Celebrating Hanukkah and the growing Jewish community in Wilton, Jewish residents came together Thursday evening, Dec. 18, to host a Wilton Community Hanukkah Party at Ambler Farm. More than 200 Jewish Wilton residents joined in to celebrate the Festival of Lights.
“This was really a community effort,” said Eleanor Neuman Cronley, one of the organizers. “Wilton is our home and it’s really wonderful to connect with the growing community of Jewish families who call Wilton home.”
The party was organized by a group of Wilton moms who have banded together informally as the “J Moms of Wilton.” The group started as a Facebook page partially in response to events earlier this year, when two swastikas were found in Wilton High School. Afterward, many Jewish residents began discussing how to feel more cohesive and united, and also how to do something that felt more positive.
“After the first incident, that could happen anywhere. But after the second swastika, I was in tears. I thought, ‘Was I really in the right place?’ I had to reevaluate and question everything. I was talking with a friend, we were both upset. I said, ‘What if we started a Facebook group?’ That’s how ‘J Moms of Wilton‘ started,” Cronley recounts. “Within 24 hours there were 65 women who joined. From there it took off.”
The membership has grown to 114 at last count. The Hanukkah party was the first event and it was planned by a group of women who volunteered to be on the organizing committee.*
For many of the families, having the celebration at Ambler Farm was a perfect way to tie the collection of families to something that was very symbolically Wilton.
“In Wilton, particularly, families go to worship at different synagogues; we don’t have one central location where all the Jewish families can come together. This provides that opportunity,” said Michele Bender, who has lived in Wilton for 14 years. “The turnout speaks volumes that we were overdue to have an event like this.”
Attendees at the party enjoyed traditional potato latkes and jelly donuts, and the families had activities and game for the kids to enjoy. There was lively hanukkah music, a menorah and singing of the traditional prayers as one community. There was also a collection taken to donate to Wilton Social Services to support the Wilton Community Assistance Fund.
Several items were donated by Wilton residents to make the party possible: Fran and Peter Greenberg of Able Construction donated supplies for a menorah-making craft; Scott Martin of Rye Ridge Deli donated potato latkes; and Pam Nicolas of Izzy B’s Allergen Free Bakery donated desserts. In addition, Wilton Sport and Fitness loaned materials for games and activities.
For people who aren’t Jewish, it may be difficult to understand why the J Moms were eager to find the connections to other Jews within the larger community of Wilton. Why was it important for the group to have this event?
“I don’t think you ever want to feel singled out, and I don’t think you ever want to feel that you don’t belong. And I think tonight was letting everyone know that they in fact do belong,” Cronley answered.
Deborah List, who has three children in the Wilton schools, was also on the J Moms organizing committee. She said it was important to be involved to help the community find one another.
“To bring us together for something fun and festive and to celebrate–to show that there really are this many Jewish families in Wilton, to start that feeling of community,” List said when asked what motivated her to get involved.
The event helped many of Wilton’s Jewish residents show their children how vibrant the community is.
“What’s really neat is the kids have been talking about it at school,” said Beth Flavin, who has four children.
List agreed. “My kids were coming home from school saying all these kids from their classes were coming, that they had no idea were Jewish. I think that’s what this is about–the kids learning that it’s not just who you go to synagogue with, but realizing there are so many other Jewish people in the community.”
Amy Wistreich moved to Wilton only three months ago. Finding this J Moms group was very important to her. “I want to meet the Jewish moms in Wilton, this gives me an access to it.”
There are hopes of making this an annual event, either as an Ambler Farm program or potentially run by the J Moms again, with town officials and other members of the wider community joining in the celebration.
“It’s great to show how Wilton is evolving, in a positive way. This is part of the evolution. The face of Wilton is changing,” Cronley said.
Her reaction to seeing the 200-plus people enjoying the holiday together? “It was monumental. It made me realize I am in the right place. There is a community–in fact there’s a growing community. It’s a wonderful feeling.”
* Editor’s note: GMW editor Heather Borden Hervé is one of the committee members who organized the Hanukkah party.
