Local News
Winnipeg’s last Jewish men’s bowling league celebrates 100 years of camaraderie and friendly competition
By MYRON LOVE On June 15, the Recreation Men’s Bowling League held its annual wind-up banquet at the Glendale Golf & Country Club. As per usual, the wind-up is the venue for handing out the awards for the year just past.Once again, for the tenth year in a row, Terry Robinson won the W. Harry Zimmerman Memorial Trophy for Highest Average, a feat that the largely Jewish Recreation Men’s Bowling League’s current secretary has achieved for 16 of the past 20 years.
The Norm Lachter Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship was awarded to league treasurer Harvey Appelle for the fourth time – one more than Robinson.
Art Greenspan was recognized with the Jacob Memorial Trophy for most improved bowler.
Among the team awards, Robinson’s team (including Chad Selk, Andrew Feniuk, Sam Binder and Gary Verin) won the Larry Rosenberg Memorial Trophy (Aggregate Team Winner); the Spigelman Team (Avery Spigelman, Aaron London, Evan, Roitenberg, Sheldon Zipursky, Danny Gunn and Stu Slayen) received the Joseph Kay Memorial Trophy (A Roll-Off Team Winner); and Magorel Team (Garry Magorel, Saul Greenberg, Frank Dahl, Mel Verin and Brian Greenberg) earned the Sam Greenspan Memorial Trophy (B Roll-off Team Winner).
Robinson notes that the league currently consists of eight teams with five bowlers per team – a number that has remained fairly consistent over recent years – with members ranging in age from 18 to 92 (the oldest members being Joe Elfenbaum and Rube Helman). The men bowl at Chateau Lanes Wednesday evenings from the beginning of September through April.
The league itself is part of the Manitoba Tenpin Bowling Association.
Bowling has been a popular pastime in our Jewish community as long as bowling alleys have existed here. Several members of our community have had leadership roles in the sport over the past 100 years. The most impactful was the late Harry Zimmerman.
The businessman served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Manitoba Ten Pin Association for 36 years – from 1927 to his death in 1963 – and also treasurer of the Winnipeg Bowling Association for 21 years from 1942 to 1963. He was instrumental in the organizing of 5 Pin Bowling in Winnipeg. As well, he organized an annual high school tournament in the city of Winnipeg to introduce the sport to new members.
In his listing in the Manitoba Bowling hall of Fame (he was inducted in 1989) it is noted that “even in the lean years when the sport had only one house in addition to the clubs, Zimmerman never despaired and showed great optimism for the future.
Nate Lexier, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990, may have been the finest bowler Winnipeg has ever produced – according to the Hall of Fame citation. During a career that spanned 50 years – starting in 1932 when he was 13 – he averaged a score of 200 or better for seven consecutive seasons and was a member of the Senior League Championship Team eight times.
He also served on the Winnipeg Bowling Association for 14 years, including 11 seasons as President from 1942 – 53.
Of more recent vintage have been Elaine Yamron and Harvey Zimberg. Both have been leaders in the world of bowling locally, nationally and internationally – for 50 years, beginning in the early 1970s. Yamron even competed for Canada at the 2001 Maccabi Games.
Over the decades, there have been several different Jewish bowling leagues – with board members and scores posted weekly in what was formerly The Jewish Post – in the club and social news section – and, in more recent years, at the end of Harvey Rosen’s sports columns.
In the April, 19th, 1951 edition, for example, in the paper, there is a report on the results for the Bnai Brith Ten Pin league bowling results for March 3.
In 1961, one can find details on the Classic Ten-Pin League as well as B’nai Brith Ten-Pin Bowling, in addition to the Recreation Ten-Pin league.
In 1978, the Post reported the scores of 12 Jewish bowling leagues – men’s women’s and mixed. In 2001, there were Post reports on the Gateway Mixed Bowling league, Jewish Women’s International League and Recreation League.
Terry Robinson is the longest serving member of the Recreation League. “I have been bowling for 47 years,” says the grandson of Sydney I. Robinson, who worked in the sporting goods industry for most of his career. “My father was a bowler. Just after I got married in 1975, my dad let me know that there was an opening in the league and invited me to join.”
Saul London and his wife, Caroline, started bowling together more than 30 years ago in a league with many Jewish members who bowled Sunday evenings in the basement of the German Club. When that league folded, the retired accountant joined the Recreation League.
