Holocaust survivor & savior reunite: It had been 64 years since Joseph Bonder looked into the eyes of the man who helped save him from the Nazis, but all the memories came rushing back in a flood of tears and kisses yesterday as the two stood face-to-face once again. Bonder, now an 81-year-old retired window washer from Monroe Township, NJ, will spend a very special Thanksgiving with his savior, Bronislaw Firuta, 83, who flew from Poland to JFK Airport for a heartrending reunion. "For him, I owe my life," Bonder said as he showered Firuta with hugs, kisses and flowers. "This Thanksgiving, we will have dinner and thank God for each other."
Clutching his old pal's stocky shoulder, Bonder addressed his three sons and seven grandkids who accompanied him and his wife to the airport to meet the man who made their existence possible. "My dear beloved grandchildren, if [I] didn't survive, you wouldn't be here today," Bonder told them solemnly. The moment of joy was particularly bittersweet for Firuta, a retired transportation worker who lost his wife of 40 years just two months ago and whose house burned down a few weeks later. "My dear beloved Joseph. I came here to see you, even though all that has been going on in my life," said a weeping Firuta in Polish, then added, "We survived Hitler and we survived Stalin and here we are today."
Their remarkable tale began in the terrifying summer of 1941 when the Nazis occupied Poland. Bonder and his family faced certain death in the notorious Skalat Jewish ghetto. While his parents accepted their fate, they told Bonder, who was just 13, and sister Joan -- an 18-year-old teacher -- to go to the family of her 15-year-old student Firuta in the countryside for refuge. "Go to the Firutas. They are good people and they will help you," their mother said. Bonder said the family spent two years in hiding, from 1942 to 1944. When World War II ended and the Soviet Army liberated Poland, Bonder and Joan fled to America. She died 11 years ago. The Holocaust survivor and his rescuer spoke periodically on the phone and wrote letters, but they never met again until yesterday. Pictured: Joseph Bonder (far left) and Bronislaw Firuta yesterday at JFK .
WHITEWATER - A recent trip to Chicago paid dividends for University of Wisconsin-Whitewater young entrepreneur Jordan Leahy (pictured). The Darlington native won $3,000 in capital for his business, Clest LLC, at Northwestern University's third annual elevator pitch competition. Leahy beat 30 teams from major universities including the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, DePaul University and UW-Madison. The elevator pitch competition requires students to sell their business idea to someone in a very limited time frame in this case, the time it takes for a short elevator ride. "What's absolutely terrific about Jordan's win is that he beat students from some of the largest universities in the Midwest," said Bill Dougan, a management professor and adviser of UW-Whitewater's Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization. "This win is a confirmation of the quality of our students and of our programs in entrepreneurship."
With the prize money comes the title "Entrepreneur Idol" and an internship worth $25,000 at Illinois Ventures, a seed and early-stage technology investment firm focused on research-derived companies in information technologies, physical sciences, life sciences and clean technology. More rewarding than the prize money, however, were the connections Leahy made during the competition. "You never know when or where you'll meet your next investor," he said. Case-in-point: The day after the event, Leahy took a phone call from one of the elevator pitch judges. Troy Henikoff, a co-founder of SurePayroll.com, the largest Internet-based payroll company in the nation, is interested in learning more about Clest and plans to meet with Leahy.
"These judges are the 'real deal' in terms of evaluation," Dougan said. "They are very successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists."
This is not the first elevator pitch contest in which Leahy has won money. He recently won $300 at the national Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization's elevator pitch competition. "Jordan is just one example of the many entrepreneurial-inclined students at UW-Whitewater," Dougan said. "He has excellent networking skills and has access to advice from very successful state entrepreneurs. He also has experience in starting and running businesses. It's remarkable given his age." The 22-year-old Leahy launched his first business, a window-cleaning company, at age 15. Six years later, in October 2008, he successfully completed its sale. Today, he and UW-Whitewater alumnus Nick Guenther '09 own and operate Clest LLC, a monitoring service for parents of teen drivers. Parents purchase safety decals that ask, "How's my driving?" to place on the back of their teen's vehicle. Motorists can report hazardous driving to parents by calling a toll-free telephone number displayed on the teen's car. "Our mission is improving parent confidence and teen driving accountability," Leahy said. Leahy spearheaded the first youth entrepreneurs conference held at UW-Whitewater Thursday, Nov. 19. More than 60 college students from Wisconsin attended the event, which was part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. He was the 2008 UW-Whitewater Warhawk Business Plan Competition winner for the Rendlex Tool, an invention holding tools in the handles of cleaning implements. For more information about Leahy or Clest
see their newest venture.
