SINGLE LIFE
Looking up for
love.
A p
ANITA HOFFMAN
EHRENFREID
Special to The Jewish News
erne Botwinik goes
to great heights to
meet new people.
He has to. He's a
past president of
Detroit Tip Toppers,
an organization
whose members are
men taller than 6
feet - 2 inches and women
taller than 5 feet 10. -
b
An active member for the
past 10 years, he says it's a
good way to meet other tall
people. Nonetheless, he feels
that Tip Toppers doesn't
have enough Jewish mem-
bers. Recently, he placed an
ad in The Jewish News. "I
got responses from women 5
foot 2 and 3 inches," said Mr.
Botwinik. "Concepts of
tallness are all relative. And
these' women considered
themselves to be tall."
Most Jewish people, accor-
ding to Mr. Botwinik, aren't
tall. He's attended dances at
the Jewish Community
Center for years, was the
president of the Chai Ski
Club, and considers himself
one of the tallest single Jew-
ish males in town at 6 feet 4.
"Tall, Jewish singles,
show yourselves. There must
be more of you around," he
said recently during a spring
weekend dance sponsored by
Detroit Tip Toppers.
He and 120 very tall sin-
gles searched for partners
last month on the dance floor
of the Novi Hilton. Since
When you're over
6 feet tall, it's
hard to see
eye to eye.
their heads were entangled
in streamers, and helium
balloons kissed their curls,
they attracted a great deal of
attention from passersby.
Sitting down for drinks,
many reached and pushed
up the Tiffany lamps so their
heads wouldn't bang.
These lofty individuals,
whom your bubbie would've
called langelocshen (long
noodles), are all members of
Tall Clubs International.
From across the Midwest
and Canada, they recently
converged on the hotel for a
spring break weekend.
The party even had several
tall beauty queens. There
was the current reigning
Miss Tall International,
Roberta Holler; Miss Tall
Toronto, Norma Forrest;
Miss Tall Milwaukee
Skyliner, Jeanne Nass; and
Miss Tall Detroit, Renee
Silverthorn.
These willowy women
joined their local clubs to
meet other tall people. They
spoke of how comfortable
they felt going to a tall club
dance and not being the
tallest person in the room.
"I just broke out laughing
the first time I stepped onto
the dance floor," Ms. Forrest
said. "It was such a wonder-
ful feeling, just to be able to
see other people and not
tower over them," she
laughed.
Even a tall beauty queen
has some difficulties in the
everyday world. Ms. Silver-
thorn, who sells men's
fragrances at Hudson's, was
once demonstrating cologne
in the store aisle when
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
87