Health & Fitness
SPORTS/STYLE
Position Switch
In order to make the lacrosse team, U-M freshman went on the defensive.
Steve Stein
Special to the Jewish News
ordan Kirshner was a high-scor-
ing offensive midfielder for three
years on the Ann. Arbor Huron
High School boys lacrosse team. And he
had a blast.
"I love offense, and I love scoring goals;
said Kirshner, who made
second team All-State as
a senior and set a school
record for points in a
game with 11 (eight goals
and three assists).
Kirshner headed to the
University of Michigan
after he graduated from
Jordan
Huron.
Kirshner
He wanted to play
offensive midfield for the U-M men's
lacrosse team; but during tryouts, Coach
John Paul suggested Kirshner switch to
defensive midfield.
In other words, if you want to make
the team, son, that's what you need to do.
Kirshner took his coach's advice, and he
made the team.
"At first, I wasn't excited about playing
defensive midfield; but I got to play in all
18 games of our games as a freshman, and
now I really enjoy the position;' Kirshner
said.
Kirshner helped U-M make history
this spring in his sophomore season. The
Wolverines finished 20-0, and won their
first Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
national championship. They're the first
MCLA team to go undefeated since the
MCLA was established in 1997. U-M defeat-
ed Chapman 14-11 for the MCLA champi-
onship at Texas Stadium in Dallas.
Kirshner had five goals and four assists
while playing in 19 games this season. One
of his goals came against Michigan State
in U-M's 21-5 victory over the Spartans in
the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association
championship game.
Kirshner received two post-season hon-
ors. Besides being named second team
All-CCLA, he was selected an Academic All-
American by the MCLA. A geology major
with a biochemistry minor, Kirshner car-
ries a 3.3 grade point average.
"Lacrosse wasn't my major reason for
coming to U-M, but I knew I wanted to
get involved in some sort of team activity'
Kirshner said. "I'm a big team sports guy.
I love the camaraderie. What's great about
our lacrosse team is we have players on it
from all over the country!'
Because it's a club team, the U-M lacrosse
squad doesn't receive financial support
from the university. Money is generated
through dues, fundraisers and summer
lacrosse camps.
Kirshner doesn't feel slighted because
lacrosse isn't an intercollegiate sport at
U-M. "Our program is run just like an inter-
collegiate sport:' the 6-foot, 175-pounder
said.
Kirshner's brother, Brent, also an offen-
sive midfielder at Huron, will be a freshman
at U-M this fall. Jordan says Brent plans to
try out for lacrosse, most likely at defensive
midfield.
Cal's Coming
Laura Stern has two bits of very good
news to report regarding the Michigan
Jewish Sports Foundation's Hank Greenberg
Memorial Golf Invitational last month.
More than $130,000 was raised at the
18th annual invitational, an increase of
more than 20 percent from last year. Part of
the proceeds will fund screening for breast
and ovarian cancer at the Detroit-based
Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.
Thanks to the $130,000-plus intake, the
invitational has raised more than $1 million
for cancer research and treatment.
"Considering the challenging economic
times we're in, beating last year's donation
total by more than 20 percent is quite an
achievement:' said Stern, the new MJSF
executive director.
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig
received the Hank Greenberg Memorial
Award for lifetime achievement at the invi-
tational.
Next year's recipient has already been
selected, and he'll be at Tam O'Shanter
Country Club in West Bloomfield on June
15,2009, to receive the award.
Cal Ripken Jr. is the 2009 Greenberg
Award recipient. The Baseball Hall of Famer
will forever be remembered for playing in
2,632 consecutive games from 1982-98,
breaking Lou Gehrig's "unbreakable" record
of 2,130 games. ❑
Send news to sports@thejewishnews.com .
On The Road
Hair stylist takes salon to homebound customers.
Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News
I
is increasingly difficult for Rosalie Cole
to take her almost 90-year-old mom,
Sylvia Apel, out of the house for any-
thing, much less to get her hair cut.
That's where Marla Straschewski rolls
in. Deliberately dressed in bright colors,
she helps Cole walk Apel into the kitchen
and sit her down in a chair near the sink.
"You're going to get your hair cut again:'
Straschewski says to Apel, gently easing a
plastic cape around her.
"Let's put your hands underneath, so
we don't get hair on your nice sweater; she
tells Apel, a Polish Holocaust survivor who
escaped to Russia with her husband and
father.
As the haircut proceeds, Straschewski
constantly asks how she's doing, patting her
when she grows anxious.
When it's time for the blow dryer, she first
blows a little warm air on Apel's arm. "She
doesn't like the dryer.," Cole confirms.
At session's end, after seeing the results in
A34
July 3 • 2008
a hand mirror, Apel hums to herself "She
sings when she's happy' Cole says.
Straschewski, a Bloomfield Hills resident
who grew up in Oak Park, launched Marla's
Mobile Miracles about a year ago, bring-
ing hair styling and manicures along with
massages and pedicures to people in their
homes, whether private or assisted living.
This includes the elderly, their caregivers,
post-op patients, busy professionals, new
moms and moms to be.
"I've been doing hair for 30 years','
Straschewski says. "I do clients in my home
and started my mobile business because
there's such a need for it!'
In fact, most of Straschewski's go-to
clients are fragile, in body and/or mind. "I
usually wear bright colors. It makes them
Both her certification as a medical
assistant as well as the recent illness of her
mother, Sara Bakst, have been helpful, she
says.
Taking care of Bakst, a Troy resident who
is now fully recovered from open heart sur-
gery and back at work, made Straschewski
more fully realize the importance of in-
home beauty care, she says.
"I lived the life of not being able to stand
seeing how my mother looked. So I under-
stand. They want their hair done. They can't
always convey it to us!"
Its important, Straschewski says, for
both the homebound person and his or her
caretakers. "We're used to seeing our parents
look a certain way'
Indeed, Cole, a real estate agent who lives
in Oak Park, called Beaumont Hospice in
Troy seeking a recommendation for a home
hair cutter. "I called Marla and she was
wonderful;' Cole says. "She took pictures of
my mom"
"I've heard nothing but rave reviews
about Marie says Elaine Landback, a
Beaumont Hospice social worker from Royal
Oak. "Her heart is really in this!"
Everyone — young and old — feels bet-
ter when their hair looks nice, Landback
says. `And people treat you better!' She even
knows of a church that has a special fund
for needy people to have their hair done.
"She's wonderful. My ladies love her:' says
Marla Straschewski of Bloomfield Hills
does the hair of Sylvia Apel, 89, in her
Oak Park home.
Lori Tenney, proprietor of Nannie's Inn, a
women's nursing facility in West Bloomfield.
"She's friendly and talks to them while she's
doing their hair.
"No matter their degree of dementia, if
they used to have their hair done on a week-
ly basis, they stress about their hair," Tenney
says. "Most of my seniors are in wheelchairs.
Marla brings all her own stuff. It's a great
service!"
For Straschewski, it's a two-way street.
"When I see these people, it brings me
peace and serenity;' she says.
❑
You can reach Marla's Mobile Miracles at (248)
303-1228.