In the Spotlight
This week was a busy one for our community! It seemed like every time I opened my inbox, I received some news about an amazing accomplishment...
Let's start with Maxime Chaya, the first Lebanese to climb Mount Everest. Max Chaya became a Lebanese Hero when he raised, for the first time in history, the Lebanese flag to the highest point on earth - Mount Everest. Max Chaya was officially nominated a Seven “Summiteer” on May 15, 2006, after having conquered the Seven Summits, the highest peak on each Continent.
He has just begun his new expedition: to make it to the South Pole unsupported! Armed only with an Iridium satellite phone a pda and a camera, he will be blogging as he makes his way across some of the harshest terrain in the world. You can follow his adventure on http://www.thethreepoles.com/.
Best of luck to Maxime! We will be watching....
Bring you a little closer to home, we had another incredible accomplishment last week. The corners of Franklin and River Street in Cambridge, MA have now been officially named Sami J. Herbawi Square. For those of you that don't know, Sami is a long-time resident and supporter of Cambridge, as well as the owner of our beloved Andala Square.
Best wishes to Sami! (Pssst... don't forget our Second Sunday Social is this week at Andala Cafe, 286 Franklin Street, Cambridge... aka Sami J. Herbawi Square)
Finally, AAI also recently announced that their National Leadership Conference in Dearborn, MI from October 26-28 was a huge success. Over 600 Arab Americans from across the country gathered to launch "Our Voice. Our Future. Yalla Vote 08" campaign. Presidential candidates, campaign representatives, nationally recognized commentators, and many top public officials addressed Arab Americans at the conference. You can see highlights of the weekend including speeches from Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson, Republican candidate Ron Paul, Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards at AAI's YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AAIUSA.
