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Dreams from page 8
Ed ucate
Yourself
community Urban Learning Farm in
Southfield.
"Our mission is to create this urban
learning farm where groups can come
to us" she said.
Keep On Readin
Books have had a meaningful pres-
ence in Sharon Schwartz's life for
decades. An English teacher — for
five years at Akiva Hebrew Day
School of Metropolitan Detroit fol-
lowed by 22 more at Farmington
Hills-based Hillel Day School — she
now is a facilitator of area book clubs.
Even before she retired from teach-
ing six years ago, Schwartz was delv-
ing into this extension of her love
of books, and now helps the groups
choose what they will read and facili-
tates their discussions.
"Each one operates a little differ-
ently, but there is a person in each
one who organizes locations and
emails the members" she said. "One
is for members
of the steering
committee of
the Jewish Book
Fair and will
meet this year at
the JCC in West
Bloomfield. I also
give two book
reviews during
Sharon Schwartz
the year at the
West Bloomfield
JCC Library as
well as an occasional book review at
Adat Shalom Synagogue"
Schwartz, 66, of Bloomfield Hills,
says, "Books, reading books, choosing
new ones and facilitating discussions
about them are a passion and always
have been.
"It seems to be a perfect retirement
activity for an English teacher. I love
to read and explore new books and
writers and enjoy doing this with adult
readers.
"Quite a departure from discussing
literature with eighth graders" said
Schwartz, who also directed 18 annual
musical performances at Hillel and
several more at Akiva.
"The musicals inspired me to join
a community theater, and I appeared
in three or four productions while I
was teaching. Another desire of mine
fulfilled"
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To The Kitchens
Attracted to culinary arts since he was
a child, attorney Keith Sirlin has just
earned a degree in the field.
"My standard line is I was the only
9-year-old who not only liked egg-
plant, but knew how to prepare it"
he said. "My parents were both great
cooks so I got the interest as a result of
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10 July 9 • 2015
Keith Sirlin gets ready to cook.
eating great food as a child and want-
ing to know how to do it"
Continuing to work in the private
practice law office he has run for 36
years, Sirlin enrolled in the Culinary
Arts Program at Schoolcraft College.
"With the continued encouragement
of my friends and family, I decided
it was either now or never to pursue
a goal that interested me my entire
life: learning how to be a professional
chef" he said. "Besides, I qualified for
a senior discount"
Earlier this month, he graduated
with honors with an associates' degree
in applied sciences in culinary arts.
"Since graduation, I continue to
entertain my friends and family as
much as time permits" said Sirlin of
Bloomfield Hills.
"I have also become very involved in
making lunches for Shabbos and holi-
days at the Woodward Avenue Shul,
where my wife and I belong. It is a lot
of responsibility and hard work, but is
worth it because the members express
their appreciation very liberally.
"Rabbi Chanoch Hadar is a real
Toodie', so we get along real well
even though I am not Orthodox. He
couldn't be a better friend and is
totally supportive, giving me freedom
to choose the menu and execute it as I
see fit, so long as I follow the rules of
kashrut strictly"
Sirlin is contemplating his next
ambitious step. Describing himself as
"63 and getting younger every day" he
is considering implementing a food
truck. "It would be a lot of hard work,
but fun at the same time," he said. "I
would specialize in Mediterranean
cuisine — good, healthy, flavorful
food"
Sirlin is overjoyed with his decision
to pursue his dream. "Every day that I
was in school, I would tell myself that
Dreams on page 12