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As soon as Halloween was over, it was like a commercial: perfectly synchronized, the neighbors would all come out and start taking down the decorations as the smell of Windex and Pledge wafted through the air. The wives of the South Baltimore residents would bravely climb out their window on the second floor of their row homes to make sure they cleaned every inch. Some, like my grandmother, would step out onto their back roofs leveling themselves on their kitchen extension (that would probably make their husbands fall through the roof if they tried it) to clean the back windows as well. Christmas was a whole different story. It would snow every Christmas, but the synchronized window washing and decorating would take place despite the cold weather.
Marywood University, which operates a flight school, also will lease space in the center at a cost of $13.71 per square foot. The one-year lease will generate $2,400 in annual revenue for the airport. The board recommended awarding contracts to low bidders for window cleaning and natural gas service. PJ Window Cleaning of Plains Township submitted a bid of $60,000 for three years.
Over the limit in charge of car: A 38-year-old Trillick man who was found in charge of a vehicle when over the legal alcohol limit has fined £300 at Fermanagh Magistrates Court. District Judge Liam McNally heard how on August 30, a vehicle was parked at a lay-by at Maguiresbridge Road, Lisnaskea. The defendant, Samuel Farrell from Rosnareen Road, was observed staggering towards the vehicle before getting into the driver's seat. He was spoken to by police and it was noted that his eyes were glazed, his speech was slurred and there was a strong smell of intoxicating liquor of his breath. He failed a preliminary breath test and a subsequent evidential sample revealed 95 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Mr McNally said he would consider the facts that there was nothing of this nature on Farrell's record, there was no indication that the defendant had put the key in the ignition or put the car on. He said he had entered a guilty plea. For these reasons he said he would not disqualify him. He imposed a £300 fine and endorsed 10 penalty points on his licence.
Maybe it's time for men's lib? To put it mildly, the male version of feminism has not got much traction in popular culture. You will find one or two male writers who do have that zeal. But they don’t speak for men. Most don’t know what masculism is either, and really don’t care. Then there is the casual sexism that shows up mainly in commercials. Men continue to have more spending power than women. But researchers in the ad agencies and marketing have known for years that it is women who have the biggest say in buying decisions, large and small. I would like to point out two examples of adverts that show that sexism works both ways.
1) The notorious Diet Coke “11.30 appointment” ad from the mid-1990s, which depicts women enjoying the drink while gawping at a topless hunky window-cleaner 2) The Carte D’Or ice-cream advert in which a woman throws what appears to be her boyfriend from a moving limousine because he has not bought her the correct ice-cream. Reverse the roles in these scenarios and you may see my point. They no longer seem like “a bit of fun” but are more likely to be interpreted as a group of pervy men gawping at a young lady and a man assaulting his partner!
Reaching out to the hungry: A local church group spent time last week helping those in search of a meal in St. Paul. For some guests this is their only meal of the day, said Dawn Haas, the site coordinator for “Loaves and Fishes,” which uses the St. Matthew’s cafeteria for the program it runs at eight sites around the metro that aims to feed the hungry. The St. Matthew’s site expects to serve nearly 29,000 meals in 2009. The King of Kings group, which is responsible for one night a month throughout the calendar year, will serve up well more than 1,000.
“Loaves and Fishes” staff members, who assist the groups that come in to cook throughout the week, said they appreciate the enthusiasm of volunteers like those at King of Kings. “It’s a fairly balanced meal and the guests are always impressed by the quality,” Haas said. “That’s because the groups of volunteers we have are great cooks.” Others like Tim and Laura Langmade and their son Trent, 6, are new guests to “Loaves and Fishes.” But they aren’t any less thankful. “This is an inviting place,” said Tim Langmade, who owns a small window cleaning business that has been struggling as of late. “The people serving are very kind and it’s a very friendly atmosphere for us to bring our son to.”
On the News that banks are trying to phase out cheques: Cheques prevent unauthorised debits from customers' accounts. Cheques allow customers to keep tighter control over their money. With internet banking, it is simple to pay anyone directly, using their sort code and account number. I use this facility for payments ranging from our window cleaner, paid every six weeks, to the Royal British Legion, once or twice a year. Without exception, everyone I have asked for their account details has responded positively, as it saves us both money, and is faster and more secure than posting a cheque.
