DETROIT
Maccabi Galas Planned
By Ann Arbor, Windsor
RICHARD PEARL
Staff Writer
A
nn Arbor and Wind-
sor are giving the
1990 Jewish Com-
munity Centers-North
American Maccabi Youth
Games a truly metropolitan
flavor, according to Jay
Robinson, Games general
chairman
The two cities are plann-
ing key aspects of the
Games: Ann Arbor is handl-
ing the opening ceremonies
Aug. 19 at the Palace of
Auburn Hills and Windsor is
coordinating the coaches'
party Aug. 25.
"I've said this before: this
is a totally community-wide
thing," said Robinson. "We
have been getting the help of
the synagogues and temples,
the country clubs and the
people all over the area. This
is totally the institutions of
our community who are
helping make this possible.
"It's great because the
people in Windsor and Ann
Arbor have been involved
with Maccabi over the years,
but their communities are
not big enough to host some-
thing like the Youth Games.
So they are anxious to be a
part of the Games and we're
very, very glad to have their
help," Robinson said.
With the Games being
held in Detroit for the first
time since 1984 and some
2,900 athletes and coaches
from around the world ex-
pected, neither event will be
"small potatoes."
Chuck Newman of Ann
Arbor heads the committee
which is planning for a full
house — 22,000 — at the
Palace for the opening gala,
which will feature enter-
tainment and will be
highlighted by an Olympics-
style march-in by the
various teams, with each
carrying its own banner and
flag.
Ron and Larry Polsky of
Windsor are directing the
planning for the coaches'
party, which is expected to
draw an international crowd
of 400. The Maple-Drake
Jewish Community Center,
main venue for the Games,
will also be the site of the
Chuck Newman:
Orienteering experience.
Ron Polsky:
"Chance to relax."
Larry Polsky:
Windsor co-host.
coaches' party, according to
Ron Polsky.
sonnel. The group toured the
facilities.
Volunteers will wear spe-
cial clothing and maintain
contact by radio, he said.
They will be using some
1,600 feet of bicycle racks
and 2,000 traffic cones in the
staging area to guide the
various delegations into the
Palace for the opening
ceremony. Palace personnel
will take care of the sound
system, lighting and other
aspects of the night's enter-
tainment.
Windsor's Polsky brothers,
who like Newman are mem-
bers of the Games organi-
zing committee, will be
working on a much smaller
scale in planning the
coaches' get-together.
"The coaches will be on
their own for dinner that
night. Really, they will be
pretty much on their own
the whole week. This way,
they'll get a chance to meet
and know one another the
night before it all ends," said
Ron Polsky. The finals in the
team sports will be Sunday,
Aug. 26.
"This will give them a
chance to relax, to talk
sports, to talk countries,
whatever.
"We've hired the Marshall
Korby band from West
Bloomfield, which plays
1950s style rock n' roll. Hav-
ing it at the JCC, it will be a
poolside party," he said.
Both Windsor and Ann
Arbor will have their own
teams participating in the
Games.
"We've got lots of good
help in bringing this off,"
said Newman, who is presi-
dent of the Ann Arbor Jew-
ish Community Center.
"The Palace is providing all
the equipment, including
communications and crowd-
control, and their people are
incredibly helpful. And
they're not inexperienced in
staging such big events,
either."
Nevertheless, Newman
expects to have a cadre of
100 volunteers, many com-
ing from Ann Arbor,
assisting Palace personnel
in crowd control, providing
information and helping
ticket-takers.
Newman, whose son
Michael will play basketball
in his third and final Mac-
cabi and whose wife Sharon
is helping coordinate Ann
Arbor's housing contingent,
is no stranger to staging big
events. He was in charge of
timing and scoring for the
national Orienteering meet
held in Aim Arbor a couple
of years ago. And he headed
Ann Arbor's delegation to
the previous two Youth
Games, in Chicago (1988)
and Toronto (1986).
"We'll be needing to get
the right teams to the right
places at the right times for
the opening ceremonies," he
said, "and then we'll need to
re-connect them with their
host families at the end — no
small feat in itself. We'll be
having run-throughs
beforehand and checklists to
go by.
Rabbi Lane Steinger holds a tree while Congressman Sander Levin
digs on Temple Emanu-El's Atzim Chayim — Trees Are Life — Day
April 29. Temple members and religious school classes planted 21
trees on the temple grounds in a program co-sponsored by Global
Glenn Triest
Releaf.
"We're excited about it,"
he said, noting 20 volunteers
attended the first meeting
with Games chairman
Robinson and Palace per-
❑
Jewish Communities
Form Network Coalition
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
D
etroit and seven
smaller Jewish com-
munities throughout
Michigan recently formed
the first statewide network-
ing group aimed at building
stronger Jewish community
relations.
A project of the Jewish
Welfare Federation, the
group is called the Michigan
Jewish Conference. Among
its plans is hiring a part-
time consultant in Lansing
to run the group and to serve
as a political advocate for
Michigan's Jewish com-
munities. The staff member
is expected to start the new
position this fall.
To date, Conference mem-
bers include Detroit, Flint,
Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand
Rapids, Muskegon, Jackson
and the tri-city area — Bay
City, Midland and Saginaw.
Organizers hope to attract
other cities.
Michigan Jewish Con-
ference Chairman Robert
Naftaly proposed a $30,000
start-up budget for the pro-
ject. Federation has
allocated $25,000; smaller
communities are expected to
contribute at least $500 each
to complete the budget.
"This is a start; it is an ex-
periment," said David Gad-
Harf, executive director of
the Jewish Community
Council, who will supervise
the group. "We are pleased
with the enthusiastic re-
sponse."
The Conference is an
outgrowth of a concept pro-
posed two years ago by past
Federation President Dr.
Conrad Giles, who suggested
opening a Lansing office to
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
15