March is on its last legs and April is fast approaching. It makes me happy. April holds the Erma Bombeck and Pikes Peak writers conferences. I can hardly wait. There is something exhilarating to be amongst fellow writers and learning about the craft of writing. I love it and cannot get enough of it. I'll let you all know what happens there!

That's the date for the next concert/brunch series being put on at Mazal Tov restaurant in conjunction with Arete Music Productions. It's called For the Boys: Our tribute to War Veterans everywhere. It's young people who want to show our boys that all that they did for freedom's sake really is appreciated. So, if you like Vera Lynn and Glenn Miller come on and join us!

Time: 11:00AM, November 22nd.
Place: Mazal Tov restaurant
1641 Ouellette Ave.
For reservations call: 519 252 0221
or: 519 730 0315

For those of you who do not know it, My son, Ben the pianist, and I started a concert/brunch series last January, at my dear friend's restaurant - Mazal Tov Cuisine. Mazal Rabi has created delectable delights for years at this restaurant. She truly is one of Windsor's best kept secrets. Her brisket is by far the best I've had. But it's her Israeli salads that I go gaga over! Her desserts are sinful. And she's kosher.
The idea for this concert series began last Hannukah at our annual Hannukah party. We've had this party for 28 years now. I have one rule for my guests: I'll prepare the food, you prepare to entertain - sing, dance, play music, tell jokes - whatever, but you must perform. And oh! how my guests have performed!!!!!! It helps to have professional singers and musicians as friends.
Every year we hear the same conversations...there is no place in Windsor where singers etc. can perform and try out new songs on an audience. This year, while eating at Mazal's, I had an epiphany. Have concerts at the restaurant. Mazal loved the idea.
Our first concert was in January. "PIANO, PZAZZ, WITH A LITTLE JAZZ ON THE SIDE." It was a huge success, so in February we had BRUNCH WITH THE BARD AND OTHER ROMANTIC NOTIONS. Another hit.
March was OMELETTES AND OPERA, OY VEZ! with Canada's leading bass/baritone, Steven Henrikson.
April - SPRING IS SPRUNG, and May - TRA LA, THE LUSTY MONTH OF MAY.
This month's concert is JUNE-OUR TRIBUTE TO BROADWAY AND THE TONYS.
It's going to be a lot of fun, as always, and Mazal presents a feast. And I am inviting everyone to come. The cost is 25 dollars all inclusive. Space is limited to 100 people so call now to book your table. 519 252 0221 or 519 730 0315.
Mazal Tov's is located at 1653 Ouellette Avenue, right next to the Jewish Community Centre.
Be there or be square!

For the past ten years or so, I have been on the air over Christmas......all day long. Last year I added Christmas eve. It seems only right, after all, I am the only Jew at the station with nothing else to do save go out for Chinese food.
So, on Christmas eve, starting at four PM, I will be on air at CJAM. The first few hours are musicals and stories of Christmas. Then, beginning at around eight PM I do something no one else does in this area. I play the traditional songs, like the Mormon tabernacle choir and Leonard Bernstein! I got so many calls last year from people who were thrilled to hear the Christmas songs as they were heard in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Who knew that this would now be Alternative Music??!!! People kept calling all night, complaining about the stations that have been playing Christmas music for the entire month and then some. They were fed up with 'Rudolph' and 'Frosty' by Burl Ives and 'I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas' and new bands with very little talent trying to sing 'O holy Night.' One man vowed he would scream if he heard 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' one more time. When someone came in after midnight and tried to play different music, people called him in an outrage for changing the music.
On Christmas day I celebrate Windsorites who are making it big, or are trying to make it big. The first year I did this, I had three interviews. Last year, I had fifteen. It's a blast. And again, people call in, so excited to know there are so many talented people in Windsor.
Soooooooooooooooo, if you want 'alternative' music and radio "like it was in the good ol' days," tune into CJAM, 91.5FM on Christmas eve, 4 PM to midnight, and Christmas Day 0800 AM-7 PM. I'll be there. For those of you not in the area, we can be heard worldwide on the internet.
And for all of you Christians out there - Merry Christmas.

