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Sylvia Plotkin Museum
The Sylvia Plotkin Museum was
started in 1967 at the Temple Beth Israel in Phoenix, Arizona and
has steadily grown into one of the southwest's most prominent
institutions of education in the Jewish heritage with outstanding
exhibits, activities and events. The museum educates visitors about
the unique history of the Jewish culture that has been around for
over 5000 years, and is located in Scottsdale, Arizona with numerous
programs held every year to augment this spectacular museum, with
well known guest speakers, lectures, films, symposia and special
exhibits. Inspired by Rabbi and Sylvia Plotkin, the Judaica Museum
was started in the new cultural wing of the temple and since Sylvia
had a background in Judiaca and arts, she was made the director; and
in 1985, it was renamed the Plotkin Judaica Museum. In 1996, Sylvia
passed on, and the board voted to rename it to the Sylvia Plotkin
Judaica Museum in honor of her dedicated years of service to the
museum. They lost her special dedication, but not her goals, which
are still thriving in the staff and volunteers. The museum was
relocated in 1997 when the temple moved and became part of the
Silverman Cultural Arts Center; along with its marvelous library.
The museum has a permanent collection of more than 1000 relics from
across the globe, with temporary exhibits enhancing the permanent
collection. Currently, there is a wonderful exhibit about the Torah,
life cycle events and holidays. Their permanent Tunisian Legacy
Exhibit contains a beautiful reconstructed composite synagogue of
Tunis, off the coast of North Africa with gorgeous mosaic tiles and
elegant arches that include authentic relics donated by members of
the Tunisian Jewish community. Their interactive display is the
Western Wall, a replicated to scale part of the Western Wall in
Jerusalem and visitors are encouraged to leave a note in the cracks
between the stones; like they do at the real site. This is
really a wonderful opportunity to come and enjoy learning more about
the race and religion that started the Christian movement that began
there more than 2000 years ago, when a lowly carpenter, born of a
virgin, grew into the man/God that he was and sacrificed His life so
that we all should be forgiven for our transgressions and be able to
talk to God without the intervention of a man; regardless of how
good or great he was.
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Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction
The Barrett-Jackson Classic Car
Auction started in 1971, and is headquartered in Scottsdale,
Arizona, providing products and services to the classic and
collector car owners, collectors and car enthusiasts; offering
Americans and others the "World's Greatest Collector Car Events" in
Scottsdale, Las Vegas, Nevada, Palm Beach, Florida and Orange
County, California. Tom Barrett and Russ Jackson started the first
auction in Scottsdale, Arizona when Russ met Tom who had a 1933
Cadillac V-16 Town Car he was interested in. The two men held a car
show in 1967, called the "Fiesta del Auto Elegance, which was a fund
raising event for the local charities and Scottsdale library. In
1971, they held a classic car auction and Tom's Mercedes 770 Phaeton
sold for $153,000. In January, 1973, the first car auction, called,
Correction, was put on by Kruse, with the two men supplying 40 cars
on consignment for the annual event and was a Kruse production until
1980, when they decided to go out on their own; with an annual
Scottsdale auction. Russ Jackson passed on in 1993, and Tom Barrett
in 2004, with Craig Jackson working for them at the auctions, he
took over the reins and internet live bidding was started that year.
At the 3rd annual Palm Beach auction in 2005, it was renamed the
Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction and in 2008, it would also be
held in Las Vegas and in 2010, it will be held in Orange County,
California. Even though the name infers that it is only a car
auction, they do sell off other vehicles like airplanes, engines,
motorcycles and trucks; and beginning in 2007 they have auctioned
off rock and roll memorabilia, boats and other items. It became a
venue for American car manufacturers to sell the first production
models and generation combination in a charity format and the
Saturday auction has become known as Shatterday because of the often
record breaking sales that occur during the auction. Numerous
celebrities have come to the famous event, some even putting up
their own items for sale and have included; Jesse James, Sammy
Hagar, Tony Stewart, Michael Antony, DMX, Jay Leno, Bill Goldberg,
Alice Cooper, Carroll Shelby, Billy Corgan, Reggie Jackson and Randy
Johnson. During the past 39 years the auction has been happening, it
has grown into eight days, with six days of auctions, selling about
1000 vehicles, demonstrations, nightlife, drifting, fashion shows
and ride n drives; and getting more than 200,000 visitors at
WestWorld, where it has been held for the last two decades. The
Speed Channel has been giving TV coverage of the event since 1993
and at the 39th annual Scottsdale auction, SPEED aired 40 hours of
the auction's bidding.
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