Powerless Again

JCC in West Bloomfield
suffers its second blackout.

DIANA LIEBERMAN
StaffWriter

S

BE OUR GUEST TO WORKOUT WITH NEW FRIENDS & COMPANY.

To accommodate the former members of The Workout Company (Telegraph location), Franklin Athletic
Club is now honoring your punch cards for the month of September.

1

Franklin Athletic Club invites you to check out metro Detroit's premier athletic club and its multi-million
dollar renovation!

You'll receive:

• Two week complimentary Guest Pass
• $0 Initiation Fee (a $600 value)
• Join and get your first month FREE (a $100 value)

Our multi-million dollar renovation features a 10,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art fitness center and
yoga, Pilates and cycling studios. And we have 70 hours of weekly group exercises directed by
our fitness team.

For more details, please call Kelley Verbeerst at 248.352.8000 x311 Offer expires September 30, 2003.

•

•

MORE FIT. MORE REFINED.

Visit www.franklinclub.com for a FREE pass.
248.352.8000 • 29350 Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield, MI

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ummer 2003 will go down in
the American history books as
the summer of the great black-
out, with millions of homes and busi-
nesses losing electrical power on
Thursday, Aug. 14.
For the Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit, history
repeated itself on Tuesday, Aug. 26,
when, at about 2:30 p.m., the JCC in
West Bloomfield was plunged once
again into darkness.
This time, the JCC was one of no
more than 100 electrical users affected,
said David Sorkin, JCC executive
director.
"Probably, some lightning hit a
power source at Maple and Drake
roads," Sorkin said. "We called Detroit
Edison at about 2:30, and they got
there at 6:30 or 7 p.m. At 2:30 a.m.
[Aug. 27] the electricity went on."
Throughout Michigan, about
10,000 Detroit Edison customers lost
power Aug. 26 due to thunderstorms.
Usually, the JCC in West Bloom-
field is protected against power out-
ages because it has two power sources
from different electrical grids, Sorkin
said.
On Aug. 14, lines serving the build-
ing's primary source were destroyed,
so, when the power came back on
Aug. 16, the building went to its sec-
ondary source. Detroit Edison had not
repaired the primary source. So there
was no back-up Aug. 26.
Detroit Edison contractors began
repairing the primary source on Aug. 27.
It was deja vu "all over again" for ,
Marilyn Wolfe, JCC travel coordinator
and educational director of the Jewish
Parents Institute. When the power
went out Aug. 14, she had just fin-
ished.meeting with Bob Kimsal, JCC
chief administrative officer. When the
power went out Aug. 26, she was
again meeting with Kimsal.
Wolfe concluded the obvious:
"We've got to stop meeting like this."
On her way home, Wolfe, who lives
off Drake near the JCC, stopped to
buy new flashlights. However, she did
not lose electricity at home.
"Maybe I should bring them to
work," she said. ❑