PHOTOS BY B ILL HANSEN

Left: Helen and Albert Reifler of Oak Park dig in.

Above: The silver servers: Joy Gable, Trudi
Messer and husband Martin Messer.

Below: Meredith Starkrnan, 1Bmonths, enjoys
the reunion feast.

20,000 Pounds
of Potatoes

It's a fact of the latke life, generation to generation,
Chanukah to Chanukah.

RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER

here's a crisis in the kitchen.
Along a row of food processors,
one just went on the blink. Chef Ter-
ry Brown, frying latkes at the stove,
hurries to fill orders for some 400
hungry guests.
His crew, dressed in aprons, tries
its hand at small-appliance me-
chanics while the latke-lovers fill their
plates.

The partiers gathered en masse Sun-
day, Dec. 10, at Pontiac's Mill Street Bar
and Grill. By day's end, the crowd had
consumed nearly:
21 dozen eggs
60 pounds of onions
15 seven-pound cans of applesauce
40 pounds of sour cream
15 12 oz. boxes of matzah meal
275 pounds of pre-peeled potatoes.

berry-scented candle before sitting down
to study for classes at Wayne State Uni-
versity's law school.
1979: At "Latka 8," the youngest guest
was 25-day-old Lani Buch.
1981: "Latka 10" happened in April,
a bit late for Chanukah, but the Nolish-
es knew everyone would understand. On
the Wednesday before the party was
scheduled to take place in December, Judy
Nolish received a call from Colombia. A
baby boy was ready for adoption.
The Nolish parents and
Rachel, their daughter, im-
mediately sent out cancel-
lation cards to guests and
flew south to meet Jef-
frey, a 5-day-old infant.
A few months later, the
belated gala celebrated
Chanukah with the No-
lishes' new addition.
1982: "Latka 11"
brought the debut of Peter
Robins-Brown, son of Wendy
and Terry. Around this time, Ms.
Nolish began to chart a graph of apple-
sauce consumption. She noted its steep

For a quarter of a century, these basic
ingredients have comprised a metro-made
recipe for happy Chanukah reunions.
Each year, friends and relatives of the
Nolish, Robins and Brown fami-
lies have joined in a high-en-
ergy, high-calorie affair to
share new stories among
old soul mates.
Their "Latka" photo
albums show a progres-
sion of clothing styles,
hairdos and living-room
decor, from the shag and
polyester days of yester-
year to slicker looks 25
years later. Pictures of smil-
ing babies in the '70s have been
updated with snapshots of those
same children as university students
today.
It all started the year wedding,beils7:
rang for Jack and Judy Nolish. With the POTATOES page 18
initial "Latka" party began
the time line of a lifetime.
Latke Moments
1971: The first party
was a relatively modest
undertaking. Jack and
Judy Nolish, newly mar-
ried, figured they'd invite
30 friends and family
members to their apart-
ment in Royal Oak.
"Legend has it that Ter-
ry (Brown) was one of the
people invited," says
Wendy Robins. "He got
there early, took one look
at how Jack was preparing
the latkes, took the spatu-
la from his hand and said,
`Get out of the kitchen.'
"Terry's been cooking
ever since."
Although "Latka 1" was
a success, the smell of fried
potato pancakes had per-
meated the draperies, and
for two months thereafter
Mr. Nolish lit a straw-

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