Puttering Around

/—'

.-4 01-; •

• „

Above: Stanley Friedman, second from right, and his family gather
after their miniature golf game in Boulder last year.

Left:: The invitation for one of the past events.

Right: Stanley Friedman celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday.

A Bloomfield Hills resident heads to the miniature golf course
for another birthday celebration.

LONNY GOLDSMITH
SitciffWriter

0

n Stanley Friedman's 80th
birthday, he decided every
subsequent year should be
celebrated hugely. Ten years
later, that plan is still in effect.
Today, Friedman's 90th birthday
will be celebrated with the 10th annu-
al Stanley B. Friedman Invitational.
The day-long celebration was start-
ed by his daughters Peggy Daitsch and
Joan Slyker as an annual golf outing at
Franklin Hills Country Club, where
Daitch is a member. It has evolved
into an event complete with uniforms

and invitations that bear a special
logo. It has also been modified a bit
from the expansive green of Franklin
Hills to a, well, smaller venue.
Following Friedman's knee-replace-
ment surgery, the family decided
miniature golf was more suitable.
That's been the scene for eight years.
"It gives a taste of golfing," Fried-
man said.
The celebration has moved around
the continent to accommodate family:
Stratford, Ontario, Boulder, Col.,
Washington, D.C., and northern
Michigan. This year's was scheduled to
take place in the Hudson River Valley
in New York, but Miriam, Friedman's

wife of 56 years, is ill, so the party was
relocated back to the Detroit area.
"I know there's a party, but I'm not
privy to the rest of the arrangements,"
said Friedman. "All my family's going
to get together anyway."
Out-of-town relatives include a
grandson in London, a granddaughter
in Washington, a daughter in Boulder
and son in New York. The rest of the
family is local.
The celebration will start tonight at
Franklin Hills with dinner. On Satur-
day, the group will challenge the
Golden Bear Golf Center in Royal
Oak. The annual awards banquet will
follow at Big Rock Chop and Brew

House in Birmingham. Anyone who
completes the round gets a prize.
While Friedman isn't sure what will
happen this year, his past birthday
parties featured original songs, limer-
icks and stories written in his honor.
Friedman, formerly the corporate
secretary for Borman Foods, loves the
blow-out party every year but accepts
no gifts from his relatives, and even
gives them in return in the form of
checks.
"I've been doing that since I turned
80," he said. "I decided that people
have been giving me gifts for so long,
it was time to return the favor."

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Detroit Jewish News

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