CARING FOR THE CAREGIVER This eek Insight A CAREGIVERS SUPPORT GROUP Are you struggling and juggling to meet the needs of your aging parents, a relative, a spouse, children and /or grandchildren? INSIGHT if the answer is YES, you are not alone. This unique support group is being offered for anyone involved in the care of a loved one, whether your loved one is still living at home, or in a facility. Led by Mindi Silver-Weiss, MSW,ACSW with experienced caregivers available as supportive partners. Join us at our next meeting on Tuesday, May 14, 2002, 7:00 p.m. Ongoing meetings are held the second Tuesday of every month, 7:00 p.m. at Jewish Home & Aging Services Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza 6710 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield, Michigan located on the Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish community Campus To register or for more information call Sheyna Wexelberg-Clouser, MSW, Director of Community Outreach, (248) 661-2999, ext.347 This program made possible by a gift from Pearlena and Dr. Jason Bodzin. Eli JEWISH HOME 6 AGING SERVICES EIDE LIN East Lansing Roots Connecting People & Services WORKOUT co CORE STRENGTHENING (Abs/Back) - NO JUMPING • Ball Class • Cardio Low • Pilates • Step • Yoga • Kickboxing • Strength Training • Athletic Training AD AND RECEIVE Classes FREE New people only INTRODUCTORY OFFER • 10 CLASSES FOR $60 Open 7 Days • 6:30 am - 8:30 pm COMPLAISANT 855-6566 The Largest In Womens Clothing Sizes 2-14 West Bloomfield Plaza - Next to Deli Unique • 311 5/3 2002 30 U.S. Rep. Sandy Levin, D-Royal Oak, you'll find Franklin philanthropist Max Fisher (because he was a delegate to two Republican conventions), and Democrats David Hermelin (the late ambassador to Norway), builder Joe Forbes,former state senator Jack Faxon, even Kestenbaum himself. Among the Michigan 29 is Alan Fox of East Lansing. "I've known Larry since the third grade," said Fox. "We went to high school together. When we lived in East Lansing, he was always interested in the history of the city. So he made a house-by-house search, he found out who built it, who lived there, the price the property sold for. He didn't just dabble. He pays a lot of attention to details." Now a partner in the firm of Practical Political Consulting, Fox observed Kestenbaum as a fledgling politician in East Lansing. "Larry is a serious democ- rat with a small `d.' He really believes in the political system and in being part of it. He represents the good side of being a politician," said Fox. Kestenbaum's interest in his adopted home town (he was born in Chicago, but raised in East Lansing) was reflect- ed in At the Campus Gate, the history of East Lansing he wrote as a bicen- tennial project. It was edited by his father Justin, who taught history at Michigan State University. Thr Maicies le the Jewish Federation . EXERCISE STUDIO & PRIVATE TRAINING S. W. CORNER OF TELEGRAPH AT MAPLE • 248-855-1033 BRING IN THIS from page 29 Kestenbaum earned his undergraduate degree in economics at Michigan State University, and did graduate work in city planning at. Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He was elected an Ingham County commissioner and served from 1983-88. By 1990, Kestenbaum had married Janice Gutfreund, whom he met when she was earning her Ph.D. from MSU in clinical psychology. That's when they moved to Ann Arbor. From 1992-95, Kestenbaum taught at the. MSU School of Criminal Justice, and from 1995-98 he was full-time at MSU's Political Science Department. That meant a 130-mile round trip commute for six years. He began teaching a graduate course in historic preservation law at EMU and now is documentation coordina- tor/senior data archive specialist for the long-term health and retirement study being conducted by U-M's Institute for Social Research. In July 1998, the Kestenbaums adopted their daughter Sarah, now 3. They are members of Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor. "He is equally as committed to the value of Judaism in his life,". said Rabbi Robert D. Levy. Kestenbaum was involved in the temple's library committee and the shivah group, and has taken part in many brotherhood activities. Janice formerly served on the temple board. Kestenbaum was defeated in his race for state representative in 1998. He also narrowly lost a race for Ann Arbor City Council in 1999, and was appointed to fill a vacancy on the county commission in June 2000. He was subsequently elected unopposed. "I served as campaign treasurer for Larry's city council race, and because of his command of the law and his observance of the highest ethical stan- dards, it was just a pleasure," said Ann Arbor lawyer David Nacht. "Larry is a quirky guy," said Nacht, who is running as a Democrat this year for the state representative seat Kestenbaum lost in 1998. "He's nor the kind of a guy who you think of as running for public office because he's an intellectual, and the way he inter- acts with people. "He's very direct, he's himself, he doesn't put on any airs, and there's nothing phony about him at all. He's just the opposite of a salesman. And that's quite refreshing." e-Pioneering Although involved with Usenet News on the Internet while at Cornell in 1988, Kestenbaum recalls he learned about the World Wide Web "probably in 1994 or so in Ann Arbor." He says he "was actually quite skep- tical about it [the World Wide Web] initially because I thought all the pret- ty pictures were a waste of bandwidth. "Some friends of mine convinced me to start a Web site, and gave me an account on their Web server in February 1996, and I set up a few pages with a cemetery links page." Kestenbaum still gathers informa- tion from a variety of out-of-print books, many of which he buys on - eBay. But he also receives information from users, getting as many as 100 e- mails a day about the site. "I'm just a database guy," says Kestenbaum. "Larry has so many different inter- ests that pull him in so many different areas that you wonder what hat he has on at any given time," says fellow Ann Arbor Democrat and U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers. "He is as close to a renaissance man as you can get. He has so many interests and they're all driven by good- nest, he's on our side." ❑