidel as a “Woman of
Distinction and Pathfinder in the
Field of Education,” and Governor
Andrew Cuomo ordered both the
American flag and New York State
flag flown over the State capitol upon
her retirement (Both flags were subsequently
presented to her).
Eva Kessner presided over the
afternoon’s activities, which included
a delicious repast, presentation
of the “Woman of the Year” honor,
speeches by both Goidel and colleague
Irwin Shanus, ceremonial
lighting of the Menorah and raffle
drawing. “All of you who come to
the Hadassah events are really doing
a wonderful mitzvah,” Goidel said,
during her acceptance address.
Friend and former principal at the
school where Goidel worked, Irwin
Shanus, put it best. “They can’t say
anything bad about Dee-Dee… I
thank Hadassah for recognizing this
wonderful woman.”
Hadassah 2018 Woman of the Year
Ceremonial Menorah lighting by Dee-Dee Goidel Dee-Dee Goidel
January 2019 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 35