For many years, London was the Recreation League’s secretary and the individual who sent in the regular results to what was by then The Jewish Post & News.
At the time London joined, he recalls, the league was bowling at Empress Lanes. When that bowling alley closed, the men moved to Chateau Lanes – where they currently bowl.
Al Rosenberg has been president of the Recreation League for the past eight years. The businessman (advertising and marketing) was recruited by London.
“Mel Verin , who was one of my best friends, was also a member,” Rosenberg says. “I really enjoy the camaraderie.”
Robinson also comments on the social experience. “We have a really good group of guys,” he observes. “I also enjoy the competitive aspect.”
Harvey Appelle, the League’s long time treasurer, reports that while the number of League bowlers is not quite what it was – there used to be almost 50 participants – the group has been able to retain 40 for several years now.
He laments though that the league membership is getting older. Robinson agrees that it would be nice to be able to attract a few more younger bowlers.
“It’s understandable though that younger people would prefer to bowl with their friends,” he observes.
Nonetheless, all the League participants are eager to get going this month for the Recreation League’s 101st season.
Local News
First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
Local News
Team Schvesters teammates Benji Harvey, Kim Gray once again among top ten fundraisers in this year’s CancerCare Manitoba Foundation Challenge for Life event
By MYRON LOVE This year’s annual CancerCare Manitoba Foundation’s Challenge for Life walk at Assiniboine Park is scheduled for Sunday, June 13 – and, once again, in terms of fundraising, Team Schvesters is sitting in second place overall – having raised just over $30,500 as of May 26 – which is $5,000 more than the team members had raised by the same time last year.
As well, team members Benji Harvey and Kim Gray are once again in the top ten among individual fundraisers. Harvey this year sits in fifth place, having raised a little over $16,000 as of May 17 – while Gray has raised just above $8,000 – putting her in seventh place.
Harvey reports that, -over the past 18, years participating in CancerCare Manitoba Foundation’s Challenge for Life, she has personally raised $180,000 for cancer research, while her team as a whole has brought in $367,000. In discussing her success as a fundraiser, Harvey says that she has made a lot of friends over the years and believes in giving back to the community.
The “Schvesters” are the Greenfeld sisters: Harvey and sisters Lesly Katz and Debra Lewis – the daughters of Lil and the late Ike Greenfeld. Two of the sisters are cancer survivors.
There is one other team member – in addition to Kim Gray. Judge Rocky Pollack first joined Team Schvesters in 2023. After a year away in 2024, he returned last year. Pollack lost his wife, Sharon, to cancer in 2014 after a multi-year struggle.
Nancy’s Nightingales has been a top 10 community fundraising team for Cancercare Manitoba and the Challenge for Life since its inception in 2008. As a team, they have walked together since 2006 when they walked 60 km in two days in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer.
Last year, the team – including Louise Raber, Joanne Katz, Rhonda Youell, Connie Botelho and Harriet Lyons – finished fifth in fundraising. So far this year, the team is again sitting in fifth place –having raised just under $12,500 (as of May 26) – a couple of thousand dollars more than last year, and just about $300 behind the fourth place team.
The Nightingales are named after a nurse who is a cancer survivor- and a friend of Louise Raber, Nancy’s Nightingales team leader.
“Our goal, as always, is to raise at least one dollar more than last year,” says Raber.
Team Jason’s Journey team leader Jason Gisser has experienced a more intimate and longer-lasting relationship with cancer than many of the other Challenge for Life participants. He was first diagnosed with cancer when he was 18. “I am a proud cancer fighter, having lived and battled a chronic cancer diagnosis for the last 23 years,” he said in an earlier interview. “I participate in the Challenge for Life not only to give back for the care and treatment which I have and continue to receive through CancerCare Manitoba, but to ensure that others do not have to endure the journey which I have endured.”
This is the ninth year that Gisser has taken up the Challenge for Life. His teammates are returnee Nora Fien, as well as friends Danial Sprintz, Wendy Martin White and Jason Roberts, also his mother, Judge Freda Steele. He has personally raised about $5,500 this year, while the team as a whole has raised just over $7,000.
“The Challenge for Life is great opportunity to raise valuable dollars for cancer research and treatment,” Gisser notes.
Readers can make donations to their preferred team by going online to CancerCarefdn.mb.ca and click on Challengeforlife.ca.
