Stars of David

November 22, 2006 - Michael Elkin, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Can we dance? Joan Myers Brown, founder/exec director of the Philadelphia Dance Company, sure can! The PHILADANCO phenom received the Dance Magazine Award at ceremonies in New York. The footlights were on her feet locally, too, as Brown was touched by another honor: The 11th annual Great Friend to Kids Award, handed to her by the Please Touch Museum, at the Union League. ... What's the advantage of making the Top 10 "supporters of the arts" list issued by the Business Committee for the Arts? Just ask Advanta Corp., the Spring House-based financial services firm, which cracked the Top 10 of the national list, as did Lincoln Financial Group. ... In a league all her own -- that's Faye Laveson, installed as veepee of the Women's League for Conservative Judaism. The honor took place for the Wyncote woman at the org's biennial convention right here in Philly. ... Lynne Honickman, prexy of the Honickman Foundation, has put her lifeblood into good works, which explains why she's been named recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Red Cross-SEPA Chapter during ceremonies at the Bar Mitzvah year of its Spectrum Awards. ... Child at heart: That's what law partners Joe Manko, Robb Fox, Bruce Katcher and Marc Gold are being honored for, along with associates at their law firm, Nov. 29 by the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children. The legal eagles join Helene Marks, exec director of the Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation, and the U. of P. in being cited for great efforts on behalf of staff with young kids. ... Getting the job done -- and won -- that's Scheerer Bearing Corporation, the regional firm that just nabbed the prestigious Business Leadership Award of JEVS Human Services at the org's "Strictly Business" lunch. The corp's no stranger to JEVS; it was cited for two decades of hiring those who come through the JEVS Center for New Americans "to find work, learn English and update computer skills." Veepee George Rymar was more than just business when he put it this way: "We don't have 50 employees, we have 50 friends." ... In these days and times, what do you have when you get six kids together? A gang? A bunch of hoodlums? A mitzvah! Especially when they're as cute and committed as this sextet: Ariel Gordon, Max Gottlieb, Max Gering, Michael Furman, Sarah Weinblatt and Nicole Winigrad tag-teamed on their Bar/Bat Mitzvah tzedakah projects to help raise money for Jewish National Fund. The seed for all this was planted when Max Gottlieb started a letter-writing campaign and ended with thousands of dollars raised at last Sunday's "JNF for Israel Day" call-a-thon. Who knew kids from the 'hood could have such heart? ... Friends and family of Eric "E.J." Goldsteinknow. For this youngster's tzedakah project -- E.J. will have his Bar Mitzvah next month -- the seventh-grader from Sandy Run Middle School is turning back the sands of time to focus on his sis, Kate, who, six years earlier, planned her Bat Mitzvah while fending off the ravages of Familial Dysautonomia, a Jewish genetic disease. Kate, now a 2005 grad of Upper Dublin High School, is still dealing with her F.D., and E.J.'s about to make some noise about it. Well, not noise, but he's banding together with others to put on "Music on a Mission," a Dec. 3 concert at the site of his Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen. Funds raised are targeted for F.D. research. Among those sounding off -- all in the family? -- is bro Michael, a senior at Savannah College of Art & Design. As for those worried about the event's kickoff time at 3 p.m., well, there's no Eagles game that day. ... What better way to end a column than with a "Topliner"? Ellen Toplin, prexy/founder of Toplin & Associates of Fort Washington, specializing in marketing, P.R. and advertising, is one of "101 Connectors," so-named by Leadership Philadelphia. What makes a Connector? One who knows the value of sharing knowledge and expertise for the betterment of the community. "Stars" can only say ... Ellen, thanks for sharing.