Signature Tamarack bus

Camps. "The campers feel like summer's
in the air when they get back together
with each other and with their counselors
again. We're lucky we're so close that we
can bring nine busloads in the off-season
back to camp to preserve a tradition on a
fall afternoon.
"We relive some of what was so awe-
some about camp by bringing it to the
reunion. And when we leave, it will be
with a high-five, looking toward next sum-
mer."
Registration is closed for this year's
reunion.

They aren't the Lions at Ford Field, but these friends' Thanksgiving football game in Southfield has become just as traditional.

Here, ballcarrier Josh Faber of Southfield tries to evade a tackler at last year's game.

"We see Lathe Vodka as an opportunity
for those who don't live here to see that
there are fun things to do in our com-
munity;' said Lachover, who is program
director at Federation's CommunityNEXT,
which serves as a directory for existing
programming for young Jewish Detroiters
and develops new opportunities and pro-
grams. "We're creating a really exciting,
blow-out event that will keep them com-
ing back."

Latke Vodka will take place at
9 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 27, at Via
Nove, 344 W. Nine Mile, Ferndale.
Cost: $18/person, with a portion of
the proceeds going to the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
For information, call Jessica
Goodwin at (248) 203-1470 or send
an e-mail to goodwin@jfmd.org .

On The Field
Contrary to what would be expected,
year after year, a group of 20- and
30-somethings with a day off from work,
choose not to sleep in on Thanksgiving

morning. For the past 12 years, about a
dozen of them have been rising early to
get to a field in Southfield for an 8 or
8:30 a.m. kickoff to a game of tackle
football.
"It started when I was in high school:
said game founder and annual game
organizer, Dani Sherizen, 28, a former
Detroiter now living in New York. "We
were off on Thanksgiving and I wanted
to get a football game together with some
friends."
Players now are mostly former
Detroiters, home for the holiday, along
with a few who live here.
"The annual Thanksgiving morning
football game is a major highlight of com-
ing home for Thanksgiving every year:'
Sherizen said.
And the game goes on no matter what's
happening outside.
"We play in any weather:' Sherizen said.
"Over the years, that has covered rain,
snow, mud, anything."
Mikey Skoczylas, 26, of Southfield,
joined the game when he lived in New
York.
"It started as something I would do

just to be with my friends and see some
friends I had not seen in a long time,' he
said. "But now it's tradition."

Reuniting With Old Friends
After attending each of the Tamarack
Camps Alumni Reunions, last year Dr. Dan
Klein became its chairperson, continuing
on for this year's event.
"Tamarack has a longstanding tradition
of holding a Thanksgiving reunion for
campers and staff' said Klein, 40, of Novi,
who is a Tamarack board member. "When
Tamarack Camps began a huge outreach
effort four years ago, an alumni event was
established over the holiday weekend. It's
become an alumni tradition."
The event, for all camp alumni 21 and
older, will take place at 8 p.m., Saturday,
Nov. 27, at Dino's Lounge in Ferndale.
"We picked this location to be close to
Federation's Lathe Vodka event so if peo-
ple want to attend both events, they can
walk," said Carly Weinstock, Camp Maas
program director.
This year's event is being held in honor
of those who worked as Teen Service staff
Traditions on page 16

Back On The Bus
This Friday, more than 300 of last sum-
mer's Tamarack campers will board nine
buses to gather on a considerably colder
afternoon than when last they met.
"The Camper and Staff Thanksgiving
Reunion has been around in some
variety since I was a camper:' said
Jason Charnas, director of teen
and family programs at Tamarack
Camps. "But for the first time,
this year we will be at Tamarack's
Camp Maas in Ortonville. What
better place to make a camp
reunion than at camp?"
And those attending the
reunion will get there just like
they do in the summer, accompa-
nied by camp staff on a bus from
the parking lot at Adat Shalom
Enjoying the 2008 alumni reunion are Jessica
Synagogue in Farmington Hills.
and Dan Klein of Novi, Jeff and Robin Dwoskin
"The reunion is an everlasting
tradition:' said Lee Trepeck, direc- and Lisa and Ken Feinstein, all of West
Bloomfield.
tor of Camp Maas at Tamarack

November 25 • 2010

15