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Peretz School graduating class of ’63 subject of Atlantic Magazine profile

1966 Peretz School graduating class
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By MYRON LOVE Class reunions are most often a once (or twice)in a life time event. I myself have attended two smallish reunions of my Peretz School cohort as well as Aberdeen School’s 100th anniversary and St. Johns High School’s 75th and 100th anniversaries. While many welcome the opportunity to reconnect with former classmates – and others not so much – several members of the I.L. Peretz Folk School class of ’63 have in recent years made class reunions a regular happening.

 

Peretz photo 1966

Back row, standing, left to right: Bailey Rayter, Eric Posen, Lanny Silver, Harold Silverman, Mark Waintman, Ron Charach, Leslie Hatklin.

Middle row, left to right: Ethel (Levine) Kofsky, Bella (Sapoznik) Ben-Ari, Sharon Winokur, Ester (Schwartz) Kagan, Clara (Ross) Smukler,  Barbara (Shoib) Murray z”l, Phyllis (Chrzan) Wollach.

Front row, seated, left to right: Annette (Feldman) Nagler z”l, Sharon Love, Sharen (Martin) Hogarth, Betty Eisenstadt, Janis (Swick) Wisher, Hilda (Szternfeld) Smith, Anita (Ladner) Bakal, Nettie Schwetz.

Our teacher Mrs. Brooks is on the left and Mr. P. Herstein, the principal, is standing on the right.

 

Peretz Reunion photo

Top photo taken in Vancouver at the home of Bob and Reesa (Margolis) Devlin, August 2015, during our 65th birthday reuni

Seated, left to right: Leslie Hatklin, Brenda (Grushko) Casey, Arthur Itzkow,  Ethel (Levine) Kofsky, Carol Pollock, Janis (Swick) Wisher, Gity (Shklarsky) Morris-Finkel, Candy Zell.

Standing, left to right: Ron Charach, Harold Abosh, Faigie (Raber) Samson, Earl Zimmer, Sharon Love, Lanny Silver, Myrna Shefrin, Bailey Rayter, Bella (Sapoznik) Ben-Ari, Reesa (Margolis) Devlin.

