Al Wollner and his wife, Marcia Mercer Wollner, were returning to their home near Palmdale, California one day from a visit to Tijuana and decided to take the back roads of San Diego County through Ramona. As they drove into Ramona, Marcia looked around and the people seemed to be very friendly. Marcia said to Al that they would retire in Ramona. That was in 1973, and by 1976 Marcia and Al had moved to Ramona.

Al Wollner worked for the railroad and he loved to sing as he worked inside the locomotive. Al also liked to give concerts with songs from light operas and musical comedies. He loved cantorial music, as he had studied as a young man with some of the great chazans in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Down the hill from Ramona, in Poway, was a fairly new Reform congregation: Temple Adat Shalom. Al found it a place where he could enjoy his singing as the chazan during the High Holy Days. In 1980, as part of its annual fundraising campaign, the United Jewish Federation was trying to contact and involve as many San Diego County Jews as possible. At one meeting, when it was realized that Wollner lived "out there in Ramona," he was given the names of about 60 people who resided in that general area and was urged to contact them in behalf of the Federation. Armed with the knowledge that there were at least 60 Jews in Ramona, the Wollners and others decided to have a "potluck Passover." A notice was placed in the Ramona newspaper and more people than was expected showed up for the sedar at the Ramona home of Dr. Fred and Sandy Arsham. This was the beginning of Congregation Etz Chaim -- The Tree of Life.

There were many other people involved in the beginning of our Congregation. You can read more about us in this article.