Party Favors Bring Fun, Creativity to Weddings

The sky's the limit when it comes to wedding favors, and businesses from Bloomfield Township, Clawson and Davisburg will show theirs Sunday at a Joe Cornell Expo in West Bloomfield.

Move over, Jordan almonds. Brides and grooms want to give their guests a memorable gift that will last beyond the day after the big day. Companies offering the latest in wedding mementos will have displays at the Joe Cornell 10th Annual Event Planning Expo, held Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center, 6600 W. Maple in West Bloomfield.  Here are several crowd-pleasers you'll see at the event: Photo booths have become a popular feature at wedding receptions. In addition to taking pictures, the booth can also take care of the favors.  With a package from Infinity Photobooth of Clawson, guests pose for pictures in groups of up to 12 people.  Each person then gets a photo strip with a custom-designed logo commemorating the …

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What's New: Fall Theater at the Berman Center

This fall, the West Bloomfield performing arts center will feature a Broadway legend and kids programming among other shows.

There's always something happening at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield and this fall, the Berman Center for the Performing Arts promises a packed schedule Since West Bloomfield Patch is dedicated to keeping you informed about what's going on around town, today, we're taking a closer look at: What could Broadway legend Barbara Cook have in common with horses, elephants, and Winnie the Pooh bear? They'll all be featured at a new programming lineup for the Berman Center of the Performing Arts 2012-13 season. The new Kids Sundays at the Berman this fall features a diverse collection of films and plays with lower ticket prices for children. Meanwhile, the new Signature Series opens with Cook before continuing in 2013 with shows by…

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Broadway Star Neuwirth Starring at Berman Center

Known for roles in 'Cheers' and 'Chicago,' Neuwirth comes to West Bloomfield to perform music in a one-woman show.

The Berman Center for the Performing Arts may be the place in West Bloomfield "where everybody knows your name," but don't expect to see Dr. Lilith Sternin from TV's "Cheers" when Bebe Neuwirth takes the stage tonight. In her one-woman cabaret show "Stories With Piano," Neuwirth will perform music by world-renowned songwriters and composers including Stephen Sondheim and the team of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. "Sometimes it's a linear story, sometimes it's more abstract than that," said Neuwirth, 53, who won a Tony award as a Broadway star after winning two Emmys for her role on "Cheers." As the main event of the annual Stephen Gottlieb Festival of the Arts, ending this Sunday, Neuwirth is expected to perform sing pop songs by Edith …

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Prime29 Set to Open with Jewish Community Center Fundraiser

'Casual fine' steakhouse set to open to the public in West Bloomfield on Sunday.

A new steakhouse at the Shops of Old Orchard complex in West Bloomfield is sure to get off on the right foot tonight at a fundraiser to benefit the Jewish Community Center. On Thursday, 50 percent of the gross dinner sales that evening will be used for scholarship assistance for children in the JCC's summer day camps. Prime29 is set to open to the public Sunday in the former location of 7 Ultra Lounge and Restaurant, 6545 Orchard Lake Rd. Described as "casual fine" dining by management, patrons should have the opportunity to enjoy features such as outdoor dining with a fireplace in addition to a steak menu with a twist. Beverage director Mike Derlyo explains that Prime29's roster of cuts, from an 8 oz. filet mignon to the 24. oz. Tomahawk …

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Alan Stamm

10:16 am on Monday, August 13, 2012

Veteran food writer Molly Abraham praises the food, "attention to detail" and "expensive trappings" in The Detroit News: http://bit.ly/NkR3OD   more ›

Great Jews in Sports the Focus of New Exhibit

Free film screening scheduled at Berman Center next week followed by tour of new Jewish Sports Memorabilia Collection.

Jewish sports fans in the United States have passed down the stories and career highlights of Jewish superstar athletes like folklore to children for few generations. One die hard Detroit sports fan and memorabilia collector, Robert Matthews, of Farmington Hills, has put his collection regarding Jewish athletes on exhibit at the Jewish Community Center, in order to encourage a sense of history and pride in local children. "Owning the collection is one thing," said Matthews, an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit's school of dentistry, "sharing it and talking to people with a common interest is totally different." Matthews will guide a tour of the collection July 25, as the JCC's Berman Center for the Performing Arts will host a …

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Police Blotter

Police: Man Stole from Jewish Community Center Raffle

The following information was provided by the West Bloomfield Township Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.

A man was arrested Monday after police say he was caught on camera stealing cash from a table for a raffle set up at the Jewish Community Center. According to West Bloomfield Police Lt. Tim Diamond, the man, 40, from Southfield, denied the allegations from the incident — that he took $50 as the JCC employee working at the table was distracted. Diamond continued that the man had been there to use the fitness center when he struck up a conversation with the employee and left soon after the theft allegedly took place. When the man came back to the fitness center, he was recognized, and police were called, Diamond said. The man was released pending a warrant on charges of larceny. Police are investigating a report that windows at the closed …

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Kids Using Cancer Experience to Teach Others

Local kids will pass along lessons from martial arts through new phone application.

A nonprofit organization is proving that a diagnosis of cancer, even at a very young age, can serve as a teachable moment. The children involved with Kids Kicking Cancer will put on a special demonstration of martial arts skills which they have learned in order to cope with stress and pain. The event takes place this Thursday, from 6-8 p.m. at the Berman Center for Performing Arts in West Bloomfield. Former WDIV-TV reporter and current Kids Kicking Cancer President Lila Lazarus will emcee the event, which is dedicated to promoting the new iPhone and Blackberry application from the nonprofit organization called "the Breath Brake."  According to the Kids Kicking Cancer website, the application will "teach you to relax your mind and body …

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Your Last Chance to See the Jewish Film Festival

The event which began April 22 ends Thursday.

This week, don't miss your last chance to: On Tuesday, the Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival promises to hit the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center with an "Israeli reality" courtesy of filmmaker-in-residence and guest from Israel, Galit Roichman.  Roichman, a graduate of Tel Aviv University, screenwriter and online editor of popular Israeli web portal Ynet, will be the speaker for a lunch and learn beginning at noon on May 1 at the JCC, and she will host talk-backs following several films that highlight life in Israel: Strangers No More and Homecoming (showing together) and Restoration. Festival Director Rachel Ruskin describes Roichman as "a captivating speaker" with an impressive knowledge of Israeli film. "You buy a ticket to an …

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'Israeli Reality' Set to Take Over Jewish Film Festival

The Jewish Community Center will host special guest Israeli filmmaker Galit Roichman for the 14th annual event that runs April 22-May 3.

For the 14th year, the Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival will take over the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center, starting April 22. This year, organizers promise an "Israeli reality" courtesy of a special guest filmmaker who knows day-to-day life in Tel Aviv firsthand. Doors to the Jewish Community Center open at noon April 22 for the 12-day event featuring more than 30 films and guest speakers, including filmmakers from Michigan and filmmaker in residence Galit Roichman. "Each one of these films is like entering another world, like going on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure," first-year festival Director Rachel Ruskin said in a news release.   "You buy a ticket to an Israeli film and you meet Israeli reality enlarged on the big screen, …

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Jewish Music Festival Kicks Off at the Center

The Stephen Gottlieb Music Festival runs through March 25.