{"id":39793,"date":"2017-12-10T14:37:20","date_gmt":"2017-12-10T20:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=39793"},"modified":"2017-12-10T14:37:20","modified_gmt":"2017-12-10T20:37:20","slug":"adl-honors-merrick-roger-goodman-at-awards-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/adl-honors-merrick-roger-goodman-at-awards-dinner\/","title":{"rendered":"ADL honors Merrick, Roger &#038; Goodman at awards dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ALAN SMASON, Special to the CCJN<\/p>\n<p>The South Central Region of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) honored two local philanthropists and champions for social action as well as handing out recognition for its own local leadership at a lavish dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Tuesday night, Dec. 5.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40011\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40011\" class=\"wp-image-40011 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40011\" class=\"wp-image-40011 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5079-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-40011\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor-elect Latoya Cantrell, left, attends the ADL&#8217;s A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award Dinner on Tuesday, December 5 with South Central Region ADL director Aaron Ahlquist, right. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The 2017 A. I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award Dinner was the largest such attended event, according to newly installed South Central Region executive director Aaron Ahlquist.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Named for its first director, A. I. &#8220;B&#8221; Botnick, the Torch of Liberty Award has been presented every year since 1973 (with the exception of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina year) to at least one deserving individual whose commitment to community and public service has established them as adhering to the highest traditions of the ADL. In most years it has been given to two individuals or groups who have made a difference&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This year&#8217;s recipients were Robert Merrick, the CEO of Latter and Blum Realty Company and Arthur Roger, an arts advocate, humanitarian and LGBT community leader.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In an emotional address, Merrick noted that the award meant so much to him because of his family&#8217;s German background. Few people in the room knew that his family name was Cohen or that they had been forced to flee the Nazi aggression in the early 1930s.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the ADL honored two of its younger leaders &#8211; Rachael Kansas Feder and Carrie Bart Marks &#8211;&nbsp; with the presentation of its Barney Mintz Leadership&nbsp;Award. Mintz, the first recipient of the Torch of Liberty Award, has been considered a model of leadership within the local ADL&nbsp; chapter during the 25-year period time when Botnick served as director and beyond.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40012\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40012\" class=\"wp-image-40012 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40012\" class=\"wp-image-40012 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_5093-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-40012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Newly-installed ADL South Central Region director Aaron Ahlquist. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ahlquist addressed the crowd with a speech designed to highlight the important work being done by the ADL to combat hate in schools and in workplaces across the nation. Titled &#8220;ADL: Now More Than Ever,&#8221; Ahlquist pointed to the promise&nbsp;of his new associate regional&nbsp;director Lindsay Baach Friedman as well as to the&nbsp; legacy left behind by former South Central Region director Allison Padilla-Goodman, who now serves as the regional director for ADL&#8217;s Southeast Region. Located in Atlanta, the Southeast Region oversees the Scout Central Region that covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.<\/p>\n<p>Nancy Timm, the past advisory board chair, presented Padilla-Goodman with a gift and invited her to address the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Padilla-Goodman outlined many of the ongoing programs the ADL is shepherding and echoed Ahlquist&#8217;s topic of &#8220;Now More Than Ever.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photos from the event may be viewed here:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"ADL%20honors%20Merrick%2C%20Roger%20%26%20Goodman%20at%20awards%20dinner\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3432,8784,8790,8795,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39793"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40013,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39793\/revisions\/40013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}