Now that bond that these former classmates have formed has been given international recognition in the pages of the prestigious Atlantic Monthly magazine. In the April 2 edition of the magazine, writer Julie Beck, under the aegis of her “Friendship Files” column, interviewed five of the classmates about their enduring friendship through the years. The five – Ron Charach, Reesa (Margolis) Devlin, Ethel (Levine) Kofsky, Sharon Love (my sister) and Bailey Rayter – reminisced about their elementary school days, growing up in Winnipeg’s Jewish community, the nature of their bonds over the years and how the reunions began.
As noted in the article, the first reunion was held 20 years ago to commemorate the 50th birthdays of the graduating class of ’63. Reesa Devlin, a former business owner and food writer, recalled that after she moved to Vancouver from Winnipeg – 25 years ago – she reconnected with some of her Peretz School classmates living there and they began to see each regularly. There were 14 of them living in Vancouver. It was the Vancouver group that organized the first reunion, which was held on the May long weekend in 2000. Since then, there have been three more reunions – alternating between Winnipeg (where the other large segment of the former classmates, including Love and Rayter, still live) and Vancouver – each commemorating milestones – either birthdays or other significant moments.
The second reunion, Sharon Love notes, took place in Vancouver over the November 11th, 2010 weekend, in celebration of the cohort’s 60th birthday. The third reunion was in Winnipeg in June 2013 – the 50th anniversary of their graduation from Peretz School. The fourth was back in Vancouver in August 2015, celebrating 65th birthdays. The last reunion was supposed to be last June in celebrating the 70th birthdays of the former classmates. That, however, was changed to a Zoom get together due to Covid restrictions.
Devlin noted in the article that the weekend reunions are replete with structured activities, including home dinners, some touring and a farewell brunch.
It was Ron Charach who got the ball rolling in regard to the Atlantic article. The Toronto-based psychiatrist and author (who was profiled in a recent Jewish Post & News column coinciding with the launch of his new children’ book) had written a lengthy non-fiction piece about the reunions, called “Elementary Reunion”.
“I got a reply from the editor of the Atlantic’s Family section saying she liked the idea but wanted one of her own writers (Julie Beck) to interview some of us,” Charach says. “I was asked to recommend four of my fellow students to join us in a joint interview.”
He chose Sharon Love because, he says, she has become the group’s unofficial historian (having written about the reunions in this newspaper). Bailey Rayter and Charach were best friends growing up. Reesa Devlin was one of the organizers from the Vancouver contingent. And Ethel Kofsky, Charach notes, added the perspective of being a child of Holocaust survivors.
Love reports that “the interview of us five talking lasted about an hour and a half. We did a lot of talking and, as a writer, she had to put together something that I am sure a lot of people can relate to”.
“Julie crafted a fine article,” Charach observes. “We were very happy about how it turned out.”
He adds that he is surprised at how many people have read the story. “This story has legs (in news media parlance),” he observes. “My daughter, for example, found out about it from a colleague at work.”
“We were fortunate that a special camaraderie developed within our group,” Bailey Rayter adds. “And it wasn’t just through our school ties. We saw each other a lot outside of school as well. Our lives were intertwined. We lived in the same neighbourhoods. We knew each other’s siblings. There were some family connections. We all went to the Y and many of us joined BBYO.”
As a psychologist, he points out that studies show that, particularly for boys, friendships we form can last a lifetime.
It is not so much a case of these former classmates having been lifelong best friends though, Charach points out. “After graduation, many of us went our separate ways. It is just that when you reconnect with former classmates there is a comfortable familiarity (similar to family) that you don’t share with friends who don’t go back that far.”

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Bright future for Israeli-born University of Manitoba Science student Erele Tzidon

Erele Tzidon

By MYRON LOVE Erele Tzidon,  a second year Science student at the University of Manitoba, seems to have a bright future ahead of her. 

Dr. Inna
Rabinovich-Nikitin

The year before last, the Israeli-born graduate of Gray Academy received a University of Manitoba undergraduate research award, which allowed her to pursue research as a member of Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin’s research team at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, (ICS) researching  the link between pregnancy complications and the risk for heart disease. 


