With the events only two months away, the records are
already piling up for the JCC-Maccabi Youth Games.

the 1,000 host families are
the key to the entire event.
"The test," Robinson says,
"is to have three times as
many kids as in 1984 and
keep it just as heimish. We
had a warm glow in 1984
that rubbed off on our
guests. This year has to
work with that same warm
quality.
"To just have the games —
to just have the kids play
their sports and go home —
is not enough. We have to
have the chemistry between
the kids and the community.
That's what's important."
"I've been to the Pan
American Games and to the
Maccabi in Israel, and peo-
ple come up to me and
say, `Do you know so-and-so
who I stayed with in 1984?
How are they?' Nobody re-
members whether the
swimming pool was 25 yards
or 25 meters, but they re-
member who their hosts
were."
Robinson, a sports en-
thusiast, refuses to calculate
the hours he has taken from
his family or his construc-
tion business for the Games.
"I work seven days a week,"
he says. "I don't watch tele-
vision, and this is just part of
my schedule."

These can be in the form of
gifts — each athlete will
receive an official Games
watch from the Advance
Corporation — to soft drinks
and lunches. The official
sponsor list includes Om-
niCare, Blue Cross/Blue
Shield, Eastman Kodak,
Gemini Industries, Cotler
clothing, Franklin Compu-
ters, K-mart, Dannon,
Lifesavers, Minute Maid,
Smuckers, MC Sporting

CLOSE U P

Palace of Auburn Hills) is
something you would not
believe." The delegations
argue over late entries,
international vs. American
rules and a myriad of last-
minute details.
Each committee is also ex-
pected to recruit volunteers
to help run its competition.
The swim meet alone, to run
four days at West Bloomfield
High School, is estimated by
chairman Merrill Saidman
to need 30-40 volunteers at
each of eight sessions.
Robinson throws the prob-
lem into the laps of his
chairmen, whom he describes
as the problem solvers. "You
need a spread of chairmen —
they can't all be the same
age or have the same inter-
ests. Some are from B'nai
B'rith, some are from ORT,
some are from the Conser-
vative synagogues and the
Reform, some are from the
shomer Shabbat shuls."
He picked adults with
young families for key Sun-
day positions. They include
Jill Spokojny, whose com-
mittee will meet incoming
delegations at the airport or
the Center and take them
through the registration
process for the Games, and
Warren and Davida Robin-
son, in charge of getting the
athletes and their luggage
back to the airport the
following Sunday.
Backing up the com-
mittees is the Games office
at the Jewish Community
Center, staffed for the last
15 months by Jay and Bar-
bara's daughter, Beth
Robinson. Last fall, Deena
Gelfond joined Beth, and as
the Games approach the of-
fice in the Center's base-
ment has grown to three full-
time and five part-time staff
and two constantly ringing
telephones.
"We have received 1,700
sets of entries," Beth said
last week, "and we only
have 1,200 entered into the
computer so far. We are
chasing 500 deficiencies." To
compete, each athlete must
submit a package of 10
forms, including a medical
exam and photographs for
an official identificatiOn
badge.
The office also handles
queries from the 60 delega-
tions and supports the hous-
ing committee's efforts to
recruit the final 200 host
families.
For the Games organizers,

D

etroit sponsored the
1984 Games and the
1990 Games partly
because few other cities were
willing to chance hosting
such a large — and expensive
— undertaking. The Jewish
Center's Mort Plotnick went
out on a limb both times. The
Jewish Community Centers
Association (the former
Jewish Welfare Board) is
working with Plotnick to
remove the financial gamble
from the Games.
Under a contract between
the JCCA and the Detroit
JCC, Plotnick has been
traveling the country to
recruit corporate sponsors
for the 1990 Games. He is
also establishing a
framework for future host
cities.
While Detroit is collecting
$210 from every athlete and
coach to participate here,
there is a $450,000 differ-
ence between the entry fees
and the expected cost of the
Games. Corporate sponsors
such as Chrysler Corpora-
tion and Coca-Cola will
make up the difference with
cash donations as well as
goods and services.

Deena Gelfond inputs some of the 1,700 entry forms.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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