Features
Realtor Danielle Margolis goes for a walk in the desert… and raises $38,000 for Winnipeg women’s shelter
By MYRON LOVE
Realtor Danielle Margolis recently went for a trek in the desert to raise money for an initiative she strongly believes in. The desert was the Sahara and Margolis one of 120 Royal LePage realtors from across the country – divided into four groups – who took part in the “Sahara Desert Challenge”, on behalf of the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation – in support of women’s and children’s shelters across Canada.
The “Sahara Desert Challenge” was the third such Royal LePage initiative, which consists of hikes every two years in an exotic locale. The first one centred around Machu Pichu in Peru. The second was in Iceland.
It was almost a year since Margolis first spoke with the Jewish Post & News about her plan to participate in the 110-km fundraising trek through eastern Morocco, a project she said in which she was participating to raise awareness and to help provide a safer place for women and children to live.
Danielle married into a philanthropic family and is honored to carry on her mother in-law, Rae Margolis’ memory by giving back, she explained.
As Danielle points out, community and philanthropy were very important to Rae and the fundraising walk across the Sahara is one of the ways in which Danielle (who is married to Rae’s son, Jon) will be paying tribute to Rae’s memory.
(Rae Margolis is also survived by Gary, her husband of 47 years, and her daughter, Tara, and husband, Aaron Calvo.)
Danielle added that, in a conversation with his mother, Jon told her about Danielle’s plan to hike in the Sahara. “Rae was proud and excited that I would be doing something like this,” Danielle said. “She was pleased that I would be carrying on her good work for the benefit if people we don’t know.”
Danielle and Jon Margolis are both realtors long associated with Royal LePage Dynamic Real Estate. (They work out of the Corydon office.) “I was interested in participating for the first Royal LePage Shelter Foundation fundraising initiative,” Danielle said at the time of the previous interview, “ but I was pregnant with our daughter and couldn’t go,” Danielle explains. (She and Jon also have a six-year-old son.) “This time it felt like the right time and place,” she says.
“I had always wanted to see Morocco and the Sahara Desert.”
Margolis– who has always been physically active –began training in the spring, often with her Mom and a sister participant Nicole Hacault from Winnipeg. Her regimen consisted of cycling three times a week, light weight training and regular hikes.
She also made sure to buy a good pair of hiking boots.
The group arrived on November 17 in the Moroccan city of Marrakech where the hikers had the opportunity to visit the Medina, the old Jewish quarter and continued onto Ouarzazate, an area popular with film production. “The people were very friendly and welcoming,” she says, “and the guides were great.”
The entourage began their trek at a place called Achbarou – “the door of the desert” – about an eight-hour drive east of Marrakech. The group covered anywhere from 16 to 35 km a day.
“Big 4 by4’s carried our supplies and infrastructure from camp to camp,” Danielle explains. “We also had a camel walking with us in case someone ran out of water or had to be evacuated. There were many who suffered from horrible blisters, lost toenails and other ailments. I counted myself lucky in that I came through unscathed.”
Margolis says that she was surprised at how varied the terrain was. “We would be walking for hours on ground that was completely flat with nothing to see for miles around. Other days, the ground would be rocky with some vegetation. We walked over some huge dunes and many smaller ones. The sand changed from grey to red to mixed with volcanic stone. One time, we walked along an old, chocolate-shaving like sea bed. “
She notes that the group did see some nomads and Berbers near the end of their hike – but no sign of animal life except for some burrows in the ground.
The journey ended at Anoun El Fraolia. She reports that her favourite memories were sleeping outside under a starry sky unencumbered by the many lights of civilization, the spectacular sunsets and Jebel Lamrakeb, a approximately 65 storey high sand dune about 13 km from the Algerian border.
“We could see the border from the top of the dune,” she says. It was absolutely breathtaking.
The trip to Morocco concluded on November 30 with a farewell supper at a restaurant, called Dar-Cherifa, in a 16th century building in Marrakech.
Danielle reports that that she raised over $38,000 – the largest amount among all the participants. She is donating the bulk of the money to Bravestone Centre Inc. – in Winnipeg – a secondary shelter where abused women can stay for up to a year. A portion of the funds raised will also support domestic violence prevention programs across Canada, including those focused on youth, to help break the cycle of family violence.
She says that she appreciates the strong support of her husband, Jon, and the lead role her father-on-law, Gary, played in her fundraising efforts. He took on the role of campaign manager.
“The hardest thing for me was leaving my children for two weeks,” she notes. “I had never been away from them for that long.
“But I also want to set an example for them – even though they are still young – of giving back to the community through donations of time and energy as well as money.
“I believe that an experience like this has made me a better parent and most importantly, a better person.”
Features
Anna Kaplan one of Winnipeg’s youngest personal trainers
By MYRON LOVE It is always uplifting to read (or, from my perspective, to write) about people who have been able to reinvent themselves – and even more so when such an individual can use her own transformation to inspire others. Such is the case with Anna Kaplan, a young (21) personal trainer whose passion for physical fitness grew out of personal troubles as a teenager.
