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NISKAYUNA -Alex Hallenstein walked toward the outdoor center at the Schenectady Jewish Community Center and looked out on a sparkling pool filled with children swimming, splashing and smiling.
"It does look nice, doesn't it," Hallenstein said.
Hallenstein was taking one of his last tours of a community center he led for more than three decades, a tenure the national JCC Association says makes him the nation's longest serving in that post. The pool complex is one of several expansions that took place during Hallenstein's 33-year career at the Balltown Road center. He served as executive director during all but his first year there.
Much of the center's expansion was largely due to Hallenstein's vision and hard work. He retired on June 30, but the people he worked with say he'll be remembered for a long time.
"He helped those who needed help, in terms of making sure we had an excellent staff," said Bob Ludwig, a previous JCC president and fundraiser for the institution.
During Hallenstein's tenure, the JCC's annual budget increased from $250,000 to more than $3 million, an endowment fund was created and the center's debt was almost paid off.
Today, the center serves more than 3,500 members. Summer programs serve 325 children. During the school year, 500 children regularly attend day care and other activities there.
Hallenstein said his enthusiasm for helping people was ignited by a grandmother who paid for his membership at a JCC in Springfield, Mass. As a college student, he worked as a summer camp counselor at that JCC and learned the power of cooperating with others.
After graduation from the school of social work at the University of Connecticut, Hallenstein was offered a fellowship by the national JCC Association.
"I began to develop a real career interest in this," said Hallenstein.
After working at the Hartford, Conn., Worcester, Mass., and Philadelphia centers, he came to Niskayuna in 1976 to fill the position of assistant director for the JCC and the Schenectady Jewish Federation. A year later, he took over as executive director of the JCC.
The decision to take the job was easy. "To get paid and have fun? Of course I took the job," Hallenstein said.
But, he said, "the first few years were a struggle." When Hallenstein first arrived at the center, it was two-thirds its present size, offering only a few services in a small building. With a professional staff of four, an annual budget of $250,000 a year and mountains of debt, "it was hard to dream."
In 1980, Henry Schaffer pledged $100,000 to the center if the community could raise $200,000.
"People stepped up to the plate," Hallenstein said. The center managed to raise $310,000 in two months. Hallenstein invested the money, paid off old loans and created an endowment for the center. "That's when we began to look at things differently," he said.
Mark Weintraub will be the new executive director, and Hallenstein is sticking around to help with the transition.
Hallenstein says it's people he will miss the most: the members, and the staff.
"For all the years I've worked here, I can count on one hand the number of times I didn't want to come to work," he said as he surveyed his office on his last full day on the job.
Juliette Price is a Times Union intern who attends the State University of New York at Oneonta. She can be reached at 454-5414 or by e-mail at jprice@timesunion.com.
It all started when Alex Hallenstein's grandmother purchased him a $7 membership to his local JCC in New England. Little did he know that he would spend the next 40-plus years involved in some capacity with JCCs across the country.
On Thursday, July 2, Hallenstein's 33-year tenure as the executive director of the Schenectady JCC will end as he retires. His career started on April 1, 1976 as the assistant director of both the JCC and the former Schenectady Jewish Federation, and in November of 1977, he was named the executive director of the JCC.
"I think the success of agencies is a partnership between staff and volunteers," said Hallenstein.
He said that he believed his greatest accomplishment came in two parts: the first part is administrative and the second part is the development of the services and programs that the Schenectady JCC has offered over the years.
"I think the fact that the staff and the departments maintain a fiscal health is important because if an agency continually has deficits, it's ill and it can't develop because its always worried about paying bills," said Hallenstein. "I think over the years we reached fiscal integrity."
During his tenure, the budget grew from less than $250,000 to $3 million per year. He also created an endowment fund, which has almost $1 million invested. The Schenectady JCC has become nearly debt free.
In the administrative department, he said that he feels part of the success has been the fact that the organization has been able to develop a cadre of volunteers and lay leaders, especially because he feels that over the last 10 to 15 years there has been a loss of volunteerism in society.
He said that when he came to Schenectady three decades ago with a wife and two small children, he never expected to stay in the area.
This is unusual in my career," said Hallenstein. "I think that Schenectady is probably unique now not only in the Jewish community but in the general community. It's easy for someone to live here, it's easy to make friends."
He said that one of the things that makes this community unique is that many people who grow up here eventually leave, but then other people come.
When you move here, your family isn't here, so your friends become your family and you develop an infrastructure. That was wonderful for my wife and myself, and I think it's what makes some of the institution unique," said Hallenstein.
He said that he is proud of the staff at the center – many of whom have worked there for 20 to 25 years, as well as his younger staff, who he hopes will stick around for a while.
"I think over the next probably five or six years a number of the key staff will be retiring, which will give the JCC an opportunity to reinvent and keep what they like," said Hallenstein.
Ellen Carpenter, director of Early Childhood and Youth Services for the Schenectady JCC, has worked with Hallenstein for 29 years.
He's extremely dedicated and supportive of the center and he definitely has ownership of it to some extent," said Carpenter.
He works very hard to keep us on the right road and has been willing to try new things, even if he has not agreed with them," said Carpenter.
She said that Hallenstein has always been there to offer advice and support.
