Bessie Spector Oldest Jewish Americans Celebration
The 2024 Bessie Spector Oldest Jewish Americans Celebration rolled out the red carpet for over 300 attendees, including 80 honorees, of whom, a dozen were centenarians! This takes quite a lot of love and effort, so we’d like to thank all the amazing people who made this happen.
First, thanks go to the family of Bessie Spector z”l who sponsor this event each year, especially Joan Chernoff-Epstein who is always focused on making sure the honorees enjoy themselves as much as her grandmother did.
Our chairs Jain Lauter, Joyce Berlin Weingarten, and Julie Zussman (we call them the Js), are an incredible team who help coordinate everything from tracking down potential honorees to directing the army of volunteers who show up to help every year.
We have a dedicated committee who show up and pitch in for whatever is needed, including Sharon Alterman, Joan Chernoff-Epstein, Shelli Dorfman, Carol Weintraub Fogel, Dennis Frank, Peggy Frank, Kathy Halliburton, Sharon Kaplan, Andrea Margolis-Stillman, Geri Margolis, Sandi Matz, Hannah Moss, Brett Panter, Alissa Pianin, Heather Salesin, Abby Segal, Carol Sofen, Nancy Solway. The committee also includes representatives of our partner organizations Debi Banooni/Gesher, Rosa Chessler/The J, and Barb Haddad/Jewish Family Service.
Between the set-up and the event, we had over 70 volunteers and JSL staff helping honorees in, serving drinks, putting on boutonnieres and corsages, and the hundred and one other tasks that add up to an enjoyable event. They include, in addition to the chairs, committee, and staff, Janet Antin, Carol Blender, Stacy Carroll, Sandy Collins, Sandra Eidelman, Anita Fishman, Jen Freedland, Jenni Galazka, Phyllis Gantman, Barb Giles, Wendy Handler, Ilene Harris, Margery Jablin, Sharon Kaplan, Linda Klein, Shira Lauter Wolberg, Rebecca Lauter, Dottie Levitsky, Bunni Lieberman, Bobbie Malin, Jerry Malin, Marcia Mittleman, Rabbi Polter, Janet Pont, Tracey Proghovnick, Megan Pudick, Wendy Robins, Iris Rosen, Barb Saltsman, Phyllis Schwartz, Marcia Seigerman, Charley Silow, Sue Simon, Carol Sofen, Nancy Solway, Addie Sweet, Eileen Terman, Connie Wolberg, and Marcy Zussman.
And special thanks to Detroit Parade Company for loaning us all the decorations that made this a really fun event, Brett Panter of Brody’s Custom Clothing, Printing & Provisions for his fun graphic designs, and Gerych’s for helping to make our honorees feel special with their beautiful boutonnieres and corsages.
