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From ingoing and outgoing board members to high school seniors who won scholarships, honors for past, present, and future Jewish leaders highlighted the Joint Annual Meeting for the Jewish Federation of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties and the Shimon and Sara Birnbaum Jewish Community Center June 2 at the JCC in Bridgewater.

More than 100 people were on hand to watch Ed Tolman succeed Kal Barson as president of the federation and Peter Horowitz take the reigns from Addie Kluger as JCC president. To celebrate Diane Naar's 10th year as executive director, the federation rewarded her with a Lion of Judah pin, a philanthropic distinction given to women who consistently donate a significant amount to the federation.

"It means a lot to me that the board values my service for last 10 years," Naar said in an interview after the ceremony. "This is the best way they could have honored me."

The JCC presented $1,000 scholarships to Elana Lerner of Bridgewater-Raritan High School and Janice Jeschke of Hillsborough High School. The awards were in memory of Larry Cubas, who died after collapsing during a JCC adult league basketball game in February 2008.

Applicants for the scholarships had to be either JCC members or high school basketball players, and submitted essays on how the JCC or their basketball careers will help them succeed in the future. Lerner compiled a 3.998 grade point average and will attend Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and Jeschke played on the basketball team all four years in high school and will attend Rutgers.

"[Larry Cubas] never had a bad word about anyone, except maybe for a referee during a basketball game," Neil Kreitman, a member of the JCC board, said while presenting the scholarships.

Following a d'var Torah from Rabbi Mendy Herson of Chabad of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Union Counties to kick off the ceremony, Barson reviewed the federation's major accomplishments during his two-year term. Barson said he took special pride in the work of the federation's Women's Philanthropy division, which provided a refrigerated truck for thousands of hungry children in Israel.

The federation also benefited Israel by assisting Operation Promise to help bring Jews to the country, raising funds for Job Katif to aid the unemployed and displaced, and creating a special appeal for victims of terror during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, Barson said.

The beauty of those kinds of initiative lies in how the federation shows it can help not only the local Jewish community, but also people from afar who don't even know where the assistance is coming from, Naar said during her remarks.

Despite the ongoing economic recession, several of the federation's donors have increased their pledges over the last year because they understand that people in the community need help more than ever, Naar said.

Mark Chazin, the federation's nominating committee chair, presented Naar with the Lion of Judah pin. More than 16,000 women from around the world hold the distinction, Chazin said. The federation donated the difference between Naar's annual donation and the federation's Lion of Judah level, Chazin added.

During his induction speech, Tolman said he will use his term to recruit as many people as possible to devote their time and services to the federation, in any capacity. For Tolman, helping the Jewish community has always had a unique personal feel, he said.

"In reaching out to you I'm really being selfish," Tolman said. "It makes me feel better about myself."

"What I'm aiming is to ask nothing less of you than I would ask of a family member -- that we be there for each other, we support each other, and that together we serve our family and our community," he added.

The new federation board includes Tolman, Barson (immediate past president), Elaine Dunst (president-elect), Eric Lavitsky (secretary), Michael Saul (vice president), Chazin (vice president), Dan Shanok (vice president), Larry Zeller (vice president), and Gerald Wasserman (treasurer).

Recapping the JCC's major initiatives during her term, Kluger discussed the center's annual golf outing, increased online communication, the formation of a new cultural arts committee, and the strengthening of the membership committee. The JCC donated a tzedakah box for the center's lobby in Kluger's honor.

Susan Greenbaum Ferbank, the JCC's executive director, introduced the New Leaders Program, which will sponsor two board members to attend the JCC Association of North America's biennial conference each time the conference is held. For next May's conference, the JCC will send Andrea Keats and Richard Skydell.

Horowitz, the newly minted JCC president, said that the center's most important challenge is to keep preschoolers and campers involved year after year, winter through summer, to pave the way for a future generation of leaders.

"The example needs to be set in the formative years, and then continue," Horowitz said.

The new JCC board includes Horowitz, David Bunevich (president elect), Ken Bernstein (1st vice president), Skydell (2nd vice president), Keats (3rd vice president), Kluger (immediate past president), Geoff Feinstein (secretary), Bruce Levinston (assistant secretary), Jerome Zweig (treasurer), and Richard Hirsch (assistant treasurer).