Local News
University of Manitoba recognizes former president Arnold Naimark with Lifetime Achievement Award
By MYRON LOVE On Thursday, September 22, as part of its annual Homecoming Weekend, the University of Manitoba Alumni Association recognized, Dr. Arnold Naimark with its Lifetime Achievement Award for both his distinguished service as the university’s former president (1981-96) and as the former dean of the Faculty of Medicine (1971-81) – as well as his lifelong commitment to promoting health care research funding and education in Manitoba.
The gala evening attracted between 300 and 400 from across Canada. “It was very nice to be honoured in this way,” says Naimark. “It was especially meaningful that this award was from the Alumni Association, whose work is vitally important in building the reputation of our institution and encouraging support for our university’s programs and services.”
The award is also a culmination of Naimark’s more than 70-year relationship with the university and, in his 90th year, the member of the Order of Canada continues to play an active role in the life of the institution.
The connection with the University of Manitoba began for Naimark in 1950. Ironically, medicine was not his main interest and the idea of a life spent in administration was still in the future.
When he started university, Naimark was particularly interested in philosophy, an interest he shared with a fellow student, Leonard Peikoff. It was Dr. Sam Peikoff, Leonard’s father, who urged them to consider medicine as a “better career option than philosophy”.
“Leonard and I both applied for admission to the medical school, but in the end he decided to pursue a career in philosophy and became well known as a close associate of Ayn Rand.”
In 1953, Naimark, and three other University of Manitoba students who were part of the Canadian Armed Forces Canadian Officers Training Corps program were selected to spend a summer of training with the Canadian 25th Brigade attached to 11th armored division of the British Army of the Rhine
“It was a great time to be in Europe,” he recounts. “Apart from special events such as Queen Elizabeth’s coronation parade my eagerness to begin medical studies was intensified by opportunities I had to accompany a medical officer on his rounds at the British military hospital in Hanover, Germany.”
Back home, later that year, he began his medical studies just as the severe 1953 polio epidemic was nearing its peak. He was part of a group of medical students who participated in the care of polio patients at the King George Hospital (now part of Riverview) under the inspired leadership of Dr. Jack Hildes. “He was a fabulous teacher and mentor, ” Naimark says.
In the 1960s, he began his career as a respirologist engaged in teaching, clinical practice and research with appointments in the departments of Internal Medicine and Physiology. It was in the early 1970s, following his appointment as Dean of Medicine, that his time became almost fully devoted to administration and academic development in order to deal with important changes that had taken place in the scientific, social, and political environments.
“When I began my career I was part of a small number of staff who were located full-time at the medical school or the major teaching hospitals. A very large component of clinical teaching was done by physicians who spent some of their time at the medical or teaching hospitals, but who conducted a major part of their clinical work located in private offices and clinics
“With the introduction of Medicare pressures built to increase the enrolments in the health sciences to meet increased demand for health services personnel. This was accompanied by a shift, from hospitals to universities, of the responsibilities for overseeing the training of interns and residents in general practice and in specialties.
“I was finding that administrative demands required ever more of my time,” Naimark recalls. “I essentially had to give up clinical practice and cut back on laboratory research.”
As dean, according to the write-up in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (to which he was inducted in 2013), Naimark “revolutionized the medical programs offered at the University of Manitoba. Some of his many accomplishments include the rejuvenation of the department of physiology and the department of social and preventive medicine (later the department of community health sciences) as well as his role in the creation of the Northern Medical Unit. Over time, his innovative leadership reached across major national and international organizations concerned with medical education and research.”
Naimark also played an important role in the establishment of the St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre and the launch of the Manitoba Health Research Council.
During his tenure as dean of the medical college, he notes that the medical school focused successfully on increasing the enrolment of women and Indigenous people..
After stepping down from the presidency of the university, he became the director of the Centre for the Advancement of Medicine (CAM) and the founding chairperson of the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. He was also the founding chairperson of the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee.
