28 | OCTOBER 15 • 2020 

Jewish Sports Hall of 
Fame Needs New Home

quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN 

Frankel Jewish Academy basketball teams play their home games at the 
Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit in West Bloomfield.
But that arrangement has a cloudy future because of the JCC’
s recent 
announcement that it’
s closing its health club.
JCC CEO Brian Siegel told the Jewish News the JCC will honor its lease 
agreement with FJA, which includes use of the fitness center.
FJA athletic director Rick Dorn said last week he hadn’
t had any discus-
sions with the JCC about the lease. 

JCC announcement leaves location of plaques in limbo.

STEVEN STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
T

he Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of 
Fame is much more than just a col-
lection of plaques on walls.
And there are a lot of plaques.
Since 1985, there have been 130 induct-
ees into the Hall of Fame.
Since 1987, there have been 36 recip-
ients of the Alvin and Shirley Foon 
Humanitarian Award.
Since 1991, there have been 69 Jewish 
News High School Athletes of the Year.
Since 2012, there have been 41 Pillars of 
Excellence recipients.
Since 2016, there have been 18 recipients 
of Dr. Steven and Evelyn Rosen Stars of 
Tomorrow scholarships.
Each honoree is celebrated with a 
plaque at the Jewish Community Center of 
Metropolitan Detroit in West Bloomfield.
But those plaques need a new venue now 
that the JCC has closed its health club in the 
D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building.
The JCC has been the Hall of Fame’
s only 

home. The Hall of Fame has been there 
since 1985.
Stuart Raider, president of the Michigan 
Jewish Sports Foundation, which oversees 
the Hall of Fame, wants the Hall of Fame 
to remain at the JCC. He’
s cautiously opti-
mistic that will happen.
“The majority of the Hall of Fame 
inductees have a connection to the JCC,
” 
he said. “I hope the JCC also appreciates 
the fact that the Hall of Fame is like the 
Michigan Jewish sports historical society, 
and it needs to be preserved.
“The Hall of Fame is very much a part 
of our community. If the Hall of Fame can’
t 
stay at the JCC, we hope we can find a 
home in another Jewish venue, like a syna-
gogue.
”
As someone who has had the privilege 
of informing several Hall of Fame induct-
ees about their induction, Raider said, he 
knows what the honor means to them.
“One man told me it made his life,
” 

Raider said.
West Bloomfield resident Maynard 
Flusty’
s life is intertwined with the JCC and 
two Hall of Fame inductees.
Flusty, 88, has been using JCC sports and 
fitness facilities since he was 10, back when 
the JCC was located at Woodward and 
Holbrook in Detroit. The building is now 
the Considine Recreation Center.
Before COVID-19 shut down the JCC 
health club in West Bloomfield in March, 
Flusty was working out there for an hour in 
the morning seven days a week, then taking 
a steam bath, showering, shaving and kibb-

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Bowling alleys across the state can 
host organized events like leagues 
as long as recommended COVID-19 
safety measures are in place, but two 
weekly B’
nai B’
rith bowling leagues 
don’
t plan to begin their season in 
2020.
Justin Kaplan, president of the 
Downtown Fox-MLZG League, which 
bowls Tuesday 
nights at 
Hartfield Lanes 
in Berkley, said 
league members 
will assess the 
situation in 
January and 
see if they want 
to start a short 
season that month.
“If it’
s safe, we’
d love to bowl,” 
Kaplan said. “Our league is not just 
about bowling. It’
s about camaraderie.”
Kaplan said league members, in a 

majority vote, 
decided not to 
bowl in 2020 
even though 
Hartfield Lanes 
provided infor-
mation and a 
video about its 
safety measures.
“Things are 
just too unpredictable right now,” 
Kaplan said.
Gary Klinger, from the 
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson League, 
said league play is scheduled to begin 
Jan. 4 at Country Lanes in Farmington 
Hills. The league bowls on Monday 
nights.
Each league ended last season a 
month early in March because of the 
pandemic.

Read more Quick Hits at 
thejewishnews.com.

Gary Klinger

Justin Kaplan

SHAEF led the Inter-Congregational Men’
s Club Summer Softball League’
s fall 
season through four weeks of the five-week season, posting an 8-0 record.
The Jeters (5-3), Marble Rye (4-4), Kosher Ribs (3-4-1), The Sandlot (2-6) 
and Bad News Jews (1-6-1) followed the leader.
Regular-season play in the league ended this past Sunday. Single-
elimination playoffs will be held this Sunday.
Teams in the weekly fall league are made up of players from different Inter-
Congregational summer league teams. Games are being played this fall at 
Keith Sports Park in West Bloomfield.
SHAEF is the acronym for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary 
Force commanded by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II.

A bust of former Detroit Tigers star Hank Greenberg 
and plaques honoring Pillars of Excellence recipients 
are on display in the Michigan Jewish Sports 
Hall of Fame at the Jewish Community Center of 
Metropolitan Detroit.

