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On Saturday, Nov. 21, the Shimon and Sara Birnbaum Jewish Community Center in Bridgewater will celebrate 10 years of serving the area's Jewish community.

The JCC first opened its doors in December 1999, after six years of planning, fundraising, and building.

"The JCC was founded by a cadre of federation leaders who dreamed of a central space for the Jewish community," said Susan Greenbaum, who has been the executive director of the JCC for the past three-and-a-half years.

The JCC serves the entire Jewish community of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren counties, providing fitness, recreational, social, cultural, and educational opportunities. The center houses a salt-based indoor pool, a gymnasium, a fitness center, a group fitness studio, and also hosts a popular swim club. In addition, the JCC's Blaustein Early Childhood Center offers programs for ages 15 months through kindergarten, its "J" Crew program is its after-school program for grades K-4, and its Camp Ruach offers programs for children ages 2 through teenagers.

"The JCC is a microcosm of any JCC with indoor and outdoor pools, a nursery school, a day care, and a fitness center," Greenbaum said, also mentioning the Jewish educational and cultural programs offered there.

Doron Steger, of Bridgewater, was one of the driving forces behind the JCC's creation and growth and served as its first president from 1999-2001.

"In 1994, the federation board made the historic decision to build a JCC and I was asked to work on that project," Steger recalled, "It was a massive undertaking. We had 200 volunteers with committees and subcommittees dealing with everything from finance to construction to governance."

Addie Kluger, whose term as president ended this past June, said that she has been involved with the project since its beginning, largely because of Steger's enthusiasm.

"What motivated me initially was Doron Steger, who was very persuasive in having me join the project," Kluger said. "And once I got involved, I became more and more excited about it."

Steger described the formation of the JCC in the 1990s as the third attempt at creating the center, with two previous attempts in the 1970s and 1980s, respectively, having failed.

"We reached a threshold in the Jewish community -- there were enough Jews in the community and enough members in our synagogues that the momentum was there," Steger said.

Steve Rosenberg, the executive director from June 1999 until June 2006, recalled that when he was first hired for the position, meetings were held in the construction trailers.

"For a Jewish communal professional, starting out a new project like the opening of a JCC is a once in a lifetime experience. It was very exciting," Rosenberg said.

Within a year or two after the JCC first opened in the late '90s, it became apparent that a larger space was needed. Consequently, the JCC expanded its space by approximately 60 percent, a project completed a year ago.

Currently, the JCC is looking to expand with plans to build a bubble over the outside pool, expand the fitness center, and develop the second floor of the recently completed new wing.

"Our vision to a large extent has been fulfilled, but we can't sit on our laurels," Steger said.

The JCC's ability to serve as "neutral territory," where all types of Jews including those unaffiliated can come together is the center's greatest strength, according to Steger.

"When we were building it, we had no idea of what kind of impact it would have on the community," he said. "Only two or three years after it was built, people couldn't imagine why we didn't have it 20 or 30 years earlier."

"You walk through the halls and there's excitement and smiles and it's just such a wonderful place, its phenomenal," Kluger said.

The 10th anniversary celebration, which will take place on Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Martinsville Inn Caterers in Martinsville, will honor the JCC's five past presidents: Doron Steger, Alvin Levine, Harriet Blank, Barry Ages, and Addie Kluger.

"Everyone one of those presidents has done an amazing job," Rosenberg said of the evening's honorees.

Steger said he is honored by the recognition, but that while he helped build its body, "the heart and soul of the JCC is the executive director and staff who run its operations everyday."

"The honor is great, but it really goes to so many people," he said.

The fee to attend the celebration is $125 per person. An Ad Journal celebrating the JCC and honoring its leadership is being compiled. Anyone interested in attending the JCC's 10th Anniversary Celebration and participating in the Ad Journal should contact JCC Executive Director Susan Greenbaum at (908) 725-6994 ext. 212 or SGreenbaum@ssbjcc.org.