Currently, he is still working part time – mostly from home during the pandemic – for the CAM helping to raise funds for scholarships, conferences and colloquia and contributing to the enrichment of the academic environment in Manitoba. “Although my academic appointment will end in the next year or two, I hope to stay engaged as a grateful alumnus of the medical school and university.”
Local News
Winnipeg-born Elliot Lazar to star as Paul Simon in “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” at Centennial Concert Hall
By BERNIE BELLAN Elliot Lazar’s career has long been chronicled in the pages of The Jewish Post & News. Do a search for his name in our “Search Archives” button and you will find a multitude of stories about Elliot from the time he was five years old.
A talented singer, musician, and musical arranger, also a graduate of Gray Academy, the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music, and the Boston Conservatory, Elliot has appeared many times in Winnipeg, including most recently last summer in Rainbow Stage’s production of “Rent.”
He’s been constantly busy – as a review of some of his past acting credits reveals. Last season alone, in addition to his performing in “Rent,” Elliot also appeared in the National Tour of “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “The Band’s Visit” (Huntington/Speakeasy Stage).
We’re excited to announce that Elliot will be appearing in Winnipeg for one night only, May 21, starring as Paul Simon in “The Simon & Garfunkel Story.”
Here’s Elliot’s own story about his growing up in Winnipeg:
“I grew up in Garden City, attended Gray Academy (K-12) and majored in vocal performance at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music. I lived in Winnipeg until I was 22, so I’m pretty connected with the arts scene there still. The venue we’re playing, the Centennial Concert Hall, I was last seen in Guys and Dolls in concert with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Rainbow Stage (2019), and before that I sang with the Manitoba Opera Chorus in 3 productions there. My last performance in Winnipeg was in Rent with Rainbow Stage this past summer. Other local performing arts companies I have a history with there are Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, Winnipeg Studio Theatre, Dry Cold Productions, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Manitoba Underground Opera, Little Opera Company, and the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. I grew up going to see shows at the Concert Hall, so it’s a wonderful full circle moment for me.”
About “The Simon & Garfunkel Story”:
Nostalgia-inducing unforgettable hits! The internationally-acclaimed hit theater show The Simon & Garfunkel Story (www.thesimonandgarfunkelstory.com) returns to the road in 2024 with a North American tour to more than 25 cities. Kicking off in Richmond, Kentucky on January 28, 2024, the immersive concert-style tribute show will recreate the magic and authenticity of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel on stage and chronicles the amazing journey shared by the iconic, GRAMMY-award winning folk-rock duo. It tells the story from their humble beginnings as Tom & Jerry, to their incredible success as one of the best-selling music groups of the ‘60s, and to their dramatic split in 1970. The Simon & Garfunkel Story culminates with the pair’s famous “The Concert in Central Park” reunion in 1981 which had more than half a million fans in attendance. Tickets are on sale now.
The show features a set list of nearly 30 songs and uses state-of-the-art video projection, photos and original film footage. A full live band will perform all of the hits including “Mrs. Robinson,” “Cecilia,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Homeward Bound” and many more complete with the unmistakably perfect harmonies that will transport audiences down memory lane.
With more than 100 million album sales since 1965, Simon & Garfunkel’s unforgettable songs and poetic lyrics poignantly captured the times made them one of the most successful folk-rock duos of all time. Over the years, they won 10 GRAMMY Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1977, the Brit Awards honored their “Bridge Over Troubled Water” album with Best International Album. In 2003, Simon & Garfunkel were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the following year saw their “The Sound of Silence” awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.
Local News
Ida and the late Saul Alpern have donated 2 ambulances and a scooter to Magen David Adom in past 4 years
By BERNIE BELLAN Saul Alpern passed away in 2022, but before he died he and his wife Ida had decided to make Magen David Adom a major recipient of their generosity.
As Myron Love noted in an October 2020 article the Alperns had been contributing small amounts to the Canadian Magen David Adom for some time, but it was in that year they decided to donate $160,000 for the purchase of a Mobile Intensive Care Unit for Israel’s Magen David Adom.
