The first BBQ of the new century picked up where the last one left off. A record attendance of 200 plus came out. Unlike last year, Danny Applebaum, pc ’78, and neighbor of Matt Adler, stayed for the entire party.  Danny’s wife, Mary, however, must have gotten confused. While the BBQ started at 11 am and ended at 5 pm, Mary did not arrive until 5 pm (when Danny got home) and left at 11 pm.  Danny was in great spirits throughout, although some controversy did erupt at the end of the BBQ between Danny and Matt’s wife, Dana, over the landscaping of the shrubs, which divide the two homes. It all started when Chef Kenny Mayer, (Tep, pc ’84), commented that many people were remarking about how nice and thick the shrubs were. Danny, who put up the shrubs many years ago to divide himself from his neighbors on each side of his estate, was unhappy that his landscaper had to cut both sides of the shrubs that border the Adler house. He thought the Adler’s should cut their side. Dana objected, and the conversation deteriorated from there. Luckily, cooler heads were able to prevail, the Applebaum’s and Adler’s agreed to settle the disagreement sometime in the future, and the BBQ continued unscathed from the shrub controversy.

It was even suggested that Judge Marvin Gillman, pc ’53, who was in attendance, settle the dispute. Unfortunately for the Adler’s and Applebaum’s, the Judge is retiring in a few days and will be moving to Jacksonville.  If need be, the wisdom of some of the other 50s class of Pilams could be called upon, Chuck Ruffner, pc ’54, the original editor of the Pearl, was there, along with Stan Newmark, pc ’58, Bob Altman, Art Sheldon, pc ‘55 and Jack Hersovitz.

Brad Ackerman, pc ’81, arrived and immediately was voted “Best Dressed”. This is the second year in a row that Brad has won the award. Immediately, he began to feel the pressure for the 2001 BBQ, wondering what he should wear. His wife Melissa vowed to work on it immediately.

Brad Robbins, pc ’78, was a surprise guest. Brad, who currently resides in Kansas City, but is moving to Atlanta to work with King & Spaulding, was in town for a Camp Blue Star reunion. We traded soccer tips, since both of us coach our daughters in youth soccer leagues.

Elliott Brown, pc ’74, made the trip in from New Jersey, and spent a lot of time with Sandy Stein. The new travel record fell for the third straight year, this time it goes to Adrian Newman, pc ’86, who made the trip in from London. Unless Yohan Park, pc ’81, comes in from Korea, Adrian might own the record for a while.

Trial Graphix, Matt’s Company, was well represented. Doug Cohen, partner of Matt’s, said that TG is the biggest employer of Pilam alumni. Included are Matt, Doug, Chris Mueller, pc ’85, Scott Duval, pc ’86, Dave Fried, pc ’83, Steve Horowitz, pc ’76, Doug Skoke, pc ’85, and one or two others, who I cannot recall. Of course, Matt, Doug and Dave, all got their careers jump-started by working at various Gainesville nightclubs such as Scandals, Echelon and Midnite. This probably explains a lot of the success of Trial Graphix. Of the rest of the management team, Steve Stolberg, was there with his wife Vicki, while David Stolberg and Amy did not attend, again, more on that later.

While the BBQ began at 11 a.m., Gary Kopolow, pc ’76, arrived at exactly 12:20, which prompted Mark Schwartz, pc ’86, to state that he now knows the official definition of “fashionably late.”

Bobby Band, pc ’76, came with his family. Bobby was not in good shape emotionally, as he was still recovering from the controversy generated by his attempt to move some excess office furniture he had via the 15fratrow e-mail list. By the way, you can contact Bobby at BBAND@THEWORKGROUP.NET if you are interested.

Some cool looking South Beach kind of guy approached me, and it turned out to be none other than Rick Dronsky, pc ’79. Rick has undergone a complete physical transformation. Not only does he have the SoBe look, he lives there and is director of Mosaic.

Howard Schulman, pc ’76, was invited to the party. Ironically, he didn’t even know he was going to a party loaded with Pilams. His wife met Dana Adler at Burger King or McDonalds, and the kids, who go to the same school, recognized each other, and thus were invited. His wife seemed wary of this whole Pilam thing, which Howard attributed to her smart instincts.

Jon, pc ’81, and Andrea Lieberman, brought their niece and nephew, who they were babysitting for. A smart move, considering all of the kids’ entertainment that was provided.

Sabrina and Michael Kurzman were there. Sabrina immediately informed me that she was (is) a Pilam little sister. In a recent article I had stated that I did not believe she was (see http://www.15fratrow.com/airandsea1.htm). It is surprising to know that there are still some little sisters out there who are proud of their affiliation with the frat.

Mike Elkin and family had a good time. Mike looked fabulous, playing with his kids and talking to everyone. He is working a few days a week. Eric Stein was also there and is doing great.

There were some Teps invited to the event, and I actually saw them circling in their cars, but apparently they were frightened off when they spotted Mitch Yeckes and Adam Lamnin in constant conversation.

The Cohen family was well represented, with Dale, pc ’79, and Todd, pc ’84, both arriving with their families. Dale was working with his son Lawrence on his pass patterns, getting him ready for the 2007 Nosebowl. Todd, Nosebowl Coach in 1986, capped off the best ever turn out for pc ’86 at the BBQ, which also included Mark Schwartz, Adrian Newman, Adam Kleinman and Steve Snyder.

The Sloman’s (Hayley, Jeff and kids) were there. Hayley quickly turned her attention to the whereabouts of Tina Steiner. As most recall, Tina and Hayley wore identical jeans last year. An incredible embarrassment to both. In an effort to make sure that lightning didn’t strike twice, Hayley wore a pair of custom fitted leopard skin pants, which Mitch Yeckes commented should be illegal. Lucky for Hayley, Tina was not in leopard pants, choosing to go with a similar pair of jeans like last year, correctly guessing that Hayley would never wear the same pair again.

Eric Poms, took some time off from the Orange Bowl to come out. Many, many other were there including Jeff Wechsler and Debi Shack, David Sachs, Gavin Kahn, Alan and Terry Rubin, Jon and Julie Evans, Barry and Jeremy Schinder, Bobby Stein, Dave Kabuliun and family, Barry Simons and family, Jeff Fistel, Steve Horowitz and family, Mike Goldenberg and many others.

The BBQ is famous for those who show up, but also, for those who don’t. This year, Amy and David Stolberg, partner of Matt’s and the across the street neighbor (for a few more days) of mine, continued their snub of this event. In fact, it has almost become a sport of the Stolberg family as to how they can avoid the BBQ. Last year, most will remember the famous trip to the Miami Seaquarium. This year, they were planning a trip to the Parrott Jungle, when suddenly Amy heard that they would be closed. Having no excuse, Amy quickly manufactured the need for a party of her own on Christmas day, thereby making it impossible to attend the BBQ. Unbelievable.

The other big disappointment was Steven Kornbluth, pc ’84, who also continued his boycott of the BBQ. In fact, amid much fanfare, he attempted to start a rival BBQ, which even included financial incentives for attendees. Unfortunately for him, only one other was in attendance, a man’s best friend, his dog. Realizing his predicament, and hoping for a better turn out next year, Steven began checking the pet section of the classifieds. After all, just one more dog would double his attendance.

Now that you know of all the fun that you either had or missed, mark it down, December 25, 2001, see you there.

Next Page