I guess the fact that I've always reported to him directly, I know that if I have an issue I can go right to his office and talk to him. He might not always agree with me and it might not always be the perfect conversation, but he has been supportive," said Carpenter.
He said that his retirement is bittersweet since he's worked there for so long.
I certainly don't want to be carried out, and in a few cases I've seen that happen with colleagues," said Hallenstein.
He said that he's had some great mentors in his professional career, through the JCC, other agencies and Niskayuna, but that he is ready to retire.
It's just time, you know?" said Hallenstein.
He said that he wants to be remembered as a mensch, which is a Yiddish word that means "a person of integrity and honor."
Hallenstein's career isn't over. He plans on using his abilities in a professional role to assist not-for-profits and small businesses develop their resources.
Mark Weintraub will take over for Hallenstein on Monday, July 6, as executive director. Hallenstein plans on helping him make the transition over the next month or so.
Dodgeball team inspired by movie
Craze prompts tournament for students
Monday, January 14, 2008
By Justin Mason (Contact)
Gazette Reporter Read the article
(or copy and paste the following address:)
http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/jan/14/0114_dodgeball
NISKAYUNA — If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.
At least that's the philosophy offered by Patches O'Houlihan, as the grizzled coach hurled tools at his players in the film "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Tale." And if you're a member of Team Boss, you can dodge them pretty well.
The group of five Niskayuna high school students were crowned champions of the resurgent sport after they vanquished each of their opponents during a dodgeball tournament at the Schenectady Jewish Community Center gymnasium Sunday, drawing dozens of area teens. Once relegated to grade school playgrounds, the sport is growing in popularity nowadays in the wake of the cult following of the 2004 box office smash staring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller.
"We were going off the movie," admitted Mike Lecce, a junior from Niskayuna, after his team won the tournament. "That's where we were coming up with our strategy."
Even the rules of the old sport were somewhat foreign to the reigning champions before the film came out. Classmate Kadeem Miller said most of his knowledge of the sport came from what he saw on the silver screen.
"That's how we knew the rules," he said. "Because of the movie."
Written by Union College grad Rawson Marshall Thurber, the comedy follows Vaughn and a group of misfits from "Average Joe's" gym as they attempt to beat Globo-Gym, the big-budget gym located across the street, during a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament The movie's success spurred regional leagues in both Texas and Massachusetts, as well as a cable network show that aired for three seasons.
The surge in the sport's popularity prompted Rachel Kutil, the JCC's assistant youth director, and Chris Belden, the sports and wellness director, to host the center's first dodgeball tournament this year as a way to recruit teens for the Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish athletic event similar to the Olympics. Kutil said the first tournament — open to students from 8th to 11th grade — drew enough interest that she's already planning an adult competition for spring for adults.
"It's kind of a dodgeball craze," she said.
The students mimicked dodgeball plays from the movie's final showdown and laughed over memorable quotes on the sidelines. But when it came to competing against one another, the more than 30 students brought a decidedly serious attitude to the floor.
The teams debated strategies and sported stern game faces once the elimination round of the tournament began. The multicolored rubber kick balls sailed through the gymnasium with enough velocity that the seriousness the students brought to the competition was immediately evident.
"We're coming back for the gold next year," quipped Niskayuna junior Mike Casey, shortly after his team was eliminated.
Likewise, classmate Joe Twitty said his team would try to mount a comeback next year. He jested they might take up O'Houlihan's unconventional brand of training.
"We should have," he said. "We would have been in the finals if we did."
With victory in hand, Team Boss members proudly donned T-shirts proclaiming them the center's dodgeball champions of 2008. The students said the win would give them something to brag about in school this week.
"These are definitely being worn to school Monday," he said holding out the shirt.
June 14, 2007
Cool Insuring Agency, Inc., presented the Robert and Dorothy Ludwig Schenectady Jewish Community Center with a $10,000 donation to support the community organization's programs for children, adults and seniors. The Schenectady JCC is one of 15 nonprofit organizations to receive a donation as part of Cool's 150th Anniversary Celebration.
Cool Insuring Agency is contributing a total of $150,000 to charitable organizations in the communities it serves throughout New York State's Broome, Warren and Albany counties.
"Cool's 150th anniversary is the perfect opportunity to give back to the communities that have contributed to our success," said Tony Mashuta, president of Cool Insuring Agency. "We thank them for their support and helping Cool become one of the oldest and largest insurance agencies in the nation."
We can identify the folks in the photo with titles and conclude..names here... accepts the Cool Insurance Agency donation with some of the Center's smiling youngsters enjoying the activities.
June 15, 2006
See all the action from the SJCC 6 Hour Cycling Event for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Our cyclists and sponsors raised over $15,000 for the Foundation's advocacy, education, public health, and research efforts. Thanks to all our cyclists and sponsors for making this a very special day at the SJCC.
January 27, 2006
Miles Deixler, President of the Board of Directors of the Robert & Dorothy Ludwig Schenectady Jewish Community Center on the Golub Family Campus, announced that
approval had been given by the board for a joint JCC-synagogue partnership.
Through the collaborative efforts of area synagogues and the JCC, a three month complimentary family membership will be offered to new members of area synagogues.
The program is designed to welcome new residents to our community and provide the opportunity for them to enjoy the benefits of the Center's programs and events
while making new friends.
