Opinion
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Dry Bones "STERIC"
BLINDNESS?
THE WEST IS HAVING
AN EPIDEMIC OF
SELECTIVE VISION
Editorial
ALL OF US
CAN SEE THE
TENTACLES
Center Of It All For Teens
0
f all the spots to house a Jewish
teen center, a former Holocaust
memorial center is an excellent
choice. The site links the next generation
of Jewish leaders, in a place they helped
develop, with the darkest days of our
people's past.
While mingling, studying and just
hanging out, teens at the Beverly Prentis
Wagner Teen Center will be exposed to the
precious memories radiating through the
corridors. Peer discussion is sure to follow;
the teens will be able to apply the lessons
learned to their own life experiences.
The teen center, designed by Neumann/
Smith Architecture in Southfield, is locat-
ed outside the main entrance to the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield.
It has lots of teen trappings, like an
all-kosher snack bar, a movie theater, a
study center, the popular Dance Dance
Revolution video game, large-screen TVs
and wireless Internet.
While there's plenty of opportunity to
relax and unwind in the 10,000-square-
foot teen center, study options — alone or
with tutors — will abound, putting learn-
ing on equal par with play.
Planners made a wise decision to move
the JCC's youth offices as well as the B'nai
B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) staff
into the teen center. The JCC's new teen
coordinator, Lindsay Fox, is busy prepar-
ing for the teen center's grand opening on
Jan. 17. The intersection between youth
services and teen activities should echo
for the entire Jewish community.
Before the Frankel Jewish Academy
opened in 2000, teens didn't congregate
at the JCC unless there was a basketball
game, a BBYO dance, a bar or bat mitzvah
party or a similar event. The school brings
teens inside the JCC daily. The busy InLine
Hockey Center, opened in 2000, also
brings hundreds of teens to the JCC.
The teen center will expand the base
and the reasons for coming to the JCC
— Jewish Detroit's central address. The
appeal should stretch beyond day school
students to Jewish teens in the public
schools, private schools and synagogue
youth groups.
The teen center has the enthusiastic
support of JCC Executive Director Mark
Lit, President Todd Sachse and the board
of trustees. More importantly, teens led
by Erica Sachse (Todd's daughter) and
Ben Goutkovitch have had a key role in
laying the design, amenities, gaming and
programming groundwork. Teens even
were instrumental in choosing the color
scheme. The teen steering committee
focused not only on
what would be hip,
but also practical.
Our population
numbers certainly
validate the need for
a place that teens can
call their own. More
than 20 percent of the
Detroit Jewish com-
munity is made up of
teens 13-17. Keeping
teens engaged in
Metro Detroit and the
Jewish community
may give them a good
enough impression to
want to return here
following college.
The Prentis Family
Support Foundation and the Bruce Frankel
family deserve plaudits for their generous
contributions toward the $850,000 cost
of the teen center, named in memory of
Beverly Prentis Wagner. It'll be a wonder-
ful site to rent for teen-oriented events.
Todd Sachse enthusiastically described
the teen center as a kind of teen fantasy
land. That's an inspired description. But
the excitement cuts both ways. Sachse's
daughter had the presence and maturity
www.drybonesblog.com
to thank the Jewish community for reach-
ing out to teenagers and providing a haven
with a Jewish flair.
The teen steering committee should
be kept in force with a staggered rotating
membership to assure continued peer
monitoring of what is shaping up to be yet
another example of Detroit Jewry's knack
for creating authentic national models of
how to build a feeling of community. ❑
Reality Check
Sweet Reunion
T
he girls came home for the
holidays; girls no more, really,
but young women embarked on
careers and life choices. But my grand-
children suddenly found themselves
surrounded by five aunts they had never
known before.
They were my daughter Courtney's
best friends all through middle and high
school. While girls of that age frequently
undercut and snipe at their peers, and
friendships can wax and wane as quickly
as the phases of the moon, this group
was inseparable and dedicated to each
other.
I can't count the number of times they
gathered at our house, to study together
for the next test or just to crowd into
Courtney's room to whisper and laugh.
Now they were back for their 10-year high
school reunion, and it was wonderful to
hear their laughter ringing through our
house again.
Bekah, Jen, Nicole, Karen and Rachel.
A46
December 18 • 2008
All of them, except for Karen,
returning from Chicago and New
York.
Talking a mile a minute,
describing work and boyfriends,
recapturing a moment of their
past. But more than anything
else, they wanted to get to know
Courtney's niece and nephew.
Matthew, whose chief interests
at the age of four months are
drinking milk, sleeping and bab-
bling away to no one in particular, drew
some attention. But it was Caryn, named
Chaya Shayna after her Aunt Courtney,
who fascinated them.
When Jaime brought her over, they all
swore she looked just like Courtney. But
they were seeing with their hearts and
not their eyes, just as Sherry and I do
sometimes. Because she's the image of her
daddy.
Caryn was in rare form. After getting
past her initial shyness, she treated them
to a spirited performance of
her Greatest Hits, including
the number she will perform
at next spring's dance recital.
Then she insisted that they
all come upstairs and see her
bedroom. It was her mother's
old room, now converted to
a playroom for sleepovers.
Through the closed doors, I
could hear them whispering
and laughing, just like years
ago.
All the girls make it a point to call
Sherry every Mother's Day and on
Courtney's yahrtzeit, no matter where they
are or what they're doing.
Friends ask whether these aren't bit-
tersweet moments for us. I always respond
there is nothing bitter about them at all.
While you never get over the loss of a
child, and even the most casual remark
or bit of music can bring back the pain
in all its cutting ferocity, the fact that her
friends remember and remain dedicated
to that memory is a wonderful source of
solace.
Pictures were taken with Caryn beam-
ing in the midst of the girls as they
posed on the staircase. They had carried
Courtney to her final rest and now they
insisted that they will be five aunts to
stand in for the one who is missing.
But they had another surprise for us.
Bekah will be the first of the group to be
married. The ceremony will be next sum-
mer.
She took Jaime aside and asked if it
would be all right if Caryn was a flower
girl at her wedding.
Jaime cried as she gave her answer. As
wedding invitations go, it may have been
the best we ever received. ❑
George Cantor's e-mail address is
gcantor614@aol.com.