As Myron wrote in that 2020 article, an MICUA (which is larger than an ambulance, is staffed by paramedics, and responds only to the most medically serious cases) was donated “to the people of Israel in memory of Saul Alpern’s parents and siblings who perished in the Holocaust.
“It is an expression of my love for my family and my love of Israel,” Saul Alpern said at the time.
In early 2022 the Alperns donated yet another $170,000 for the purchase of a second MICU for Magen David Adom.
Saul Alpern passed away in November 2022, but Ida Alpern has now continued the legacy of giving to Canadian Magen David Adom that she and Saul had begun several years before. Just recently Ida contributed $39,000 toward the purchase of an emergency medical scooter. According to the CMDA website, “the scooter, which is driven by a paramedic, can get through traffic faster than the Standard Ambulance or MICU and provide pre-hospital care. It contains life-saving equipment, including a defibrillator, an oxygen tank, and other essential medical equipment.”
I asked Ida whether she wanted to say anything about the motivation for her and her late husband’s support for CMDA. She wrote, “Having survived the Holocaust, and being a Zionist, Saul felt that supporting Israel was of the utmost importance.”
On May 7, CMDA will be honouring Ida and Saul z”l Alpern at a dinner and show at the Centro Caboto Centre. Another highlight that evening will be the announcement of the purchase of an ambulance for CMDA by another Winnipegger, Ruth Ann Borenstein. That ambulance will be in honour of Ruth’s late parents, Gertrude and Harry Mitchell. The evening will also commemorate the late Yoram East (aka Hamizrachi), who was a well-known figure both in Israel and here in Winnipeg.
For more information about the May 7 event go to https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/canadian-magen-david-adom-for-israel/events/cmda-winnipeg-an-evening-of-appreciation/ or to purchase tickets phone 587-435-5808 or email sfraiman@cmdai.org
Local News
Simkin Centre looking for volunteers
We received the following email from Heather Blackman, Simkin Centre Director of Volunteers & Resident Experience:
Happy Spring Everyone! Hope you all are well. We have a number of upcoming volunteer opportunities that I wanted to share with you. Please take a look at what we have listed here and let me know if you are available for any of the following. I can be reached at heather.blackman@simkincentre.ca or 204-589-9008.
Save the date! The Simkin Stroll is on June 25th this year and we need tons of volunteers to assist. This is our annual fundraiser and there is something for everyone to help with from walking with Residents in the Stroll to manning booths and tables, event set up and take down and much more. Volunteers will be needed from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on this day. Come and help for the full event or for any period within that timeframe that works for you.
Resident Store – This tuck shop style cart will be up for business shortly. Residents will be assisting to stock and run the store for 2 hours 2- 3 times per week in the afternoons. Volunteer support is needed to assist residents with restocking items and monetary transactions.
Passover Volunteers
Volunteers are needed to assist with plating Seder plates for Residents (date to be determined for plating)
Volunteers are needed to assist Residents to and from Passover Services and Come and Go Teas.
Times volunteers are needed for services/teas:
April 22cnd – First Seder 1:30-3:30 p.m.
April 23rd – Passover Service Day 1 – 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
April 23rd – Second Seder – 1:30-3:30 p.m.
April 24th – Passover Service – Day 2 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
April 29th – Passover Service – 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
April 29th- Passover Tea – 1:30-3:30 p.m.
April 30th – Passover Service – 9:30 -11:30 a.m.
April 30th – Passover Tea – 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Admin/Paperwork Volunteers – Volunteers are needed to assist with filing and other administrative duties. A monthly volunteering job is also available to input information on programming into Recreation activity calendars. Support would be provided for this.
Adult Day Program – A volunteer is needed to assist with the Mondays Adult Day Program Group. A regular ongoing weekly commitment on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Assist with Recreation programming and lunch supervision for our Adult Day Program participants that come in from the community for the day.
Biking Volunteers – Take our residents out for a spin on one of our specialty mobility bicycles. Training is provided and volunteers will be needed throughout the Spring, Summer and early Fall.
With summer coming there is also opportunity to assist with outings and other outdoor programming! Please let me know if you are interested!
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