By Sharon Wisch-Ray
Growing up in Fort Worth, I have many memories of my childhood friends and their parents. When I think of Judy and Don Cohen, I remember how Judy was a foodie and cooked fabulous gourmet meals, while attending graduate school and later working at TCU. Don was way ahead of the curve when it came to valuing physical fitness. He was running and biking before it was in. In fact, all the Cohen kids (Danny, Dede, Steven and Dana) were superb athletes, soccer being their forte.
In March, the Cohen clan and 30 of Dr. Don’s Mayo Clinic biking buddies assembled to honor Don on The Don Cohen Friends & Family Reunion & Bike Ride. The reunion was held from Thursday, March 7 to Sunday, March 10, to honor Don on his 82nd birthday.
For about 17 years following the annual Mayo Clinic International Pathology Conferences, a group of pathologists, wives and friends have taken a two-week bicycle ride in the country where that particular meeting was held. Don attended about 15 annual treks; Judy accompanied him on three-fourths of them. Dede went with her dad to Sicily; Dana, Steven and Amy went with him to Italy and Poland.
Two years ago, Don had to stop participating in the rides for medical reasons.
The organizer of the rides, Herman Hindriks, originally lived in Holland, and arranged each trip around Europe away from the city centers where the medical conferences were held. He planned bike routes through small towns, so the group could stay in small hotels, meet the locals and experience often unseen beauties of the countryside. This past spring he married and settled down in Austin, where he continues to lead bike tours in the United States and Europe.
Herman and Judy planned the Fort Worth reunion together. He scouted the trails and arranged for the rental bikes, maps, daily events and everything else pertaining to the bike rides. Judy suggested local lodgings, restaurants and sight seeing (for the non-bikers). Most adult Cohen family members participated in the bike rides along with the Mayo friends, including the Cohen’s younger grandchildren — Kevin, 15, Jeffrey, 12, Sam, 9 and Sarabelle Berk and Will Cohen, 6.
Everyone stayed at the Historic Stockyards Hyatt Hotel on the North Side, as the bike rides started each morning from North Side Trinity Trail. Lunch stops were planned at the Woodshed, Sundance Square and at the Love Shack on the North Side. Dinners were held at Angelo’s Barbeque and Joe T. Garcia’s. Don and Judy hosted a farewell birthday dinner at the Reata for everyone.
Fort Worth got high marks from our out-of-town visitors! The Woodshed and Reata were particular favorites, and the Trinity Biking Trails impressed everyone so much that another Fort Worth bike ride might be planned.
Movie party at ‘Daytimers’
“Daytimers” is experimenting with “bring your own lunch” for the August program, a film and Ice Cream Social, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, at Beth-El Congregation. People who want to bring a lunch should come at 12:30 p.m., and those who are coming just for the film popcorn, and ice cream should arrive at 1 p.m.
“Quartet” is directed by Dustin Hoffman and stars Maggie Smith. After years of acting and two Oscars under his belt, Hoffman finally, at the age of 75, takes a turn behind the camera in his directorial debut.
Ice cream, popcorn and the film cost $5 per person. Please let Barbara, Larry or Hugh know if you need a special ice cream. For information and reservations, call with your credit card to Barbara Rubin, 817-927-2736, Larry Steckler, 520-990-3155, or Hugh Lamensdorf, 817-738-1428, or reserve for yourself at www.bethelfw.org/donations.
The Sylvia Wolens “Daytimers” is a program of Beth-El Congregation with financial support from the Jewish Federation.
Hillel Academy is a ‘go’
I attended an open house for Hillel Academy of Tarrant County last Sunday. The school is the dream of Chabad of Fort Worth’s Rabbi Dov Mandel and will start classes on Aug. 26 for pre K-fourth graders. More on this next week.
Speedy Recovery wishes
Debbie Levine tells us that her sister Fredi Stryer is recovering at Debbie’s after surgery for a severe broken ankle. Fredi will be off her feet for a couple of months and would love to hear from you. You can email her at fstryer@hotmail.com.
