Metro

The

Harry Kirsbaum
Staff Writer

icture Penny Blumenstein
strapped into a rebuilt
1967 Mercedes 280 con-
vertible, tooling down the back
roads of Italy's Tuscany region
during a road rally last May.
Her husband, Harold, is driv-
ing while Penny navigates.
Staring at the book in her lap
— one column represents dis-
tances, the other column repre-
sents landmarks — she leads the
car through a maze of directions
that seem more like a puzzle
than a map.
"You know which town you're
going to end up in each night,
but that's all;' she said, adding
that they've never gotten lost in
the seven years that she's joined
him in car rallies.

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October 6 2005

"They say never follow any-
body else because even if a per-
son is in front of you it doesn't
mean that they know where
they're going:' she said. "It's a
very independent activity
between two partners — the
driver and the navigator."
Life has always been an adven-
ture for Penny Blumenstein, this
year's recipient of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Fred M. Butzel Award,
the highest honor in the Detroit
Jewish community.
The Detroit girl who went to
Mumford High School met
Harold when she was 16 and
married him when she was 19
has spent her life raising a family
and volunteering in the commu-
nity.
They navigated their way to a

wonderful life and they have
always done their best to give
back. Blumenstein, who lives in
Bloomfield Hills, reached the
pinnacle of lay involvement as
the first female Federation presi-
dent from 1998-2001.
"I often refer to Penny as the
steel hand in the velvet glove,"
said Robert Aronson, Federation
chief executive officer. "She does
everything with beautiful style,
but she's very firm and very
focused.
"She's the complete volunteer,"
said Aronson. "Besides being
beautiful, she makes everybody
feel good about being involved."

Voluntarism

Blumenstein's parents, Lee and
Gerson Bernstein of Boca Raton,

Fla., who both turned 90 years
old recently, built her foundation
of giving back.
"They were both actively
involved in volunteer work," she
said. "My father was even more
active than my mother. I could
always look to my family to have
examples of people who not only
gave money but their time."
Her first volunteer activity was
with ORT when some friends
approached her to start a chapter.
"It was a whole little world,
people with a common interest. I
said I would do any job except be
president:' she said, adding the
limitations that raising a family
with two small children can
bring. "I didn't want to be the
head of anything, but I did
everything else."
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