“I had a feeling of being excluded,” says the daughter of Kevin and Roxanne Kaplan. “I was afraid that I was missing out. I was losing friends. I had developed some bad habits and was at a real low point in my life – at rock bottom.”
At 18, Kaplan determined to change her life. She began working with a personal trainer and going to the gym. She also changed her dietary habits.
“Before long, I was feeling better mentally and physically,” she recalls.
Two years ago, wanting to help others struggling to improve their lives, Kaplan opened A Plus Fitness. On her Facebook page, she notes that “When you sign up for online training with A Plus Fitness, you’re not just getting a workout plan — you’re getting full access to our all-in-one training app designed to support your transformation every step of the way.”
Kaplan started A Plus Fitness strictly as an online business for which she developed her own app. “I started building my client base initially by contacting friends and acquaintances via a social media platform to see what interest there might be out there,” she says.
With demand for her services growing, about a year ago she began working with clients in person out of a gym on Portage Avenue. In just two years, she reports, business has grown to the point where she has had to hire a second trainer.
“I work with people ranging from 18 to 65 plus,” she says. “The number of clients has tripled in the last year and I have been able to help over 100 clients to get into shape and change their lives.”
The reviews have been outstanding with many giving the young fitness trainer a 5 out of 5 rating. Says one client: ”I’ve been training with Anna for a while now, and it’s been an amazing experience! She really takes the time to understand my goals and pushes me in the best way possible. Since working with her, I feel stronger, more motivated, and more confident in my workouts.”
Adds another: “Over the past year, A Plus Fitness has completely transformed my approach to working out, helping me tone my body and build strength in ways I never thought possible. Anna’s guidance and personalized training plans have made a huge difference in my progress, pushing me to achieve results faster than I expected.”
Kaplan feels good that among those she has been able to help have been her own mother, Roxanne Kaplan, who says that ”I’ve always had some sort of fitness routine in my life. I followed along with the fitness videos with the weights that were recommended – I’d go through phases but never stuck to it. With Anna’s coaching and sticking to her program, I see muscle definition that I’ve never had before. I feel better, more confident, and well rested.”
Kaplan further points out that, in additions to helping people through her business, she is also community minded. “I have helped with several fundraising events in the Jewish community,” she reports.
Most recently, she helped raise money for the Reid Bricker Mental Wellness Fund in memory of a relatively young member of our community who struggled with mental health for several years before committing suicide 10 years ago. The fund aims “to increase the availability of mental health supports and education across the province while ensuring that individuals and families facing mental health challenges receive the support they need when they need it the most.”
Next for Anna Kaplan and A Plus Fitness is to open her own location at some point in the next few years.
Readers can contact Anna at 204 391-5832 or mail her at admin@aplusfit.ca.
Features
Norm Glass Winnipeg’s own pawn star
By MYRON LOVE Over a career spanning more than 40 years as a pawn shop operator, Norm Glass has established himself as first among equals. And the owner of Chochy’s Pawn and Swap Shop still gets a kick out of wheeling and dealing.
Certainly the mix of items that people bring in has changed considerably over the years. “When I first got into this business, I was buying furniture and jewellery,” he recalls, “but one of the biggest things was guitars. Everybody seemed to have a guitar – and musicians always seemed to be broke.”
Today, he reports, while jewellery is still a major part of the business, Chochy’s has a sizeable selection of electronic goods –such as game stations, computer screens and – especially – cell phones. “We probably have on hand about 100-120 cell phones at any given time and there is a constant demand for them.”
Chochy’s also has some sports equipment – I noticed a couple of sets of golf clubs – power tools and assorted other items.
Glass says that it was serendipity that led him to go into the pawn shop business. The son of the late Morley and Fay Glass was originally an accountant by training.
“In 1979,” he recounts, “I was working for a national car rental company as the controller. When the company ran into financial problems, I and a partner took over our Winnipeg location and we went independent.”
A couple of years later, that partnership dissolved and Glass formed a new partnership with his cousin, Arnold Lazareck. “We began looking for a new business to operate,” he continues the story. “We first considered buying a body shop as it is still auto-related, but that fell through. We then found a vacant building on the corner of Selkirk and Salter and thought that a pawn shop would a perfect fit.”
Glass admits that neither he nor Lazareck had had any experience running a pawn shop, he says. but they understood the basic principle – you lend money to people in need in return for an item as collateral and charge interest on the loan. If the customer doesn’t reclaim the item within a certain length of time, you sell the item to someone else.
The two partners – who were still running the auto rental location – brought in a third partner – a fellow by the name of Stuart Chochinov – hence the name “Chochy’s” – but that arrangement didn’t work out. So, Glass took over management of Chochy’s while Lazareck operated the car rental business. In 1985, the two partners agreed to dissolve the partnership and go their separate ways.
At the time – in the 1980s, Glass recall, there were still a goodly number of long time Jewish pawn shop owners in the city. He mentioned people such as Bill Kluner, Harvey Sawyer, George Freed, Dave Faber, Leon Dimerman and Sheldon Sturrey.
Glass eventually bought a second building – on Main Street – with a partner, James MacKay – and called it Elvis’ Pawn Shop.
