PHOTO BY BI LL GEMMELL

The Old School

Marcy Feldman and childhood classmate Debbie
Elston reunite Pasteur Elementary School grads and
plan for the future.

JULIE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER

M

arcy Tatken Feldman
had no idea what she
started when she ran
into Debbie Blocker-El-
ston at Shopping Center Market
in Southfield last fall.
The two had been tight at
Pasteur Elementary in Detroit,
but like many friendships be-
tween whites and blacks in the
city, theirs was cut short by dis-
tance, circumstance and the per-
vasive mistrust that has
separated city from suburbs for
decades.
"I was always looking. When
I was in Shopping Center at 10
and Greenfield, I see this beau-
tiful face and walked up to her
and we recognized each other,"
Ms. Feldman said. The two
hugged between exclamations of
delighted shock.
She and Ms. Elston, 1962 Pas-
teur grads, quickly arranged to
bring other classmates togeth-
er, and that resulted in a lunch

two weeks later at which women
from as far away as Holland set-
tled into a chattiness that
seemed to wipe out the inter-
vening years.
Their conversation veered
from women's issues to race is-
sues to education. And, of course,
they laughed about their child-
ish impressions: one black
woman said she was jealous that
she couldn't board the Hebrew
school bus after school at Pas-
teur.
"She commented that we were
color-blind. That's how people
should be brought up. Kids are
innocent and wonderful, and we
should keep our innocence," said
Ms. Feldman, who runs a whole-
sale jewelry business with her
husband Michael.
That naturally led the group
to the subject of Detroit's school-
children today. They agreed that
they all benefited from a fine
public-school education in the

1960s and wondered if they
could serve as a positive influ-
ence for the students at Pasteur
today.
That conversation and subse-
quent gatherings of the alumni
jelled into an idea: Why not form
a Pasteur alumni association to
set up scholarships, raise funds
for much-needed playground

Deborah Blocker Elston addresses
fellow alumni at Pasteur Elementary
School. Beside her is school chum
Marcy Tatken Feldman.

equipment, offer career guidance
and tutoring, and spruce up the
school?
On Sunday, the idea reached

another pinnacle. More than 250
grads gathered at Pasteur to
reminisce and brainstorm for the
future.
"It was such a high for people
who hadn't seen each other for
30 or 40 years. We had people
who graduated from Pasteur in c--\
1946," Ms. Feldman said. "Peo-
ple brought graduation pictures,

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