Metro Memories Revisited A Communal Boost Vernor alumni to mark 55th birthdays at school reunion. Community-funded Sinai Center to serve women's health needs. Ann Arbor's Ellen Barahal Taylor, who grew up on Hartwell in Detroit, Maggie Hessler of Evanston, III., (Hartwell) and Carol Karbel Blender of Beverly Hills, Mich. (Littlefield) join in a rendition of "Here's To James Vernor School" at the October 2001 reunion. A group of students who with our friends at Vernor that will be attended James Vernor with us forever." Elementary School in north- Suzie Serwin Potter, Susan Wauldron west Detroit will celebrate their 55th Jerris, Carol Ward Bass, Jay Kozlowski, birthdays together at a reunion on Jody Shevin and Carol Karbal Blender Saturday, Oct. 21, five years after their are the "locals" on the planning com- last get-together. mittee. Now living out of state, class- The former classmates will tour the , mates Stuart Karden, Fred Greenspoon, elementary and junior high school in David Wenner and Bill Adler are also the afternoon and enjoy a buffet din- contributing to the weekend celebra- ner (7:30 –11:30 p.m.) at Andiamo's tion. Italia West in Bloomfield Township on All weekend events will be for Saturday evening. Casual gatherings at students born in 1951 and 1952 and homes will be held on Friday evening attended any part of their elementary as old friends reacquaint themselves, or junior high school years at Vernor. and on early Sunday morning before For information regarding the they depart. reunion weekend, including an invita- Almost five years ago, a reunion was tion to the Saturday evening dinner, held to observe their 50th birthdays. . classmates may register on the Web The weekend was filled with child- site at Vernorreunion.bravehost.com . hood memories and conversations To be included in the Vernor e-mail between some classmates who had group and directory, forward home not seen each other in more than 35 and e-mail addresses to Carol Karbal years. Blender: go73blue@aol.com . At the last reunion, former students The Saturday afternoon tour of the sang "Happy Birthday" to Beatrice school will be open to anyone who Cohen, a favorite math and third- attended Vernor. Anyone participating grade teacher who passed away last in the school tour only will be asked year." Another highlight was the dona- to make a contribution to the opening tion of $3,400 in dictionaries, thesau- of the school for the day. At the last ruses, and a year of Kindergarten reunion, parents strolled through the Scholastic subscriptions to the cur- hallways with their children. rent students at Vernor. The committee has contacted "Being a part of the Vernor corn- former teachers Eugene Zweig and munity was a connection for life," said Sherman Adelman. Any other for- Susan Wauldron Jerris of Huntington mer teachers are encouraged to visit Woods. the Web site or contact Carol Karbal Bernie Greenberg of Atlanta said, Blender at the e-mail address above or "There was a special bond we had (248) 646-1680. L 24 June is 2006 H uron Valley-Sinai Hospital will open its new Sinai Center for Women this fall assisted by a $1 million grant from the Jewish Fund. The new outpatient center will expand screening, diagnos- tic and health education services for women. The $2 million center will be cre- ated from space that was designated for future expansion when a major hospital addition was built in 2004. Construction of the Sinai Center for Women will begin this month with completion expected in December. The architect is BEI Associates Inc. of Detroit and the contractor is Lasalle Contracting of Canton. The Sinai Center for Women will bring together screening and diagnos- tic mammography, breast ultrasounds, stereotactic biopsies and bone den- sity testing in an expanded, specially designed suite of examination, con- sultation and procedure rooms. A women's health resource area will provide print and audiovisual edu- cational materials as well as space for presentations by physicians and health Yellan screenings such as blood pressure checks. "We are very grateful to the Jewish Fund for supporting this expansion of women's services;' said Robert Yellan, president of Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital. "Our mammography patient volume has increased significantly, creating a crowded situation for our patients." The Sinai Center for Women will double mammography capabilities, add digital mammography and create a more private, comfortable environ t ment for patients. "The Shiai Center for Women will be a resource for health education and a referral source for all of our women patients' health needs:' Yellan said. "Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital has done an excellent job of helping to perpetuate the Sinai 51 tradition of excellence in health care said Robert Naftaly Naftaly, Jewish Fund chair. "We are pleased to support the new Sinai Center for Women and to help Huron Valley-Sinai continue expanding its services to meet the community's changing needs." The Jewish Fund, headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, was established in 1996 from the proceeds of the sale of Sinai Hospital to the Detroit Medical Center. The Jewish Fund supports nonprofit organizations that serve the health care needs of both the Jewish and general communities in metropolitan Detroit, as well as prior- ity programs of the Detroit Medical Center. Maas Honors Haas The Benard L. Maas Foundation, in cooperation with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, has named jazz pianist and composer Jeff Haas the recipient of the 2005 Benard L. Maas Prize for Achievement in Jewish Culture and Continuity Winner in the category of individual achieve- ment in performing arts, Haas of Traverse City is well noted for his soulful blend of Hebrew-infused jazz. He has spent the last 25 years com- posing and performing original music that reflects his passion for Judaic, jazz and classical idioms. Haas has been involved in the creation of 90 original compositions and five major commis- sions. He received national attention with the release of his recording, L'Dor IlaDor — Generation to Generation, an homage to his father, Karl Haas. In 1997, he received a commission from the Federation to write an original jazz suite that he titled HaGesher Chai — the Bridge Lives. In 2004, he received the Sara Hardy Humanitarian of the Year Award for his work on tolerance and human rights issues in northern Michigan. The Maas Prize and award of $3,500 was presented at a Special Community Awards Celebration. The Maas Prize is awarded biannually to honor indi- viduals or organizations whose work enhances Jewish life in Michigan. The categories in I•vhich the awards are given are performing arts, fine arts and humanities. The 2006 award is being given in the humanities category.