O
EVERYTHING
THE
Hank Greenberg Slams A Homer!
This year's Michigan Jewish Sports invitational was the biggest and best ever.
W
hat will they do for an encore?
It might be a very old
and much over-used cliche,
but there are simply no better words to
describe the recent 19th Annual Hank
Greenberg Memorial at Tam O'Shanter
Country Club, West Bloomfield.
The inaugural event of the Michigan
Jewish Sports Foundation and Michigan
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame's new
Executive Director David Blatt and wife,
Hedy Blatt, director of communications
and events, was so successful that it pre-
sented the age-old question ... What will
David and Hedy do for an encore?
Only 88 golfers competed at the first
Greenberg Invitational in 1990, and a
small audience attended the slight ban-
quet held following the links love ... This
year's dinner and reception had an over-
flow crowd of more than 270 attendees
at the "New Look" presentation by David,
Hedy and the Michigan Jewish Sports and
Hank Greenberg Invitational committees.
This was not only a 19-year record
attendance, but also might have presented
another problem ... Besides the old cliche,
what will they do with the crowd that will
attend when the recession is over or at
least toned down.
This year's fine evening began in Tam's
Grill. Room with an open bar, very well
diversified passed hors d'oeuvres (stir fry
in a Chinese carry-out carton, mini potato
latkes, coconut shrimp, hot dog in blanket,
etc.), to go along with a food station.
Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum telling of his
pet peeves at restaurants; framed photos,
signed uniforms, balls, bats, etc., in a huge
bevy of museum-like things to bid on at a
silent auction; Seymour Brode and Myron
Milgrom fondly kissing Mickey Fishman
in a wheelchair deftly wielded
by his daughter, Marcia
Fishman; Shirley Foon Wiss
wishing her late husband, Al
Foon, Michigan Jewish Sports
Hall of Fame founder, could
see the spectacular MJSF
event; Howard Gourwitz wear-
ing a bright red shirt that
made his cheerful smile gleam
even brighter; Wes Picula, vice
president of operations, tell-
ing owner Robert Jacobs about more new
items he is working on at Buddy's Pizza;
Dave Rogovein in white pants and no
Good Humors to sell.
Then into the main dining room, where
two among the classiest gentlemen in
sports, Hall of Fame third baseman Cal
Ripken Jr. and sportscaster James Brown,
joined emcee perennial Jeremy Schaap to
make up a superb panel that told wonder-
ful stories and graciously answered ques-
tions from the audience ... Auctioneer
Mike "Stoney" Stone getting big laughs for
sharp-witted remarks about modern-day
athletes.
Among the golfers, Robert Feldstein
won a dinner for four at Beau Jack's for the
straightest drive, 103 yards, which Ripken
could have probably reached with a one-
handed bat swing.
But first was the dinner, beautifully pre-
pared by the fine Tam O'Shanter kitchen
and excellently served with smiling and
courteous precision ... The steak dinner
that Brown said was "My kind of meal!"
preceded by crisp salad in a taco-like shell
and the steak served with purple whipped
potatoes and broccoli ... Then came the
dessert, an innovative presentation of ice
cream and brownie topped with choco-
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late caramel and served in a
stemmed wine glass.
After Ripken received the
Lifetime Achievement Award
from Hank Greenberg's son,
Steve, and James Brown
the Dick Schaap Memorial
Humanitarian Award from
Dick's son, Jeremy, names
from the "no charge" raffle
were pulled for prizes like a
32-inch TV, $250 Somerset
Gift Certificate, Odyssey Putter, Coca Cola
Golf Bag, gift certificates from Beau Jack's,
Hero's, Uptown Grille, Shiraz, Beverly Hills
Grill, Streetside Seafood, Town Tavern,
Assaggi, and others.
Next comes this fall's Michigan Jewish
Sports Hall of Fame Induction Dinner ...
and with David and Hedy Blatt on board,
no telling what great things are in store for
the event's big 25th anniversary.
ANOTHER RUMOR to bite the dust
is that Zingerman's of Ann Arbor will
open at the Old Orchard Mall, 15 Mile
and Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield
... "Our vision and very explicitly so is
to stay in the Ann Arbor area: says Ari
Weinzweig, Zingerman's co-owner with
Paul Saginaw ... "I'm guessing that it
came out of Plum Market selling products
we wholesale from our Bakehouse, Coffee
Company and Creamery."
FOLKS WENDING their way up north
to Charlevoix this summer are talking
about the pizza at Top Ten, Slice of Italy in
East Jordan, across from the public boat
launch on Lake Charlevoix ... The carry-
out, beer, wine, liquor, gas, car wash spot is
owned by localites Gary and Joan Tringale
... She is the daughter of the late Bobby
Adell.
GOOD WAITER DEPT. ... Michael
Farms at Jeremy Restaurant & Bar, Cass
Lake Road, Keego Harbor ... Efficient,
knowledgeable on menu ingredients and
graciously polite.
QUESTION & ANSWER DEPT. ...
"I remember going to Tom's Tavern in
my youth, but I don't recall ever seeing a
menu. Do you know if there was one?" ...
Seymour Dross.
[Tom never cared much for restaurant
pomp at his northwest Detroit bar, even
having the tavern's menu in his head ...
At lunchtime, if customers asked a price,
he would tell them to help with the meal
... The less bother they were, the less
cost.]
TURNING 80 recently, Joe Cornell still
keeps up with his dancing prowess ...
The former owner here of Joe Cornell
Dance Studios, living in Los Angeles,
dances every chance he gets ... While
walking his two Yorkies, Whoopee and
Coco, Joe asked his friend, actor Dick
Van Patton, to hold the two leashes while
Joe, listening to music wafting into his
ears, did solo cha-cha, rock and roll and
jitterbug dances in wowing a crowd that
gathered to watch.
CONGRATS ... To Marshall Shapiro
on his 69th birthday ... To Sid Mintz on
his 65th birthday ... To Kevin and Stacy
Brand on their second anniversary ...
To Gary and Bobbie Miller on their 40th
anniversary ... To Ron and Jackie Lorfel
on their 40th anniversary ... To Al and
Marilyn Weiss on their 58th anniversary
... To David and Hedy Blatt on their 42nd
anniversary. H
Danny's e-mail address is
dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.
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