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August 24, 1990 - Image 17

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1990-08-24

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Detroit's Maccabi delegation, over 200 strong, finds it difficult to sit still during Sunday night's electrifying opening ceremonies at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Maccabi
Games
Open
With Palace
Extravaganza

RICHARD PEARL and PHIL JACOBS

Staff WrztPrs

B

eth Robinson believes
a good hostess gets to
sit down with her
guests.
So after 18 months of
planning, Ms. Robinson, the
coordinator of the Jewish
Community Centers North
American Maccabi Youth
Games, left the ever-ringing
telephone and the appoint-
ments behind on Sunday.
She pulled up a chair next to
the tunnel entrance at the
Palace of Auburn Hills and
watched with the same
thrills of the other 14,312 in
attendance.
"This made everything
worth it," she said. "It made
all the negatives just disap-
pear. Up until now, the kids
had been like little pieces of
paper to me. They've been
like little seeds to me being
planted. And in the Palace,
they bloomed in front of my
eyes."
Ms. Robinson also wiped
away a tear when it was
suggested to her that the
opening ceremonies really
marked the beginning of the
end of her work.
But for the 2,200 athletes
from 60 North American
cities and 11 foreign coun-
tries and their families and
friends, Sunday \Alai, just the

beginning of a week that
promised to include exciting
athletic competition and the
beginning of lasting friend-
ships.
The parade of athletes
offered a showcase of ex-
citement much like those
offered by any Olympiad.
Teams, many clad in multi-
colored warm-up suits wav-
ing their state or national
flag and sometimes mar-
ching behind colorful JCC
banners, kept the crowd in
constant applause.
Easily, one of the two most
dramatic moments of the pa-
rade occurred when the
athletes of Lithuania mar-
ched into the Palace, the
first Soviet team to ever
compete in the Maccabi
games. As emotional as the
response was toward the
Soviets, nothing could com-
pare to the thunderous ova-
tion given the host Detroit
team.
Honorary chairman David
Hermelin, the co-owner of
the Palace and the Pistons,
kept the parade moving with
his lively comments. He
often joked about cities that
have entries into the Na-
tional Basketball Associ-
ation that he missed seeing
them in the playoffs.

Featuring Jews aged 13-16
competing in 14 sports at 12
venues in northwest subur-
ban Detroit, the million-
dollar biennial Youth
Games was marking its first
return to the Motor City
since 1984.
As pinpoints of light from
thousands of flashlights —
given gratis to participants
— pierced the dimly lit
arena, Mr. Hermelin in-
troduced each of the 57 dele-
gations.
While the audience watch-
ed and cheered and the
Windsor Scarlet Brigade
band played, the teams mar-
ched around the arena, their
images projected by closed-
circuit television cameras
onto the big Palacevision TV
screens suspended above the
floor.
The colorful uniforms of
the individual teams — in
some cases topped off by
sombreros (Mexico) and
slouchhats (Australia) —
heightened the spectacle.
The various hues took on a
life of their own when the
athletes, seated on opposite
sides of the Palace, began do-
ing the wave.
The Games' dual aim — to
bring Jewish teens together
in both competition and so-

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

17

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