I
Taste Of Life
A Southfield man battles ALS with a fund-raising wine auction.
Mansfield borrowed the name
swallowing and/or breathing, and
for the fundraiser.
persistent fatigue.
Special to the Jewish News
Rothenberg retired from
Rothenberg feels fortunate that his
L&L
Wine World and began
symptoms affect his limbs. Those
1 ntil recently, Joe
attending
ALS support groups.
whose
speech
and
ability
to
swallow
Rothenberg had never
At
one
of
these meetings he
are
first
affected
generally
have
a
been involved in charity
met
Joanne
Rose, a pharma-
shorter
life
expectancy.
work. Now, this Southfield
ceutical representative who
Rothenberg
owned
Clover
Wine
resident's days are spent securing
Cellar in Taylor for 26 years, but sold encouraged him to contact the
items for auction, obtaining dona-
local chapter of the ALSA.
the business five years ago and had
tions of food and planning and coor-
Joanne
Berry, director of
been working for L&L Wine World
dinating a Detroit fund-raising event
resource development, and Sue
of
Troy
in
the
restaurant
sales
divi-
for nearly 500 guests.
Burnstein Kahn, executive
sion. After receiving the ALS diagno-
Rothenberg, 53, is one of two
director of ALS of Michigan,
sis,
Rothenberg
was
nervous
about
event chairs for the Friends of Wine
joined with Rothenberg and
telling
his
co-workers.
Tasting and Auction, which is sched-
Mansfield for the fund-raiser.
"I was concerned about their reac-
uled for Sunday, March 9, at the
Rothenberg is still able to
tion," he says. And with good reason
International Banquet Center at the
walk
and drive. He spends at
— he was quite shocked at their
Atheneum Hotel in Greektown.
least four days a week volun-
response.
"I
told
everyone
all
togeth-
The event will benefit the ALS
teering for the ALS
er, and immediately Scott
Association (ALSA), whose mission is
Association, on top of his work
[Mansfield]
pushed
me
to
do
some-
to find a cure for . amyotrophic lateral
coordinating the auction.
thing."
•
sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's
Mansfield, a co-worker from
disease), while improving daily living
Plymouth,
decided not only that
for those affected with the disease.
should they hold a fundraiser, but he
ALS is a progressive and fatal neu-
TASTE OF LIFE on page 60
agreed to co-chair the event with,
rological disease that affects approxi-
Joe Rothenberg has ALS.
Rothenberg.
mately 30,000 people in the United
"Scott's
States. Rothenberg was diagnosed
response
has
with ALS in January of 2002. His
been
just
amaz-
symptoms appeared only a few
ing," says
months before the diagnosis.
Rothenberg. "He
An avid walker, Rothenberg
is constantly
noticed that he was stumbling often.
working on this
Then, while on a boat, he found he
event, and he e-
had trouble balancing, an unusual
mails me at all
occurrence for him.
hours with his
thoughts, ideas
and suggestions.
Months Of Waiting
He is my moti-
It took physicians a few months of
vating force."
testing to rule out other maladies. A
An event cen-
neurologist at Henry Ford Hospital
tered
around
confirmed the diagnosis that
wines
seemed
Rothenberg feared most.
like an obvious
According to the National Institute
choice. When
of Neurological Disorders and
Rothenberg
Stroke, ALS occurs when specific
owned Clover
nerve cells in the brain and spinal
Wine
Cellar, he
cord that control voluntary move-
was
involved
ment gradually degenerate. The loss
with a group of
of these motor neurons causes the
wine aficionados
muscles under their control to weak-
who called
en and waste away, leading to paraly-
themselves Les
sis.
Amis du Vin,
ALS manifests itself differently
French for
depending on which muscles weaken
first. Symptoms may include tripping "friends of
Rothenberg works on organizing the charity event forALS from his home in Southfield.
wine."
and falling, loss of motor control in
Rothenberg and
hands and arms, difficulty speaking,
LISA BRONSTEIN
10
2/28
2003
59