The world-renowned institute, directed by Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum, studies heart disease and heart function with the goal of researching means to repair damaged heart cells and prevent heart failure.
This past November, Tzidon was presented with a second award – the Dr. James S. McGoey Student Award – based on the quality of her cardiovascular research at the ICS, which operates out of the St. Boniface Hospital’s Albrechchtsen Research Centre.
“We are very proud of Erele and her achievements,” says Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin.  “We believe she has a promising future in medical research.”
Originally from Moshav Ginaton in central Israel, Tzidon came to Winnipeg in 2018 with her parents Ofer, formerly  regional manager for a car rental agency in  Israel and now an RBC branch Manager, and Sharon, an emotional therapist in Israel who is currently working as an educational assistant at Gray Academy. Tzidon also has three younger brothers.
The 19-year-od reports that it was through a connection she forged with  Rabinovich-Nikitin at G ray Academy  (where the latter has three children enrolled in the elementary program) that opened the door to a summer position at the ICS in 2023.  She notes that she is at the ICS two days a week and at the U of M three days a week.
“I have always wanted to do research,” she says, “because I have an unlimited number of questions.  And I love working with the great team at the ICS.”
One of the primary focuses at the ICS in recent years has been on women’s heart health.  Three years ago Kirshenbaum created a new research program within St. Boniface Hospital specifically for the study of heart disease in women.  Dr. Rabinovich-Nikitin was the first faculty member seconded to the new research program
In an earlier article I wrote about her in the Post (in 2021), I noted that she, like Erele Tzidon, is originally from Israel, having arrived in Winnipeg in 2016 with her husband Sergey, and their two children (a third child was born here) to further her scientific knowledge through working in Kirshenbaum’s lab.
Rabinovich-Nikitin is graduate of Tel Aviv University with a Ph.D. in biotechnology.
“I was always interested in science, how things work,” she notes.  “I have a particular interest in women’s cardiac health.”
Four years ago she herself was presented with the Winnipeg Foundation’s Martha Donavan Leadership Development Award. The award  is intended to provide leadership development opportunities for women in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Eligible applicants include  women who are full-time or part-time academic faculty members, students of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, and students  as well as post-doctoral trainees (including residents), presently enrolled in a program of study within the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.
In  2022 Rabinovich-Nikitin, was the winner of the Louis N. and Arnold M. Katz Basic Science Research Prize for Early Career Investigators awarded by the American heart Association (AHA).  This award is the highest international recognition of research excellence for an early career investigator to receive, and Rabinovich-Nikitin is the first ever Canadian scientist to receive this award.  
 That same year  she joined the University of Manitoba Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology as an assistant professor, studying heart disease in women. Rabinovich-Nikitin observes that heart disease in women presents itself in a different way than in men.  She notes that one of the new lab’s initial findings was that there is one specific gene that leads to cardiovascular issues in some pregnant women that can point to heart disease later in life, and also have negative implications for the development of their children.  Those children are smaller at birth and, as adults, are prone to hypertension, diabetes and obesity,
“We are looking into how that particular gene increases the risk of heart disease.” she says.
Rabinovich-Nikitin would like to invites readers who may be interested in learning more about women’s heart health to a free program the ICS is offering on Sunday, February 23 at the Wellness Institute at 1075 Leila Avenue from 1:00-4:00. The afternoon will feature speakers, children’s activities and Zumba sessions.
“I would encourage everyone who has questions and wants to learn about women’s heart health to attend,” she says.  
You can find more about the event at https://megaheartevent.com/

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Videographer/photographer Jeff Gordon looking forward to sharing his expertise through series of in-person classes

By MYRON LOVE Jeff Gordon is the epitome of a visionary and the trajectory of the local videographer/photographer has just gone into overdrive.
At the beginning of the year, the founder of JAG Videos and Photography inaugurated his brand new state-of-the-art studio in a new facility he built behind his north River Heights home.  And, shortly after, he launched the first session of his new school for budding photographers and videographers.
“Up until now, the only options for anyone interested in learning the art of photography or making videos has been either Red River College or the University of Winnipeg,” Gordon points out.  “I recognized a niche here and my goal is to fill this gap.”
The first of the 16-week sessions in his new studio began in mid-January.   He reports that he is running three classes a week- one strictly for teenagers.
“The course exceeded my expectations. We sold out quickly and I have a waiting list,” he notes.  “I have 16 students divided among the three classes.  I am teaching the students everything I know about photographer and videography.  The curriculum is easy to follow.
Increasingly, we are in a digital world,” he adds.  “Businesses need staff who are adept at making videos and taking photographs.  Companies need staff who are able to create videos for them to promote the business online.”
He envisages offering the program three times a year – with future sessions beginning in May and September. 
Gordon’s curriculum is his own creation, based on his experience and a previous training manual he wrote years ago for an entirely different group of students – drummers.
Before Jeff Gordon discovered his passion for photography and videography, he was a musician – a drummer to be specific.  The graduate of the Hebrew Bilingual program at Brock Corydon Elementary School and later, Shaftesbury High School, began playing drums in high school and started teaching others to play shortly after.
“I used to have as many as 40 students at a time,” he recalls.
Following graduation from Shaftesbury, he enrolled at the Los Angeles Music Academy.  In 2006 he graduated from the jazz program at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton.  His professional credits include 16 years as a drummer with the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble and five years as a member of a touring band called “Driver.”
It was while performing with “Driver” that he began doing videography. “I have always been fascinated by technology,” he says.  “While on tour, I began making videos of our live concerts.  I would set up four or five cameras to record the shows.”
In 2014 Gordon took the plunge and dove into photography and videography full time with the founding of JAG Videos and Photography.  “I started with weddings and gradually started to develop a commercial and corporate clientele,” he says.  “I do a lot of head shots for businesses. I have also done a number of TV spots for Global and Corus.”
In his new studio he has also been recording a weekly podcast for a client, he reports.  “I have a chesterfield for the podcaster and her guests and provide a coffee table and coffee.”
And while the Covid lockdown proved to be disastrous for many, for Gordon it turned out to be very good for his business. “I was really busy,” he says.  “Because of the lockdown,  there was an increased demand from corporations and companies for videos.”
Previous to building his own studio, Gordon notes, he was renting space in the Exchange District.  “I got the idea for building my own home studio while having renovations done in our kitchen,” he recounts.  “It took about a year to build. It’s great having the studio. It feels like an extension of my home.”   
(He adds that he is still going out on location when required.)
“I really enjoy teaching,” he says. “I love expounding on subjects I am passionate about.”
Jeff Gordon has bold plans for his school and curriculum. “I hope to be able to expand the number of students to the point where I need a larger space,” he says.  “I envisage hiring other teachers and running multiple classes at the same time.  I hope to create a digital version of the course and sell it widely online.   I would also like to be able to license my program and sell it to schools and universities.”
Gordon feels that he is truly blessed to have been able to turn a hobby into a full time business.
As the same time, he hasn’t entirely given up the drums.  “I still have my drum set in my basement,” he notes.”I am enjoying teaching my two daughters (both Brock Corydon students incidentally) to play the drums.”
Jeff Gordon’s website address is www.jagvideos.com.

