aD ffi@i gaDms ,
Healing Rest
it and totally fell in love with it."
Visitors to the store can use the beds for no charge
— the store makes its profits from bed sales. The beds
sell for $2,700 each.
"I think every household should have one," said
McKinney.
The four opened a second store July 15 in West
helped tremendously by the product and invested their
KAREN SCHWARTZ
Bloomfield. Avrin-Halpern grew up in nearby
savings to make it available to others.
Special to the Jewish News
Farmington. Her dream is to open a store in Israel. "I
Eve Avrin-Halpern and her husband Ross Halpern,
Ann Arboe
love the idea of healing that part of the world — the
two of the store's co-owners, found out about the beds
physical healing as well as emotional healing, especially
from a friend, then joined twins McKinney and Miller
isitors to Migun in Ann Arbor and West
to start the Ann Arbor store. "We loved the idea that it now," she said.
Bloomfield soon realize they aren't in for an
Miller hopes to see far-infrared light used in hospi-
was both a service and a business," said Eve. "We just
ordinary massage.
tals
as well. It is already in use in Korea and China,
really believe in the body being able to heal itself, and
Massage beds there conduct far-infrared heat
where the product originated.
this bed helps the body do that. We totally believed in
through jade massage heads. The system uses acupres-
While Migun has seen visitors ranging
sure, acupuncture and far-infrared rays to relax,
in age from 3 months to 103 years, the
heal and remove toxins from the body.
store caters largely to baby boomer
The system stimulates nerves near the spine
clients. "Ann Arbor is an incredibly
and targets acupressure points, improving circula-
sophisticated
community for health care,"
tion and oxygenating cells, said store co-owner
said McKinney. "I just think baby
Renee Miller.
boomers don't want to age the way their
The automated thermal acupressure massage
parents did. We want to do it without
beds have only been available for a year, said store
drugs."
co-owner Tara McKinney. The Ann Arbor store
Visitors have included those who have
opened last August under a different name,
illnesses for which there seems to be no
switching to Migun at the beginning of this year.
other solution. They've "tried everything
A second store opened in West Bloomfield July
else and run out of options," she said.
15.
Some visitors, like Ann Arbor resident
To open and keep a store running until it is
Dickran
Atamian, buy their own beds
profitable costs $100,000, said McKinney. Three
after just a few visits to the store.
or four months in is about when the project starts
Atamian, a concert pianist, said it helped
to break even, she said.
him with chronic back pain and is com-
And the owners attest to the healing the beds
parable to getting a five-person massage.
have brought into their lives — from speeding up
"I've never been big on massage — you
Eve Avrin-Halpern, Tara McKinney, Renee Miller and Kendra Ray, on the
healing after eye surgery to eradicating infection
know, you go for massage and two days
bed, are happy to demonstrate Migun beds.
and loosening muscles. They say they have been
A new store is more than just relaxing.
V
,
Eight members of the Michigan
Region of the Zionist Organization
of America attended the annual
activist mission to Washington June
22-23. The Michigan delegation met
with U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and
Rep. Joseph Knollenberg and visited
the offices of Sen. Carl Levin, where
they met with Jeremy Hekhuis,
legislative aide. The delegates were
Joseph Savin, president of the
Michigan Region ZOA; Maya
Veprinsky, executive director of the
Michigan Region; Diane Savin,
secretary of Michigan Region;
Dr. Leora Bar Levav and Dr. Gary
Edelson, ZOA honorees for the
Justice Lois D. Brandeis Award; Dr.
Jerome Kaufman, national secretary
of the ZOA; Dr. Mark Nulman; and
Talya Drissman.
-
7/23
2004
36
Stuart SIdar of West Bloomfield, a
shareholder in the law firm of Fabian,
Sklar & King PC, was a speaker at the
International
Symposium on Fire
Investigation at the
British Fire Service
College in Moreton-
in-Marsh,
Gloucestershire,
England. Sklar is a
principal member of
Sklar
the National Fire
Protection
Association's Technical Committee on
Fire Investigations and a member of the
Technical Committee on Fire
Investigator Professional Qualifications.
He is a certified fire and explosion
investigator and devotes his practice to
representing those who suffer property
damage or injuries as the result of fire.
TVVR.S' " - LX4AtAlrah
John Sloan, son of David and Kathy
Sloan of Huntington Woods, has
been awarded the International
Baccalaureate
Diploma by the
International
Baccalaureate
Organization in
Geneva,
Switzerland. Sloan
passed worldwide
exams, culminating
a four-year interna- Sloan
tional-oriented
program, which
consists of all college-level classes.
He is a 2004 graduate of the
International Academy Public High
School in Birmingham.
Sue Marx of Sue Marx Films Inc. in
Birmingham was honored with the
‘Mk.V4,: niaiM
Governor's Award at the Michigan
Emmy Awards in June. Marx has also
won an Academy Award (Oscar) for
best short documentary.
Small Plates-Detroit, owned by Todd
Stern, was named one of the best new
restaurants in the United States in the
July 2004 issue of Wine Enthusiast
Magazine.
Noam Pikelny, grandson of Ruth and
Nate Shapiro of Southfield, a banjo vir-
tuoso, released a new CD, In The Maze
(Columbia Records).
Mike Berkowitz, 15, of Walled Lake, a
student at. Walled Lake Western High
School, has been selected to participate
in the National Young Leaders
Conference in Washington, D.C. It
is a program for high school stu-
(