metro » Detroit Jewish News Foundation Approves Four New Directors S tephanie Freedman, Norman Pappas, Jeffrey Schlussel and Larry Jackier have been approved by the Detroit Jewish News Foundation for initial three- year terms, effective as of Jan. 1, on its 15-member board of directors. They will be replacing Kari Alterman, Ben Falik, Matt Lester and Robin Schwartz, whose terms concluded on Dec. 31, 2016. Alterman, Falik, Lester and Schwartz will be designated as founding board members and included on the Foundation’s honorary board chaired by Eugene Applebaum, Avern Cohn and Michael Steinhardt. Stephanie Freedman is founder of Freedman Communications, an integrated marketing agency. A native of Chicago and University of Michigan graduate, she has exten- sive experience working with organizations of all sizes. Her recent strategic marketing and branding clients include the Maple Stephanie Theater, Ann Arbor Art Freedman Fair, Berloni America and Pinkberry. She served for many years on the board of JARC, where she started its young professional network. She also introduced the Farmers’ Market to Birmingham. Norman Pappas is president of Pappas Financial Group and a veteran community leader and activist. His volunteer roles have included serving as past president of United Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit, past co-chair of Federation’s Annual Campaign, past chair of the Michigan Norman Friends of the Israel Pappas Defense Forces and in top positions with Bar-Ilan University and the Weizmann Institute. He served as a member of the Detroit Jewish News Foundation’s honorary board before his current appointment to its operating board. He possesses degrees from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Jeffrey Schlussel is an attorney with Carson Fisher. He is on the executive committee and an officer of the Jewish Federation of Forecasting The Future I 26 January 5 • 2017 Larry Lipnik from Bais Chabad Torah Center catches a popup last season in an InterCongregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League game. ice hockey competition. • Plans will continue to be made for Detroit to host the Maccabi Games in 2019. • Nikki Wald, the 2014 Jewish News Female High School Athlete of the Year, will return to the NCAA Women’s College World Series with the University of Michigan soft- ball team. Wald and the Wolverines played in the World Series the past two seasons. Wald exceled in volleyball, basketball and softball at North Farmington. • Billy Slobin, who has been the Farmington Hills Harrison High School * Larry Jackier football team’s volunteer strength and con- ditioning coach since the late 1980s, will continue to go above and beyond the call of duty for his alma mater but plans for Harrison to close after the 2018-2019 school year because of declining enrollment in the district won’t change. sports » t’s 2017, time to look into the crystal ball and make some predictions for this year in the world of sports. • The InterCongregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League will continue to grow. There were a record 17 league teams in 2016, including four from Temple Israel. • The Detroit Tigers will continue — at least for one more season — to have a Jewish manager (Brad Ausmus) and a Jewish sec- ond baseman (Ian Kinsler). • The Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation’s Hank Greenberg Memorial Golf Invitational and Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner once again will be impor- tant events on the year’s sports calendar. • Jeff Ellis and Jim Berk will continue to win weightlifting and swimming gold med- als in the Michigan Senior Olympics. • B’nai B’rith bowler Dave Shanbaum will continue to roll 300 games. After all, the 43-year-old Windsor resident has “only” 15 perfect games in his career. • The Detroit team will win a medal this summer in the second JCC Maccabi Games Metropolitan Detroit. Among his many Jewish communal volunteer roles, he has chaired Federation’s Israel & Overseas Committee and Partnership 2000/ Partnership Together Jeffrey Committee, and has Schlussel chaired the board of trustees of the University of Michigan Hillel. He is a recipient of the Federation’s Frank A. Wetsman Young Leadership Award and possesses undergrad- uate and law degrees from the University of Michigan. Larry Jackier is an attorney and partner at Jackier Gould and one of the Detroit Jewish community’s most accomplished leaders. Among his volunteer roles have been president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and co-chair of Federation’s Annual Campaign. He received Federation’s Fred M. Butzel Award for service to the Jewish community, an honor previously bestowed upon his parents, Edythe and Joseph Jackier. He currently serves as chair of the Technion’s International Board of Directors. He served as a member of the Detroit Jewish News Foundation’s honorary board before his cur- rent appointment to its operating board. He possesses degrees from the University of Michigan and Yale Law School. “The Foundation is deeply appreciative of the service provided by Kari, Ben, Matt and Robin,” President Arthur Horwitz said. “When the Foundation was little more than a vision, they willingly and eagerly devoted their time, talent and energy to help bring it to life and assure its future viability. “We are pleased to welcome Stephanie, Norman, Jeffrey and Larry as new board members,” Horwitz added. “They bring creativity, intelligence and unparalleled com- munity knowledge to the Foundation and recognize the significance of its work.” The Detroit Jewish News Foundation is an independent, nonprofit 501-c-3 entity. Its initial projects were digitizing the pages of the Detroit Jewish News and its predeces- sor publication, the Detroit Jewish Chronicle. Spanning 100 consecutive years and com- prising more than 300,000 pages, the free archive, known as the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History, can be accessed via www.djnfoundation.org. HILLEL HOOPS Teams are needed to compete March 31-April 2 in the seventh annual National Hillel Basketball Tournament hosted by the University of Maryland Hillel. Each team will play three preliminary games before a single-elimination bracket competition will determine men’s and wom- en’s champions. Some games will be played in the Xfinity Center, where the Maryland Terrapins basketball teams play their home games. About 500 players on more than 60 teams representing nearly 50 universities are expected to compete in the Hillel tourna- ment, which raises funds to support Jewish life on campuses across the country. University of Maryland Hillel will provide meals throughout the tournament including a Friday night Shabbat dinner. Also outside of basketball, there will be guest speakers and social events. Teams from Hillel organizations at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University have participated in the tournament. New York-based philanthropists Jonathan and Dina Leader are the main tournament sponsors. For more information on the tournament, go to www.marylandhillel.org. SWEET 16 POINTS Amanda Moss scored 16 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field, but the Kalamazoo College women’s basketball team lost 83-74 to host Thiel College on Dec. 8 in Greenville, Pa. Moss is a 5-foot-4 sophomore guard from Bloomfield Hills High School who also plays for the Kalamazoo women’s lacrosse team. She was adopted from China by David and Janice Ross when she was 9 months old. MONEY FOR MSU Quicken Loans Inc. founder and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and his wife Jennifer made a $15 million donation to Michigan State University. Part of the money will be used for a $50 million renovation of the Breslin Arena that includes a new box office and the addition of the Tom Izzo Hall of History. Dan Gilbert graduated from MSU in 1983. Jennifer Gilbert is a 1990 MSU grad. * Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.