While Selkirk Avenue has changed considerably from the time when it was the centre of Jewish life in Winnipeg, Glass notes that, despite the heightened level of crime in the area, he hasn’t had much problem. Once, he reports, in the late 1990s, Chochy’s was robbed – prompting Glass to install a robust security system.
He reports that while his customer base for sales is city wide, most who come in to pawn items live in a six to eight block radius of the store. “This area is a different world from that of my family and friends,” he observes. “Many people in this neighbourhood are struggling financially and pawning allows them to bridge the gap.”
For himself, he says, he can’t complain. “Life has been good. I have worked hard and been rewarded.”
Among those “rewards” are an occasional winter vacation – leaving reliable staff to run the business– and honing his golf game in spring and summer at Glendale. He has also been a long time supporter and former Rady JCC board member.
Features
MEDIA BRAT/ The Artsy Sportswriter’s Daughter Deconstructs Life With John Robertson in New Memoir
We received an interesting email from a brand new book publishing company called Meat Draw Books. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t include a blurb for a book that wasn’t about a Jewish subject but the press release was so intriguing – and humourous, that we’ve decided to print it here ver batim:
Hello at The Jewish Post & News.
I’m D. Grant Black, publisher of Meat Draw Books. I thought you might be interested in a new book, Media Brat: a Gen-X memoir, by sportswriter-broadcaster John Robertson’s daughter, Patricia, about her time following her father’s crazy career and antics around North America. It just released on April 8.
John, who founded the Manitoba Marathon, was a B’nai B’rith Man of the Year in the mid-1970s during his time as host for an English open-line radio show at CFCF Montréal, owned by Charles Bronfman. I would appreciate if you could spread the word in the Winnipeg Jewish community about Patricia Dawn Robertson’s very funny new book, Media Brat. Robertson has written freelance dispatches for the Winnipeg Free Press’ Op/Ed pages for over 20 years (View from the West & Perspectives).
SOME BACKGROUND:
Patricia Dawn Robertson, Canada’s cheekiest satirist, just released her much-anticipated memoir, Media Brat, about growing up on the sidelines of old school media with her father. Sportswriter John Robertson worked at the Winnipeg Free Press from 1956 to the early 1960s, as a broadcaster/host of 24Hours at CBC TV Winnipeg (1977–1982) and he founded the Manitoba Marathon in 1979.
John Robertson also worked at the Toronto Sun (1982-1985) covering the Blue Jays during the Golden Era of the Toronto Sun where he boosted the Toronto weekend circulation to 300,000 in the 1980s with his controversial sport column. Sun readers flipped to the Sunshine Girl then to Robertson’s column.
Media Brat: a Gen-X memoir (April 8) is a hilarious outlier’s account of an artsy girl’s reluctant pilgrimage in the turbulent wake of John Robertson, her manic sportswriter-broadcaster father. The author, as a child and young woman, hated spectator sports but loved her sportswriter father. John Robertson rubbed shoulders with baseball great Rusty Staub (Robertson’s book “Rusty Staub of the Expos”), Blue Jays player Kelly Gruber, CFL QB Ron Lancaster, NHLers Bobby Hull & Willie Lindstrom, politicians Robert Bourassa & René Lévesque and Canadian comedy legend, John Candy.
Robertson’s epic book-length tantrum is set in the stands and parking lots of major league North American sport plus the author’s experiences in Winnipeg, Montréal and Toronto from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. Media Brat explores living in the fish bowl of a media family and coming-of-age in the educational institutions, workplaces and dating ghettos of major North American cities, from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Robertson’s smart reader can always count on her funny no-bullshit truth. Media Brat is Robertson’s first instalment of no-bullshit memoir in book form — in a mere 254 pages. (Robertson is busy at work on Media Brat Goes West, the second instalment of three memoirs, for a spring 2026 release.)
Media Brat’s WINNIPEG chapters (1963, 1977–1982) include:
It Was Snowing on the Day You Were Born (born in the Gateway to the West); The Velvet Hammer (mother-daughter power struggle); The Dutch Uncle (visiting auditor fails to put the brakes on John Robertson’s spending); Frozen Turkeys, Corduroy Knickers & Tia Maria in the Snow Tires (Family Christmas 1977); Klinic With a ‘K’ (autonomy and the pill); The Curse of Lono (Father-Daughter Hawaiian Marathon); Great With Beer (camping trip at Riding Mountain gone awry); Meet Me at The Monty (summer job at Winnipeg Parks & Rec); The Cook, the Marxist, the Candidate & his Daughter (Robbie runs in the provincial election); John Takes a Mulligan (stroking out); and Binge Ate Her Way to a Size 16 (Patricia tips the scales before moving to Toronto and her dad’s new sports columnist gig at the Toronto Sun).
I’ve attached a book release pdf with links to the Meat Draw Books website. (Purchase at MeatDrawBooks.com) This is the first book for my new Canadian imprint, which will publish non-fiction books in small batches, direct-to-reader and without any Canada Council or provincial arts funding.
And, if you want to read an excerpt from the book, you can download it here:
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