Michigan's Hottest Group Mel and Ball Colours Voted # 1BestBand Craink .,/Detroit Business • Wedding Specialists kixclusively represented by: Mel Ball Entertainment Agency Specializing in Weddings and Corporate Events 248-851-1992 • Exclusive entertainment agency for the Ritz Carlton Hotel and many other first-class establishments • Also representing the finest high-energy bands, orchestras, DJs and floor shows • Ceremonial ensembles Carol is aglow not only because baby No. 2 is on the way but also because she adores these kids. Far from basking in the limelight, she proudly tells how the kids own the entire endeavor. "I didn't begin by saying, 'These are the songs we will sing,'"' she explains. "I wanted the kids to have total ownership of it, so our very first morning it was, 'OK, guys, let's brainstorm. What do you want to sing?' I am there to guide and facilitate and make sure we're moving forward." The Kids on Tour repertoire runs the gamut from "Let Me Entertain You" to "Hello Dolly" and "Be Our Guest" to Debbie Friedman's popular "Lech Lecha." "What I have loved is watching the transformation of the kids themselves. Some started out in September too shy to say their names. By our last performance they were up there introducing themselves and their song, reaching out to the residents and saying hello... These are skills they will have for a lifetime." Carol is firm that everyone is a star, that everyone has a solo. "By setting up that framework," she recalls, we attracted the types of kids who really wanted to do it that way because they wanted to do mitzvot. They are there for that reason and not so much for the (glory) of performing." She isn't the only one who delights in the troupe's accomplishments. Deena Borzak, whose daughters are in Kids on Tour, loves the way "Carol nurtures the kids; she takes each one's strengths and makes them shine. She is pure goodness. My daughter, LeeLee, has a tendency to be shy and Carol nurtured her through it. A lot of other people wouldn't have had the patience. LeeLee's sister Shira, 10, says that "caring" is the first thing that comes to her mind when she thinks of Carol. "She has this personality that makes her " continued on 120 1118 JNSourceBook