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70th birthday surprise brings back
childhood memories.

t first, there was stunned silence
and disbelief. A close-knit group
of friends dating back to the
1950s assembled at Sila Italian Dining &
Pizza in Berkley thinking they were there
to attend a June 15 surprise party for
somebody else.
But, Marsha and Larry Proghovnick of
Southfield, Gene and Francie Kodlowski
of Birmingham, Billy and Joanne Kristal
of Huntington Woods, and Jerry Niskar
of Howell and Arlene Niskar of Oak Park
quickly realized the surprise was on them.
Not only did their children bring them all
together to celebrate their 70th birthdays,
but the plan also included a bus trip back
to their childhood neighborhoods, schools
and favorite hangout spots.
The group, along with 27 other family
members and friends, piled onto a rented
bus wearing custom-made "Dexter Gang"
T-shirts, referring to the old Jewish Detroit
neighborhood where they all grew up and
first met decades ago.
"Who would have known that our
chance meeting [in junior high school]
would lead to a lifelong friendship and
a lifetime of being a family?" Francie
Kodlowski said. At first, I could hardly
comprehend what was happening when we

found out this surprise party was for us!"
As the bus rolled on and the shock wore
off, the memories came flooding back One
by one, the group visited each of the hon-
oree's childhood homes. Larry Proghovnick
lived at 2961 Richton between Lawton and
Wildemere. The house is not what it used
to be, but it's still standing. They stopped to
take a photo.
"My old house was very run down,"
Larry said. "We lived in the upstairs flat
and the landlord lived downstairs. He used
to own roosters and they were always in
the backyard. When I had to take the gar-
bage out, the roosters would always attack
me. But, I never got hurt. I was faster:'
Larry met his wife, Marsha, when they
were just 11 years old. She lived on Richton
off Dexter, just down the street. But, when
the bus pulled up to the spot where her
home used to be there was a collective
gasp — they discovered the house had
been torn down. "It was sad:' said Marsha's
daughter, Tracey, one of the organizers.
"We stood there anyway on the grass to
take a picture. Only some of the houses
were still intact:'
In the 1940s, a significant portion of
Detroit's Jewish community was located
in the 12th Street, Linwood and Dexter
neighborhood. Members of the "Dexter
Gang" attended Durfee Middle School and

Bus Trip on page 18

