Spirit

There’s not much difference between an average life and an above average life. So, don’t settle for average and you’ll be successful in whatever you do.

That was the message TV host and author Josh Shipp had for an audience of young adults – and former young adults – that filled Centennial Hall yesterday afternoon (Wednesday).

Shipp urged students from high schools in Juneau and Haines to take personal responsibility, look at every obstacle as an opportunity to get better at something, and be dedicated to success.

“Success simplified? How did they do it?,” said Shipp. “Number one, they got started. Number two, they did not quit. Is that simplified? Yes. Is it true? Yeah.”

Shipp talked about his own path to success. Born an orphan, he bounced around to 14 different foster homes, was sexually abused, tried to commit suicide, and finally became the overweight class clown.

He credits his last set of foster parents and one of his teachers for helping him realize his potential.

“Completely changed my life, completely rocked my world,” he said. “I believe every young person is one adult away from being a success story. One adult away. An adult who doesn’t see them for who they were – the obnoxious, class clown, foster kid. But someone who sees them for who they could be – the leader, the communicator, or whatever that is.”

Besides being a teen motivational speaker, the 30-year-old Shipp is host of the TV show JUMP SHIPP on the Halogen network. He’s also author of the book The Teen’s Guide to World Domination. He spoke as part of the Pillars of America Speaker Series, sponsored every year in Juneau by the Glacier Valley Rotary Club.

The series continues next Wednesday with retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Sweeney, whose plane was shot down during Operation Desert Storm.

A major Southeast social-service agency has a new top official.

Jean Strafford will take over as executive director of Catholic Community Service on May 1st.

The Juneau-based nonprofit provides assistance to senior citizens and families, offering transportation, meals and child-care services to Southeast residents. It also runs the capital city’s hospice program.

Strafford has been Catholic Community Service’s finance director since last summer. She also held that post from 2001 to 2005. In addition, she worked for the Sealaska Corporation, the Juneau Economic Development Council, and Juneau’s municipal government.

Board Vice President John Greely says that experience made her the strongest finalist.

“She’s been our financial wizard there for quite a few years and knows the ins and outs of the agency and has the confidence of the employees. So she seemed to be the logical choice,” he says.

Strafford takes over from Rosemary Hagevig, who is retiring after 14 years on the job.

No significant changes are expected. Greeley says funding is a major challenge.

“We’re sort of waiting for the shoe to drop in Washington D.C. with some of the agencies that are our major grantees. We’re hoping that for the next year or so the funding will be stable enough that we don’t have to restructure a lot of our programs,” he says.

Catholic Community Service has 200 employees and 250 volunteers. It was founded in 1974.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and McPhetres Hall publically celebrated the new facility last Sunday. Amanda Compton joined the approximately 150 to 200 community members who attended the event.

Dov Gartenberg will be the first year-around Jewish Rabbi in Juneau.

He says Dov is pronounced like the bird or the past tense of dive – and he goes by either.

“In Hebrew it’s pronounced Dov. If anyone reads the book of Exodus, it’s one of the main characters; but Dov means bear. In moving up here I’m in my natural habitat,” Gartenberg says.

Juneau’s Jewish community did not call Gartenberg to be its rabbi, though he’s been a practicing rabbi for years. Instead, he moved to Juneau because his wife has taken a position at Bartlett Regional Hospital. The congregation, which has only had temporary rabbis for special holidays, convinced Gartenberg to become the year-round spiritual leader of Temple Sukkat Shalom.

“The word ‘rabbi’ means teacher in Hebrew. A rabbi is someone who teaches Torrah. It literally means ‘instruction,’ but is the Jewish scriptural tradition – which is different than the Christian tradition,” Gartenberg explains. “We share with the Christian tradition the Bible, at least the Hebrew Bible, but we also have what we call rabbinical literature. We are interpreters of that tradition to the Jewish community and to the broader world, whether the rabbi is in Juneau or Jerusalem.”

Jewish congregations are autonomous and not part of any hierarchy. Gartenberg says he has no plans to overhaul Juneau’s Jewish community practices. The congregation has had a religious school and year-around programs for many years and acquired its own building in 2005.

“What I will do is strengthen what they already have, and bring some rabbinical leadership that they haven’t had year around,” Gartenberg says.

Temple Sukkat Shalom is located at 211 Cordova Avenue in West Douglas. It is the only synagogue in Southeast Alaska.