*iCC MaCCa bi* GAMES®& ARTSFEST® AUGUST 17-22, 2014 JCC Maccabi NEEDS YOU! • SPFCIAI MVFRAGE Spin On The Pin: Maccabi Trading Piny Elizabeth Applebaum Special to the Jewish News T hey come for the sports, the arts workshops, the fun, the friendship — and the pins. The JCC Maccabi Games & ArtsFest will be held Aug. 17-22 in Detroit, and among the favorite activ- ities of the hundreds of participants is trading pins from their delegations. Teens and coaches alike come with handfuls of pins bearing the JCC Maccabi logo, the year and images from Jewish life, hometowns and popular culture. Last year's collection, for example, included SpongeBob, tefillin, a board from Words with Friends, the Austin city skyline, Shabbat candles and the lifeblood of every teenager: Instagram. The pins have even been known to include a surprise, like a spinning circle on the 2013 team pin from Cincinnati. Choosing what will be featured can be a long and emotional discussion, with favorites often marketed on Facebook. Then comes the impor- tance of getting each and every one. "We traded pins with the out-of- town delegations with one goal in mind: collect them all:' JCC Maccabi participant Hannah Schoenbaum of Orange County, Calif., wrote of the 2013 Games. "Pin trading became an important part of my Maccabi expe- rience, and I learned right away that trading is a very serious matter:' It isn't just the kids who become a bit obsessive. Those wishing to kick up or down the water temperature at the JCC pool in West Bloomfield — which means everyone on the face of the planet — would do well to bring a few pins to this city's most dedicated collector, Aquatics Director Ronda Brodsky. The pins have a long history, start- ing with the 1908 Maccabiah Games held in Greece, where participants might have snagged a blue-and-white enamel soccer pin, now selling for upwards of $200. There's no guar- antee that today's pins will one day secure that much, but the Games staff is still taking the design very seri- ously, with two contenders left in the running. Keep checking back to this column where we'll reveal the choice! ❑ *jcc maccabi* GAMES®& ARTSFEST® AUGUST 17-22, 2014 58 days until the Opening Ceremony Volunteers Needed In The Following Areas: Athletics Food Service Opening Ceremony Er Evening Events Transportation JCC Cares 2014detroitorg JCC Maccabi Hotline 248.432.5500 2P11. THE CENTER Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322 www.jccdet.org The Jewish Supported OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT 1870760 June 19 • 2014 41