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Winnipegger featured in Apple commercial highlighting new adaptive technology

Melissa Shaapiro with Apple CEO Tim Cook

By MYRON LOVE The year just past has been a memorable one for Melissa Shapiro.  In recent weeks she and her boyfriend moved into their new home in East Kildonan and – in September, the daughter of Cory and Goldelyn Shapiro – was one of the featured guests at Apple Headquarters in Las Vegas for the premiere of an advertisement – produced by the tech company – highlighting Apple’s newly developed adaptive technology.
“I was flown out to California by Apple’s PR team,” recalls the 26-year-old policy analyst with the Education and Early Childhood Learning Department.  “The event was held at Apple Park. It was really exciting seeing all the newest products and features.”
Shapiro, who was born missing her left arm, came to the attention of Apple as a result of Instagram videos she made demonstrating her ability to work out as an adaptive athlete. Last May,  Shapiro reviewed the Apple watch’s accessibility features in a video, and it caught Apple’s attention. 
“I was contacted by a casting agency in July,” she reports.  “Next thing I know, we are filming in Toronto in August.  I was the only Canadian involved in filming the commercial.”
Shapiro has never let her disability define her life- thanks in part both to her parents and the War Amps of Canada Child Amputee program, which reached out to her family three weeks after she was born.
“We received a lot of support – financial, recreational and emotional – from the War Amps,” she says.   “Through the program, my family was able to connect with other families with similar challenges.
As well, the War Amps helped me to integrate in school and participate in sports while I was growing up by providing me with different prosthetics paid for by donations to the program. 
Over the years, Shapiro ha been able to give back to the non-profit organization by appearing in War Amps public service spots highlighting such tips as playing safe in order to avoid accidents that could result in amputations. She has also been featured n War Amps-organized seminars and media appearances promoting the work of the War Amps in helping to improve the quality of life for children like Shapiro who were born missing a limb or those who lost limbs due to an accident. 
“I still enjoy doing ‘playsafe’ presentations and public events for the war Amps,” she says.
Readers who may be interested in supporting this worthwhile program can donate by phone (1800 250-3030) or go online (waramps.ca).

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