Madge from page A15

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if you have lour leg:;. Nearly three transfornied Riverf coin is woning
For you to explore -- with more to come.

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Madge and Bill Berman, 1999

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University in Detroit.
"Bill and I met on a blind date when
he was still in the Navy, and I just
fell head over heels in love with him
because he was so handsome in that
beautiful white uniform," she recalled.
They got married in 1950, when he
was well under way in the building
business. They have two children and
three grandchildren.

Building A Resume
Early in her career, Madge worked as a
special projects director for the Detroit
Central Business District, spent a year
as a theater and music critic for the
Eccentric newspapers and pioneered
auction activities to raise funds for
Detroit's public television station
WTVS and public radio station WDET.
She helped initiate the first Detroit
Arts Council, being appointed by
Detroit Mayor Coleman Young as one
of the seven original council members.
She has served on the boards of the
Detroit Community Music School,
the Archives of American Art and
Detroit Music Hall for the Performing
Arts. She currently is a member of the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra board.
"I'm proud that, as a member of
the Concerned Citizens for the Arts
in Michigan, I helped originate the
idea of the Michigan Governor's Arts
and Culture Awards, which still are
presented annually by the state's gov-
ernor," she said.
Michigan Gov. William Milliken
appointed her to the Michigan Council

of the Arts in 1983, and Gov. James
Blanchard named her vice chairperson
of the group, a position she held until
1990.

Presidential Call
"One of the most exciting times in
my career with the arts was when
President Bill Clinton appointed me
to the President's Committee for the
Arts and Humanities in 1994," she
recalled. "I attended several meetings
in the White House chaired by Hillary
Clinton, and I met many well-known
entertainers of that period!'
She now is on the board of the
Michigan Humane Society and
established the Madeleine Berman
Academy for Humane Education at the
Detroit Zoo. The Bermans also helped
create the Berman Michigan Humane
Society Shelter in Westland.
They endowed the Berman
Woodwind Orchestra Group at the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and
a musical chair at the University
Preparatory Academy in Detroit. They
also sponsor a children's choir for
Michigan Opera Theatre at the Detroit
Opera House.
Madge, 81, follows part of the same
exercise regimen practiced by her
husband, who is 91, working with a
trainer two days a week and eating
healthy foods. She reasons: "You've got
to keep going, stay active and try new
things or else you just end up losing
your way. Bill and I want to be on the
positive side." ❑

Duntorr

RIVBRFRONT CONSP,RVANCY

1506610

Bill Berman

What more can one sa

With love and gratitude from the 6,000 Jewish
students at The University of Michigan.

Mel

Mandell L. Berman Center for
University of Michigan Hillel

June 4 2009

A19