Hannah Monique Ulrych has been dec-
orating tables, like the wedding table at
left, since she was a little girl.
Dobkin, a survivor of Auschwitz,
Ulrych officially works for her family's
men's formalwear business. But her
passion is table design.
She has been "embellishing tables
since she was 3, when her mother,
running late with Shabbat prepara-
tions, asked little Hannah to "make
sure the table was set."
"I was wearing a gray dress with red
velvet trim around the collar and a red
leather belt with a gold buckle," says
Ulrych, who dresses elegy ntly all the
time. "My mother said, 'Don't forget
your jewelry, your accessories.' I put
jewelry and purses in front of the
place settings."
3)
Ulrych grew up in Iron Mountain,
Mich., and attended Beth Jacob
School for Girls after moving to
Detroit. At Stern College in New
York, bereft of resources for elegant
Shabbat tables, Ulrych once displayed
flowers in a paper bag tied with rib-
bons.
"We had no vases, but I always had
a nice Shabbat table," she says. "I had
no placemats. I took brown paper
bags, cut them into squares and wrote
likvod Shabbat (in honor of the
Sabbath) on them. We went from
nothing to having a beautiful Shabbat
with paper plates, plastic forks and
chopped liver on the window sill
because we didn't have a refrigerator.
[Elegant table settings] don't have to
be expensive."
After college, Ulrych returned to
Detroit. At lunch one day, Michigan
Inn General Manager Jack Gaines
overheard her career aspirations and
said, "You'ld be great in the hotel busi-
ness, planning parties. Come to the
Michigan Inn, and I'll hire you."
She waited nearly a month before
taking him up on his offer.. By then,
the only opening was as assistant man-
ager of the restaurant. Ulrych took the
position and rose through the ranks to
become catering sales manager and
director of convention services.
After five years, she moved to
Atlanta and did party planning and
charity events. But after a divorce,
Ulrych was back in Michigan.
Recalling her mother's lessons about
giving to others, Ulrych started plan-
ning charity eve.nts..Now, people hire
her to plan parties.
Ulrych owns 35 sets of dishes, most
staying in storage until needed. She
designs around an idea, theme or holi-
day, never hesitating to throw fun into
the mix.
"Sometimes, fugt is a better way to
decorate," says Ulrych. "We live in
such a serious, fast time. My mother
taught us to love life, trust in good
and celebrate it."
Jane Anchill, Adat Shalom
Synagogue Sisterhood vice president in
charge of the Judaica boutique, was
struck by Ulrych's creativity. "How she
put everything together was incredi-
ble," Anchill says.
Sisterhood co-president Janis
erience an
upscale Steakhous
featuring
Piedmontese Beef
-
Als(.1:re.a.iurirtg. 'var.
of Bone-in Chops.
Fresh (1....atch. Pasta.
4niew..lindiniT and (4q-ari:
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3/28
2003
C29