I 1 11 Go ld
Lifelong
friends
celebrate their
50th wedding
anniversaries
together.
LONNY GOLDSMITH
STAFF WRITER
ifty years ago, four couples got
married. Not a unique story, ex-
cept that all are still great friends.
Evie and Murray Liberman, Hil-
da and Al Ginns, Lenore and
David Shapiro and Jack and Jean
Gold are celebrating their 50th
wedding anniversaries together tomorrow.
"We're going to the Clawson Steak House
so we can dance," Mrs. Shapiro said.
Jack Gold claims he won't be cutting the
rug, but his wife assured their friends oth-
erwise.
A fifth couple, Larry and Vivian Schecter,
who lived in Michigan but now reside in
Florida, are also celebrating their golden an-
niversary this year, but are unable to join
their friends here.
Growing up, all went to high school at De-
troit Central, with the exception of Mr. Liber-
man, who went to Cass Tech. He was also
the only member of the group from out of
state: He arrived from New York following
his bar mitzvah.
The length of time the couples have known
one another has varied. Mrs. Liberman and
Mrs. Gold went to kindergarten together.
Mrs. Liberman also has known Mr. Shapiro
since they were 7 years old, and she dated
Mr. Gold before he met his wife-to-be.
All four of the men enlisted in the armed
forces during World War H. Ginns was in the
Army Air Corps, Shapiro in the Navy, and
Gold and Liberman were in the Army.
Only the Libermans still live in Michigan
full time.
"We spend our winters in Margate (Flori-
da) and the rest of the time we're here," Mrs.
Gold said. 'The Shapiros and Ginns live there
full time. We're trying to get the Libermans
there next."
Mr. Liberman thinks otherwise.
"We like to see the seasons change," he
said. "Also our family isn't far from here."
Mrs. Ginns said, "We live in Florida but
come back here four or five times per year
for family events."
The couples' kids were good friends, as
well.
"Our kids played Little League together,
and Murray and I were the managers," Mr.
Shapiro said. "Whenever there was a birth-
day party, all the kids went."
Mrs. Liberman said that in the early days
in Detroit, they all shared a "shtetl mental-
ity.
fl
"When we were married, we kept that men-
tality and stayed around Dexter and Linwood
and 12th Street (now Rosa Parks Boulevard)."
Through the 60-plus years that the eight
have spent together, they have seen, and lived,
their own pieces of history.
"I remember we used to get blocks of ice
from trucks or horse-drawn carriages," Mr.
Ginns said.
They also had to live without modern
amenities like refrigerators, computers and
television.
"We accepted the changes as they came,"
Mr. Liberman said.
The Liberman also had run-ins with the
law, and lawless.
Mrs. Liberman's father, a talmudic schol-
ar, had an apartment on 12th Street and Tay-
lor, across from Zukin's Confectioners.
"The FBI thought that the communists
were doing some business at Zukin's, trying
to infiltrate the area," Mrs. Liberman said.
"They asked my father if they could use his
apartment to stake-out the store."
The Libermans also owned a deli down-
town, bearing their last
name. There, they'd re-
ceive visits from the Pur-
ple Gang, and one of their
employees was friendly
with the Jewish mobsters.
Once they started hav-
ing kids, they spent their
Monday evenings at the
West Side Drive Inn
on Eight Mile Road at
Coolidge Highway.
"It was $1 per car, and
as many people as you
could get into them," Mrs.
Gold said. 'We'd set up a
tablecloth on the back of
Dave's 1957 Ford re-
tractable hardtop, and
have food there."
After the big anniver-
sary celebration tomorrow
night, which precedes
their actual anniversaries
by at least two months,
each couple has its own
plans.
The Ginns are travel-
ing to Spain for three
weeks in September. The
Shapiros and their chil-
dren are leaving for a
cruise. The Libermans are
also going on a cruise, and
the Golds are having a
party with their family
when they return to
Michigan next spring. El
Two hundred years together:
The Ginns, Golds, Libermans
and Shapiros.