You Go, Girls

For decades, a group of spirited. women has made it a point
to meet each week for talk and lunch.

T

mitments, the now five-member circle
does not include everyone at each
gathering. Buena Lichter, for example,
did not show. Neither did Bess Rosen-
man and Ruth Bladen, but they've
moved to Florida.
In the years when the group estab-
lished its tradition, most of the
women were in their prime as non-
working wives and mothers. Now,
there are grandchildren and great-
grandchildren to think — and talk —

made for her in 1968, the year she
remarried.
And they've experienced the grief of
losing members of their circle, like
Cele Feiler, Lee Weingarten, Dishell's
sister, Rose Lichter, Ruth Winer,
Ernestine Horwitz, Bess Goodman
and Martha Ornstein.
When the original 14 started meet-
ing, they decided there would be no
gossip or backbiting. The strong
friendships they formed attest to their

he tradition extends back a
half-century.
Every Saturday after-
noon, the "girls" meet to
nosh and chat at one or another
restaurant around town. They come
from different directions, dressed fash-
ionably in slacks and bulky sweaters,
to talk about everything from their
children to world
events.
Not just women of
the '90s, they are
women just about in
their 90s.
The get-togethers
started with 14 ladies
planning a reunion
with a friend who was
in Detroit for a family
bar mitzvah. They
had such a good time
that they kept it up,
first as a monthly
gathering that rotated
among members'
homes and later as a
weekly event that
assured everyone an
afternoon out.
They call them-
selves the Gay Essen
(Yiddish for "Go
Eat") Girls, a name
they chose after a
member's husband
4`P
urged them to "gay
essen" while they were
having some lively
talk before lunch at
Toddy Dishell, Gladys Freedman Davis and Marion Sandler enjoyed lunch on a recent Saturday.
her home.
"We think of our-
selves as a little private club, and we
about.
commitment to that ideal.
speak with each other just about every
Freedman Davis updated the ladies
"This is essentially a happy group,
day," said Toddy Dishell during a
about her attorney granddaughter,
and we try to keep very upbeat," said
recent lunch at a Southfield hotel.
who, she reported, found it hard to
Dishell, who dropped out during the
A recent wintry day did not deter
believe that her grandmother married
years she lived in Florida. "I think we
riginal members Dishell, Gladys
before she turned 20.
all care about what happens to each
Freedman Davis and Marion Sandler
Although their many years togeth-
other."
from their weekend meal. A few weeks
er did not result in friendships
Even with fewer members, the style
earlier, Eva Salomon joined in, along
among their children, the group
of the group has remained constant —
with Fanya Green, one of a number of members shared in the joys of the
with only one exception.
guests periodically invited to these
weddings and b'nai mitzvah through
"A couple of the girls always used
gatherings.
the years. Freedman Davis recalled
to tell dirty jokes," Salomon recalled.
Because of travel and other com-
the beautiful shower the Gay Essens
"None of the rest of us do that." ❑

Photo by Krista Husa

SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to The Jewish News

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