Well, we didn’t get it.  We applied for a grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places.  It would have covered half of the cost of the new roof for the Synagogue.  The Fund received 466 applications for the money, and unfortunately, we were not chosen.

Here’s some background.  Last August, Cheyenne suffered a major hailstorm.  Many buildings were damaged.  At Mt. Sinai, the copper flashing around the edges of the roof was hit hard.  However, the roof itself is made of a rubber membrane covered by two feet of rock.  The hail hit the flashing but then bounced off the rock that protected the roof.

We notified our insurance company, and they provided us with about $46,000 to replace the copper flashing.  We then contacted three local roofing companies – Affordable Roofing, Inman Roofing, and Capitol Roofing.  All three said that our roof had outlived its normal lifespan and would need to be replaced.

Each company provided us with separate bids to replace the roof.  We notified the insurance company that we were going to need to replace the entire roof, and not just the flashing.  They sent an engineer out to do a second inspection of the roof and determined that the roof replacement was due to normal wear and tear and not damage from the hailstorm.

We should mention that we don’t remember the last time the full roof was replaced. It was probably in the late 1980’s or 1990’s… The flashing has been replaced as recently as eight years ago, but not the full roof.

The Board of Directors selected Inman Roofing to replace the roof, at a cost of $252,562. That includes the copper flashing.

We put the insurance money for the flashing in an interest-bearing money market account, and it has earned about $500 or so since we received the check.

We had hoped that the grant would cover half of the cost of the new roof, but that’s not an option now.  So where will the money come from?

It will have to come from the Endowment and the Trust, Mt. Sinai’s “life savings.”  We have enough to pay for the roof replacement, but it will make a serious dent in our savings.  We have been using a portion of the interest from the Endowment and Trust to pay for normal Synagogue expenses, and we’ll have to continue doing that.  So we’re going to be hurting for quite a while,

We are not in danger of closing or eliminating any functions or programs.  But our cushion has gone from being pretty comfortable to a balloon with a lot of the air let out.  So if you see members of the Board of Directors looking a little depressed, it’s probably for financial reasons.

We also must mention that we received a $10,000 donation toward the roof at the Yiddish Food Festival.  If you would like to match or exceed that, you’ll be cheering up our Board members.

Okay, on to other things.  Next up on our agenda is our annual Summer Picnic.  It will take place on Sunday, July 5^th, at 11 AM in the back yard of the Synagogue.  We’ll be cooking up hot dogs.  This is a potluck, so please bring something to share (and make sure it is suitable for a meat meal, so no dairy products).

We could also use some help setting up the back yard.  That means moving out a couple of tables and chairs, and setting up our canopies for shade.  Please come to the Synagogue at 9 AM on Sunday, July 5^th if you can lend us a hand. It’s a lot easier when we have several people doing the work.

And a scheduling note.  Torah Tuesday is moving to Fridays… so it will now be Torah Fridays, starting July 3rd.  Come to the Synagogue at noon on Friday and learn about the Torah with Rabbi Delcau.  It’s a perfect way to get into the Shabbat mood.

Here’s our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:

Vi kumt di kats ibern vaser?
How does a cat cross over the water? 

Shalom,