34 | SEPTEMBER 12 • 2019 

W

hat better way to 
mark a birthday 
than by kicking 
up your heels on an all-girls 
trip? On Sept. 3, a group of 13 
friends did just that, heading to 
Stratford, Ontario, to celebrate 
not just any birthday, but their 
milestone 80th birthday.
What makes this trip 
extra special for the freshly 
minted octogenarians is that 
they’
re that unique breed of 
lifelong childhood friends. 
In the 1940s, they attended 
Hampton Elementary School 
in Detroit together; they grad-
uated from Mumford High 
school in Detroit in 1957.
All active community mem-
bers, Penny Blumenstein, 
Doreen Hermelin, Linda 

Klein, Bluma Schechter, Judy 
Rosenberg, Lois Rubin and 
Margie Krasnick still live in 
Metro Detroit, while others 
are flying in to join the fes-
tivities from farther afield — 
Susan Meretsky and Maureen 
Schwartzberg from Windsor, 
Ellen Warshaw from Texas, 
Seema Boesky from New York, 
Roz Lax from Chicago and 
Connie Lapin from California. 
This is not their first trip 
together. About 10 years after 
graduation, Boesky invited her 
friends to her New York home 
for a weekend. They had such 
a wonderful time, they made 
sure to repeat the experience 
every 10 years. The friends 
have gone on memorable hik-
ing, horseback riding and spa 

trips to Mexico, the Berkshires 
and Aspen. 
“It’
s all wonderful,” Krasnick 
said. “It’
s a delightful thing we 
keep doing; and now here we 
are at this big birthday and we’
re 
still going. It’
s very exciting!”
She pointed out that no 
friendship can compare to one 
with someone you’
ve known 
since you were 7 or 8 years 
old. They’
ve been through so 
much together, shared family 
celebrations, suffered losses. 
The entire group feels 
very fortunate to have such 
a vibrant group of childhood 
friendships. Lax said, “Our 
time together throughout the 
years has been a gift … of new 
stories of the present and fun 
stories from our past. Time is 

very special, and this group 
knows how to celebrate it!”
A week before the scheduled 
trip, the women were delirious 
with excitement and prepared 
for a fantastic time. The itin-
erary was organized as a labor 
of love by Schwartzberg, who 
is an independent travel con-
sultant. While hammering 
out the details of the trip, 
she began all her group cor-
respondence with “Dearest 
Girlfriends,” a sentiment the 
feisty ladies enjoyed so much, 
they had matching T-shirts 
made that read “Dearest 
Girlfriends” — all in Mumford 
school colors, of course. 
A hired bus took the group 
to Stratford. On Wednesday, 
they started off with brunch 
and a performance of The 
Front Page at the Festival 
Theatre, followed by their 
much-anticipated celebratory 
birthday dinner at the Bruce 
Hotel. On Thursday, they 
enjoyed a theater tour, lunch 
and dinner reservations and a 
performance of Billy Elliot. 
Every day’
s a treat with 
these women and, still, they’
re 
looking ahead and planning 
more fun. What’
s in the cards 
for their 90th birthday cele-
bration? Kraznick said, “We’
ll 
be talking about that, for 
sure. We’
ll probably want to 
go to the moon by then, who 
knows? My girlfriends and I 
don’
t stop — it’
s great!” 

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

‘
Dearest girlfriends’
 celebrate 
80th birthday with big trip.

These longtime 
friends get ready 
for their trip to 
Stratford. 

Jews in the D

DERRICK MARTINEZ

BIRMINGHAM STREET ART FAIR
In Downtown Birmingham’s Shain Park

Common Ground’s 45th Annual

Produced 
i
n 
associ
ati
on 
wi
th

Featured artwork: “Letting Go” by Chuck Wimmer

BirminghamStreetArtFair.com

September 14 & 15, 2019

Saturday, September 14, 10am - 6pm
Sunday, September 15, 10am - 5pm

150 Jury Selected Artists

Free Admission Plus...
Children’s Art Activities
Live Entertainment
Delicious Food Vendors
Silent Art Auction
to Benefit Common Ground!

BFFs Forever

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

