Metro

Civic
Minded

JNF lauds Bing and Patterson
for their community service.

Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish News

M

ayor Dave Bing asked the
Jewish community for contin-
ued support for Detroit as he
received the Tree of Life Award from the
Jewish National Fund's Michigan Region
at its annual fundraising dinner on May
13. Bing was honored with Oakland
County Executive L. Brooks Patterson at
the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham.
Introducing the mayor, former presi-
dent of the JNF Michigan Region and
National Board of Directors member
Hannan Lis noted that "almost every-
one here in this room was either born
in Detroit or their parents were born in
Detroit."
Bing spoke about how strong the
Detroit Jewish community had been,
especially noting the number of Jewish
teachers. He said he understood why
most had left the city, citing people's con-
cern "for the safety of your families, for
the right type of education for your chil-
dren and for not wanting to go through
all the stress
He also spoke about his college days
at Syracuse University, which he said
was about 80 percent Jewish at the time.
Three of his Syracuse basketball team-
mates were Jewish and he became a
member of the Jewish fraternity Sigma
Alpha Mu.
"I had never been exposed to the
Jewish faith, and I learned a lot early on,"
he said.
It was also the first time he lived in a
community that wasn't almost wholly
African-American.
"So many of you helped to make
Detroit what it was, and it is so impor-
tant that now you help make it what it

22

May 20 - 2010

can be, what we want it to be:' Bing said
to the attentive audience.
After noting that his one-year anni-
versary as mayor had been only two
days earlier, he said, "In order for the
city of Detroit to come back — and I'm
not afraid to say it — we won't do it by
ourselves. For us to come back and to
be strong again, we need to do it as a
region:'
He lauded the Jewish pride and com-
mitment to Israel's development and
compared it to what will be necessary to
develop the city of Detroit.
L. Brooks Patterson also spoke about
regional cooperation. He recounted how
at recent meetings in New York with
bond rating companies Moody's and
Standard and Poor's, he was told that if
Detroit goes into receivership, Oakland
County would lose its coveted AAA bond
rating.
Patterson quipped that he called Mayor
Bing and told him, "I'm your new best
friend. What can I do for you?"
In fact, both Bing and Patterson said
they have been friends for many years.
The May 13 program was chaired by
JNF Michigan Board President Dr. Leora
Bar-Levay.
Florine Mark, president and chair-
man of the Farmington Hills-based WW
Group, was a 2000 Tree of Life honoree.
She spoke about the important work of
JNF and how, growing up, her family
always dropped coins in the JNF "blue
box:'
Her son-in-law, Hannan Lis, intro-
duced Bing together with Hiller's Markets
CEO Jim Hiller, chairman of JNF's
Michigan Region.
Judge Wendy Potts of the Oakland
County Circuit Court introduced
Patterson. Fl

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing addresses the crwod of almost 250 people.

L. Brooks Patterson, center, and Dave Bing hold hands as Rev. Glenn Plummer of

Ambassadors for Christ Church in Redford Township gives the benediction.