YOU ARE CORDIALLY
INVITED TO OUR
COMPLIMENTARY:
Not So SMART
Bus strands Elan Villagers when the party's over.
DIANA LIEBERMAN
StaffWriter
A
Panchito and Orchestra
Tony Russo and Band
Refreshments will be served
Please RSVP to Libby at (248)352-0208
H E
TFQ
Where Exceptional Service is Our Standard
1.248.352.0208
*IN
7/20
2001
18
24111 Civic Center Drive • Southfield, MI 48034
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Forest City Management Inc.. Apartment. Inc.. Apartment Division. does not discriminate on
the basis of handicapped status in the admission or access to or treatment, or employment
,n its programs and activities Equal Housing Opportunity/Equal Opportunity Employer. .
dozen senior citizens
recently found themselves
waiting almost two hours
for a bus that never came.
But their story had a happy ending,
thanks to a few caring members of the
Jewish community.
On July 10, the 12 residents of Elan
Village, an assisted living facility in
Southfield, were among several hun-
dred seniors attending a party at the
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield. The gathering, which fea-
tured Sam Barnett and his orchestra,
was one of several senior parties spon-
sored each year by Southfield automo-
bile dealer Jerry Glassman.
Privately run Elan
Village has a mostly
Jewish population and
observes Jewish holidays
and kashrut (dietary
laws). Because it does not
have its own transporta-
tion, residents use
SMART buses on their
frequent outings.
SMART, which stands for
Suburban Mobility
Authority for Regional
Transportation, provides
the wheelchair lifts and
wider aisles needed-for
senior travel.
The SMART bus arrived as arranged
at 12:30 p.m., said Annette Storbinsky
of Oak Park, one of the four volun-
teers and aides who accompanied the
seniors.
Elan had arranged for the bus to
return at 3:30 p.m. But, when that
hour rolled around, there was no bus
in sight.
"We called them, and they said
they'd come at 2:50, waited for 10
minutes and went away," Storbins
said. "They told us they didn't have
any other buses to send."
SMART supervisor David Johnson
said Elan had submitted several trans-
portation requests at the same time
and there had been "a problem with
communications.
"We didn't have another bus avail-
able at 3:30, but we would have got-
ten there eventually," he said.
Among the stranded party-goers
were seniors with bad hearts, and
others using canes or wheelchairs,
Storbinsky said.
"When the bus driver saw no one
was waiting, he should have had sense
enough to come in and ask who
ordered the SMART bus," she said.
"We would have come right out."
The SMART drivers' union does
not require them to enter buildings,
Johnson said. "If they choose to do it,
it's OK with us."
As it was, 16 people were left
stranded in the JCC lobby as they
made phone calls seeking alternative
transportation.
Enter Marilyn Wolfe.
Wolfe, a JCC employee since 1982,
had facilitated the Glassman party
"They told us
they dlant h.ave
any other buses
to send
))
— Annette Storbinsky
through the Center's Jewish Life and
Learning Department. She was remov-
ing party supplies when she glanced
into the lobby.
"I see this group is still sitting there,
and everyone else is gone," she said.
Wolfe made an emergency call to
the nearby Fleischman Residence, an
assisted living residence run by Jewish
Home and Aging Services.
A borrowed bus got the party-goers
back to Elan Village at about 6 p.m.,
said Marcia Mittleman, its executive
director.
The mix-up occurred because
SMART usually picks up Elan seniors
at the Oak Park JCC at 2:50 p.m.
SMART has credited the Elan Village
account for the missed pickup and will
provide a free round trip later in the
year, Mittleman said.
She said the party-goers "were upset,
but they handled it pretty well. I'd like
to thank Fleischman for helping us."