Community

AROUND TOWN

Holiday Homecoming

Young adults from across the country reconnect at annual Latke & Vodka party.

B

ack in 2003, Aaron Weiss, 30, packed his bags
and jetted off to the Big Apple to pursue his dream
of becoming a film producer. But like many 20
and 30-somethings, the University of Michigan grad makes
a point of coming home to Detroit every year to celebrate
Thanksgiving with family and friends.
"No matter where I live, I'll never
stop being from Detroit,' Weiss said.
This year, he was able to mix
and mingle with about 400 young
adults from across the country at
the annual Latke &Vodka party
sponsored by the Young Adult
Division of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit. YAD joined
forces with Oakland County-based
Tamarack Camps, which typically
hosts a staff reunion Thanksgiving
weekend. The Chanukah-themed
celebration was held two weeks
early, Nov. 28 at Via Nove in Ferndale, to capitalize on the
rush of former Detroiters who were back in town.
"There are thousands of young adults from this area who
now live elsewhere,' said YAD president David Kramer of
Bloomfield Hills. "Most of those people have family here and
want to remain connected to our community"
Organizers spread the word about the party on the social
networking Web site Facebook.
"Because YAD is more than just Detroit, this year the host
committee includes Detroiters who now live in New York, Los
Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and more read an e-mail message
that also went out to young adults in other cities.
Partygoers reconnected with old friends, ate lakes, drank
cocktails and danced to the music of a DJ. Some ducked into
a photo booth to get snapshots taken as keepsakes. Instead
of a cover charge, an $18 minimum gift to Federation was
required to attend.
"I ran into my college roommate from Michigan State who
I haven't seen in probably eight years': said Rachel Wright
of Birmingham, one of the event chairs. "We're already send-

I

Co-chairs Jared Goldman of Royal Oak and Rachel Wright with Ryan Liabenow both of Birmingham

ing Facebook messages back and forth and making plans to
get together"
For Weiss, the event also brought a blast from the past.
"A friend of mine and I saw a guy we went to high school
with," he said "We hadn't seen him since freshman year at
U-M:'
Leah Bold, 28, of Royal Oak, who moved here from
Washington, D.C., back in March, used the evening as an
opportunity to make new friends and expand her social
circle.
"Detroit is really growing on me',' Bold said. "Everyone's
really embraced me here
YAD hopes the event will empower young Detroiters to get
involved and stay connected with the local Jewish commu-
nity, even if they live and work in other cities.
"This even definitely proved that regardless of where peo-

ple live, they still want to come out and support Detroit,' said
Wright. "There's a certain sense of family we all share. There
was a bond between everyone there:'
Latke & Vodka 2009 event chairs were: Craig Eidelman
of Berkley; Jared Goldman of Royal Oak; Sheri Wagner
Greenbaum of Chicago; Amy Kirsch and Elina Reznik,
both of New York; Rachel Wright of Birmingham; and
Tamarack chairs Daniel Klein of Novi and Robb Lippitt of
Bloomfield Hills.
Spotted in the crowd were: Kate Bush and Dan
Montigelli of Detroit; Denise Anchill of Southfield; Evan
Colton and Jay Hack, both of Royal Oak; Amy Pappas of
Chicago; Sam Harwin of San Francisco; Mara Winkler of
New York; Jennifer and Lowell Friedman of Huntington
Woods; and Jordan Scheinfield and Andrew Landau,
both of West Bloomfield.

Lori Brand of Farmington Hills, Julie

Kim Bernzweig of Huntington Woods

Mike Fridman of Livonia, Brian Lundin

YAD board members Stephanie and

Marx of Bloomfield Hills and Leah Bold

and Melissa Seligman of Royal Oak with

of L.A. and Michael Fleischmann of

Jared Rosenbaum of Huntington Woods

of Royal Oak

Jessica and Dan Klein of Novi

Bloomfield Township

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December 10 • 2009