It's August the third and this weekend marks the return of a great celebration that Windsor used to be known for. The Emancipation Freedom Festival. Three cheers for Marc Taylor for having the sheer determination and courage that it took to get it going again!
When I was a little kid absolutely everybody went to Jackson Park for this great day. Emancipation was a huge part of our heritage in the Windsor/Amherstburg/ Detroit region. We had been the final stop on the Underground Railroad. Back in those days, there were no laws that prevented Bounty Hunters from crossing over to Canada and finding runaway slaves. So, from here to Chatham there were safe houses that hid these slaves until the Bounty Hunters gave up and left.
Harriet Tubman crossed the river into Amherstburg. Amherstburg is also home to the first Black Historical Museum of North America.
Our first Emancipation Day was 175 years ago. Of course, I'm not that old. But I do remember the celebrations that took place in my youth...... First came the exciting sounds...Jazz could be heard for miles around...and then the sound of Motown. People like Diana Ross performed here. Then your nose quivered with delight when that fabulous aroma of BBQ chicken and ribs wafted your way. Then came the bright colours of costumes and banners as you walked through the displays and tables of food.
There were also speakers. They say Eleanor Roosevelt came to our celebration, but I don't remember her. I do, however, remember a man. Martin Luther King Jr. There was nothing extraordinary about his looks. He was of medium height and build. However, he did have a wonderful smile and beautiful eyes. Even back then I was a sucker for eyes. I used to think they mirrored a man's soul. Still do. And if I'm right on that point, Martin Luther King possessed a very great soul. And he liked kids. He stopped and talked to all of us as we lined up on the sides of the walkway to let him pass through on his way to the podium.
I wish I could say that I had understood his speech or that I remembered what he said that day in Jackson Park. I don't. I do remember his voice, how melodic it sounded, how reassuring.
In 1967, riots broke out on Twelfth Street, in Detroit. There are people who say the riots were necessary to get the US's attention about Civil Rights. That may be true. I remember my family discussing how Ford's would not let a black man into the factory before the union had been established. And God help the white man who spoke to a black man while waiting to be picked for work that day. That white man would not be chosen for weeks afterwards. In 1967 things had not changed all that much in Detroit.
What I do know is that everyone suffered after the riots. The core of Detroit died. Quickly and painfully. You never knew when a gang fight would break out. There was more than one time when I found myself flat on the ground, caught between the crossfire of one of these fights. What little trust that had been there between the two races was gone on both sides of the border.
Funding for Emancipation Day dried up because people in Windsor feared that the festival would be a breeding ground for riots over here. Personally, I don't think that would have ever happened. In fact, I think if anything, the Festival would have been a way to heal wounds a lot faster.
In 2008 I can say that things are better, now, especially in Windsor. The inner city of Detroit is slowly making a comeback, but it still has a long way to go. Is there still prejudice? Yes. To say there isn't would be foolish. But more and more people believe what I do: that all men are equal and the Black heritage in this area is a very rich and integral part of our society and who we are. I raised my kids to believe that there is no difference between a black person and a white person. So did all of my friends, the blacks and the whites. We succeeded. None of our kids has ever noticed the colour of a man's skin.
And because there are more and more of us with that firm belief of equality the Emancipation Festival is back in Windsor. Hallelujah and Amen! Best news I've had about our society in a long time!!!!

While at the Erma Bombeck convention, it was my very great pleasure to meet Martha Bolton. What a funny lady! Martha was one of the first women to ever be hired as a joke writer. And guess who she worked for? Bob Hope.
And oh did Martha have wonderful stories to tell of this beloved man. Two of them really made an impression.
The first one she told was about Bob going to Vietnam to entertain the troops. He would return with thousands of soldiers' names and their mothers' phone numbers.
Soldiers would come up to Bob and say, "Hey, could you just call my mom and tell her you saw me and that I'm okay?" Martha said he was good on his word. For days after he returned home he called each and every one of those mothers to tell them he had seen their sons. I balled like a baby.
The other story was equally as heart melting. One soldier had been waiting and waiting to see Bob Hope. Wouldn't you know it? The day Bob arrived was the day this kid was on patrol duty. When Bob heard about this he went out after the show and redid it just for this young soldier.
If Martha had done just that I would have been thrilled. But then she went on and discussed her own writing and one liners just kept coming and coming.
Every person there fell in love with Martha. She has graciously agreed to come on the show. I'm so excited.

Coming up in May is Yom Hatzmuot, Israel's birthday celebration. This year, Israel turns sixty. Sixty! Can you believe that?
To celebrate there are two programs you should attend. On May 7th, at the Detroit Orchestra hall, Achinoam Nini, one of Israel's most beloved singers, will be performing. I'm frantically trying to get tickets.
On May 8th, at our own JCC, a celebration will take place as well. Yours truly is doing the decorations and planning the activiities. I'll be at both programs. Come on up and say hello if you see me.

Have you ever met someone who was so high on life you just wanted to hang around him? That was Barry Eisler. We met at the Southern California Writer's Conference in February and of course he graciously agreed to get up at 0545 his time to talk to us. Go to the archives of the Boker Tov radio show at CJAM's website to hear the interview. (I know, but I STILL can't figure out how to get the interviews and music on here!) He is smart and very funny. His books, the Rainman series, are great. They are meticulous in detail and well paced intense thrillers. He has promised to come on the show in June when his new book comes out.