frontlines

The Boys Of Winterhalter

I

Jackie Headapohl

Managing Editor

M

etro Detroiters Jerry Kaplan,
Ron Sherr, Gary Berger, Ted
Starr, Larry Herman, Jerry
Weinstein and Ed Supowit have known
each other for a long time. They first
met as students at Detroit's Winterhalter
Elementary School, some 70 years ago.
The last time they met? Yesterday.
The group of mostly retired men, who
have maintained their friendship through-
out their lives, have been meeting once a
week for lunch for the past year.
On June 8, they got together at the West
Bloomfield home of retired jewelry whole-
saler Gary Berger for a barbecue and
reminiscing. The friends enjoyed some
juicy kosher hot dogs and their memo-
ries of their years growing up within two
blocks of each other in the Broadstreet
and Cortland neighborhood in northwest
Detroit, a hub of Jewish families.
"It was a load of fun:' said Berger, who
has known these men since 1943, when
he was in the first grade. "We have a lot of
great memories together:'
Such as watching TV for the first time
through the window at Dexter TV on
Dexter Avenue, going to the movies at the
Dexter Theater for 12 cents, eating corned
beef sandwiches at Nate's Deli and ice
cream at the Eagle Dairy and Zukin's Ice
Cream Parlor, playing baseball together at

The Boys of Winterhalter: Jerry Kaplan, Ron Sherr, Gary Berger, Ted Starr,
Larry Herman, Jerry Weinstein and Ed Supowit.

Winterhalter Elementary, bowling at Glen
Eagle Lanes, and watching shows at the
Riviera, Rainbow and Annex theaters.
As we got older, we remember catching
the Elmhurst bus to Central High School:'
Berger added.
Over the years, the men — now
between 73 and 77 — remained in the
Metro Detroit area and in touch with
each other. Kaplan and Sherr had suc-
cessful teaching careers; Starr made a
career in clothing sales; Herman was a
painter; Weinstein owned a drugstore; and
Supowit was a successful stockbroker.
It was Berger's idea to have everyone
over for the barbecue. "It was a great
time," he said.

JN CONTENTS

Usually the Winterhalter Boys meet
on Wednesdays for deli, Chinese, pizza,
you-name-it. They always try new places,
Berger said.
The "Winterhalter Boys" is one of three
social groups that Sherr belongs to; the
other groups are friends from high school
and friends from college, who he meets up
with for lunch. "You could say I've become
a professional eater:' he jokes. "We always
have plenty to talk about, sports, school,
families — we tell jokes," Sherr said.
"The key to our long friendship is
camaraderie. We're open with each other;
no one person dominates the conversa-
tion; and we always come away with a lot
of laughs:'

❑

theJEWISHNEWS.com

June 20-June 26, 2013 12-18 Tammuz 5773 Vol. CXLIII, No. 20

Around Town
26
Arts/Entertainment .. 49
Business
36
Calendar
30
Dining Around the D ..24
Family Focus
46
54
Food
Israel ...1, 8-11,12,18-19
Letters
5
Life Cycles
58
Marketplace
61
Metro
8
32
Next Generation
67
Obituaries

Out & About
51
47
Pet Lovers
Points Of View
42
Spirituality
45
Sports
57
Staff Box/Phone List ...6
44
Synagogue List
Teen2Teen
34
Torah Portion
45

Columnist

Danny Raskin

56

Shabbat Lights

Shabbat: Friday, June 21, 8:55 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, June 22,10:07 p.m.

17th of Tammuz (Fast):
Tuesday, June 25, 4:45 a.m.-10:08 p.m.

Shabbat: Friday, June 28, 8:56 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, June 29,10:07 p.m.

Times are according to the Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah calendar.

On The Cover:

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June 20 • 2013

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