Description of the Ceremony
Bristol RI 4/15/2015
A send-off ceremony for Roni's boat took place on Wednesday April 15, 2015 at the Resolute Racing Shells manufacturing facility located in Bristol, RI. The event took place in the presence of guests, donors and supporters, including Misha Joukowsky, the owner of Resolute Racing Shells, the Crawford group team management, Bernard Taradash, Senior Director of Investments Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Jeff Sturges, President of Resolute Racing Shells, Sagit Sade Attiya, Director of Economic Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel to New England who represented Israel Consul General Yehuda Yaakov who could not come to the event , Paul Dellisola, the new Regional Sales Manager to New England for El AL Israel Airlines, and Avi Nevel, President and CEO of Nevel International, LLC, who spear-headed the effort and was one of the donors.
Roni was not able to come from Israel as she is in the midst of her final high school exams, but she was on Face time during the ceremony and was able to view it all live.
The ceremony took place at the manufacturing plant where the Resolute team, Sue Hinckley, Ana Cativo, who worked on the administration side and Will Tores, Carlos Cativo, Eddie Silveira, and Noel Tores who manufactured and built the boat representing the best of the Resolute team, positioned the boat in front of the Israel and the US flag, which was a beautiful sight.
The ceremony was opened by Jeff Sturges who MC'd the event and talked about the new racing shell, which is the most advanced shell that Resolute has ever manufactured and is able to withstand all requirements of international rules, so Roni will be able to use it in international events including the Junior Olympics in Rio. Further, Jeff also mentioned that the oars were painted blue and white to represent the Israeli flag.
Misha Joukowsky, owner of the Crawford group, ( Resolute is one of the companies in the group), talked about his grandparents, Martha and Waitstill Sharp, who saved Jews during the Holocaust, and were recognized as Righteous Among Nations by the Government of Israel. He spoke about his grandmother, Martha Sharp, and her support to Henrietta Sold. and the recent letter from 1944 from Henrietta Sold. to his Grandmother. All of this contributed to Misha being on a mission to help strengthen relations with Israel in many ways: business, support, donations, etc.
Misha reflected on his trip to Israel, in July 2014, organized by Avi Nevel, during the time the last Gaza war broke. During this time, he was given the opportunity to meet many people in industries, in sports, and government, and to visit Yad Vashem in Israel.
Misha proceeded to talk about his meeting with Daniel Rutenburg of the FISA Masters Rowing Commission who arranged for Misha to meet the para - rowers and became a key partner in bringing the Israel rowing team to the Head of the Charles in 2014.
Last, Misha spoke about Roni, who he met during her visit and how impressed he was with her. He conveyed his feeling that she needs to be given the best equipment to help her to compete and represent Israel in Rio. He finished with a challenge to Roni, not only to get to Rio but to take the Gold there, and make history for her and for Israel.
The ceremony proceeded with a pre - recorded message from Roni, who thanked everyone and said that it is her job to give it her best and that she is committed to working and training very hard to accomplish this mission.
After Roni's talk, a presentation prepared by Avi Nevel was screened. The presentation talked about the project. Avi then talked about how it all came about, when a mutual friend introduced Misha to him and the gratitude he felt towards Misha's grandparents when he heard their story, which was close to his heart as he is the son of a Holocaust survivor. From there, Avi conveyed how they then started to talk about bringing an Israeli rowing team for the first time to the Head of the Charles.
Avi then talked about meeting Roni at Logan airport in Boston during her arrival and how impressed he was with her personality, how well she represented Israel with her coach Robert Nuckowski, Moran Samuel, Dani Rutenberg and Limor Goldberg, who are all on the Israeli team. Avi added that he is only a novice in the world of rowing but understood from Misha, Jeff and Bernie Taradash how impressive an athlete she is and what a talent she has. This led Bernie, Misha and Jeff to talk about raising money to get Roni a boat. Bernie was the first to come to the table with a significant amount . Avi recalled when Jeff and Bernie came to him and told him about their thoughts and asked him to spear-head the effort , how without hesitation he said yes.
Avi continued to talk about the individuals that contributed including Eva and Dr. Josh Gutman, his wife, Dr. Laura Nevel and his daughter Gillie Nevel, Jeff Sturges and the great contribution and support from Maccabi USA, the Israel American Chamber of Commerce, Schenker, the Olympic committee, the CJP (Combined Jewish Philanthropies) and others. Avi also mentioned Arie Uster, Roni's father, of his and his wife's efforts to support Roni.
Then Avi proceeded to talk about how Misha and Jeff offered for him to name the boat and he said this was a great honor. He knew that it should be named after his late mother, Miriam Beitner Nevel, who was a Holocaust survivor. At age 18, when her life was just getting started she became a slave laborer, escaped the March of death and immigrated to Israel. She was shattered to find out that her parents and sister were murdered in Auschwitz and Treblinka.
All of this as gratitude in memory of Misha's late grandparents, Martha and Waitstill Sharp who dedicated their lives just to save Jews. Avi asked the question about how many times he asked himself and everyone else would they do the same and how unbelievable it was on all they had done.
Avi mentioned the fact that from more than 12,000 people who were recognized as Righteous Among Nations, only 4 Americans were recognized and Misha's grandparents are 2 of the 4.
Avi proceeded to talk about his mother and her and many Holocaust survivors from Hitler and the Nazi regime keeping their humanities and rebuilding their lives. Many went on to become good citizens and channeled their pain and suffering into the positivity of helping to rebuild the country and the world.
Avi felt that his mother's name would represent all Holocaust survivors, and brave people like the Sharps would be in Roni's thoughts. Their memories could give her the strength and the perspective when she rows, not only in the immense pain but in her carrying a mission in memory of Holocaust survivors and the pride of all Israelis and Jews around the world, friends and supporters. This day was especially significant as the ceremony was on the eve of the Holocaust Memorial Day so not just a solemn day but in the spirit of the survivors building something positive , new channels in positive direction and as Misha said,
"Go and get the Gold."
Sagit Sade Attiya, the Director of Economic Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in Boston gave greetings on behalf of the Israel Consul General to New England, Yehuda Yaakov who could not attend.
The event proceeded with Bernie Taradash talking about his experience and how much he appreciated Roni and what he saw and was sure that giving her a Resolute boat would help her to be among the best rowers in the world.
The christening of the boat then took place where all participants at the event poured champagne on the boat and blessed the boat.
The event finalized with a tour of the fascinating Resolute plant and in the afternoon the truck came and took the crated boat to the airport.
Last, a ceremony date for the boat in Israel was announced and on May 15 at 2:00 pm, there will be a ceremony in Israel at the Zvulon rowing dock.
The body of the boat was embedded with the names of all the private donors and organizations who donated and supported the effort. On both sides of the boat the flags of Israel and U.S. , the logos of Resolute and the CJP, (Combined Jewish Philanthropies) are imbedded.