Sunday, Aug. 18
CEMETERY WALK
The Baron de Hirsch Cemetery offers a walking tour of the historic site starting at 10:30 a.m. More than a century old, the Baron de Hirsch is Canada’s largest Jewish cemetery, the final resting place of 55,000 people. Visitors will learn its history, hear stories about the famous and infamous who lie there, and be acquainted with Jewish burial customs. Meet at the front office. In case of rain, postponed to Aug. 25. 514-735-4696.
PRIDE PARADE
Ga’ava, a Jewish LGBTQ organization, is again participating in the Montreal Pride Parade and invites friends to walk with it, starting at 11:30 a.m. at René Lévesque Boulevard, between Fort and Guy streets. Ga’ava can be found on Facebook.
Monday, Aug. 19
POLISH JEWISH RECORDS
Stanley Diamond, founder and CEO of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland , gives a lecture on recent developments in this unique resource for tracing one’s roots in Poland, at the Jewish Public Library at 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal, of which Diamond is president. www.jgs-montreal.org.
SHELTER VOLUNTEERS
Auberge Shalom pour Femmes, a centre for women who are victims of conjugal violence and their dependent children, begins interviews of prospective volunteers today until Aug. 26. Male and female volunteers over age 18 are sought. Training begins in October. For an appointment, call Bev, 514-731-6519.
Tuesday, Aug. 20
ISRAEL UPDATE
Hershey Dwoskin provides an update on Israel, at a Beth Ora Seniors meeting at 1:30 p.m. 514-342-1234, ext. 7318.
Thursday, Aug. 22
CATS THE CONCERT
The Côte St. Luc Cats Committee (CSLCC) holds a fundraising concert in the former Wagar High School building, 5785 Parkhaven Ave., at 7:30 p.m. The Musicians of the World Orchestra, conducted by Joseph Milo, present “Beethoven, Broadway and All That Jazz – The Cat’s Meow.” Proceeds go to the CSLCC’s trap, neuter, release/adopt program for wild cats and Educhat, the volunteer organization headed by Shelley Schecter, which has spearheaded Côte St. Luc’s efforts on behalf of homeless felines. Ticket information, www.cotestluc.org/cats.
FAMILY FUN DAY
The Chevra synagogue holds its annual carnival and barbecue for the whole family at Hampstead Park. For details, call Iona, 514-482-3366.
…Et Cetera…
HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
The Bialik Alumni Charity Hockey Tournament is held Aug. 25 at the Samuel Moskovitch Arena in Côte St. Luc, beginning at 9 a.m. Opening ceremonies are at noon, and a barbecue lunch is served from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. The tournament is organized by a group of former students and teachers, headed by Bob Nathan, an educator at Bialik High School for over 25 years. Proceeds go to the Sarcoma Cancer Foundation at the Montreal General Hospital. The tournament is held in memory of Olivier Voruantonis and former Bialik student Tal Shochat, two young men who died from this disease. www.bialikhockeytournament.com.
ICAN SUPPORT
The International Community Action Network (ICAN), formerly known as the McGill Middle East Peace Program, is the beneficiary of some much needed financial support. Its community centre in Sderot, near the Gaza border, in co-operation with Sapir College, just obtained a three-year commitment of 150,000 NIS (about $43,000) from a local philanthropist to begin outreach in Ofakim, a development town in southern Israel, about 20 km west of Be’er Sheva. The ultimate goal is to open an ICAN centre there. ICAN lost its main source of revenue over the past 20 years, from the Canadian International Development Agency in December, and has been looking for new support. Two other ICAN centres also recently secured new funds: in the disadvantaged Ashrafiyeh district of Amman, Jordan, which received $122,000 from the Middle East Partnership Initiative for legal service to women suffering from domestic violence, and $32,000 from the Dutch government to support children’s rights, while the one in East Jerusalem is getting about $680,000 over three years from Britain’s Department for International Development, to help residents get their legal rights.
SENIORS COURSES
The Creative Social Centre at The Chevra synagogue offers daytime courses this fall in aerobics, yoga, folk and line dancing, and painting and other media, as well as a choir, no audition necessary. 514-488-0907…The West Island Cummings Centre, at 96 Roger Pilon Ave., Dollard des Ormeaux, is accepting registration for fall programs for those age 50 and over. Eileen, 514-624-5005.
WOMEN’S CANCERS
Larissa Feldman reports that her pharmacy on Westminister Avenue in Côte St. Luc, which she co-owns with Sandy Messias, has raised close to $16,000 for the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers Aug. 24-25, benefiting the Jewish General Hospital’s Segal Cancer Centre.
The money was collected since last fall by their staff and from customers through such means as sales of homemade baking, second-hand books and of a reusable shopping bag the pharmacists had specially designed for the weekend. Feldman and Messias Pharmacy will field a team in the 60-km annual walk called Save the Girls.
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ CAST
Three-time Juno Award-winning jazz and blues singer Kim Richardson will star in the opening play of the Segal Centre’s season, Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show, from Sept. 29-Oct. 20. Another headliner announced is Toya Alexis, a runner-up in CTV’s Canadian Idol, who recently performed as Effie in the Canadian and London production of Dreamgirls. Ain’t Misbehavin’ is co-produced with Allan Sandler’s Copa de Oro Productions, which brought the original The Mahalia Jackson Musical to the Segal in March. Its director, Roger Peace, is back to direct this Tony Award-winning revue set in the golden age of jazz in New York. Segal artistic producer Paul Flicker is hoping for another stellar season. Last year, the Segal’s mainstage theatre saw a 22 per cent increase in ticket sales, he said.
About Ourselves
Sure to cause waves is a new collection of stories, purportedly fiction, entitled My Dirty Clothes: Real Garmento Tales and Pulp Fashion by Stick (aka Jonathan Reisler). A third-generation “garmento” himself, the author exposes “the real world”, filled with unsavoury characters, behind the glamour of the fashion industry.
This self-published work consists of more than 40 stories, written in the old pulp magazine style. “It pulls no punches, makes no apologies, and describes the state of the industry…from a player’s perspective,” he says.