DECEMBER 2009

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from the EDITOR PUBLISHED BY The Chaldean News, LLC EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Vanessa Denha-Garmo MANAGING EDITOR Joyce Wiswell CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Caroline M. Bacall Joe Gasso Neran Karmo Mark Kassa Weam Namou Michael G. Sarafa PROOF READER Ken Marten ART & PRODUCTION CREATIVE DIRECTOR Alex Lumelsky with SKY Creative GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Zina Lumelsky with SKY Creative Joseph Sesi PHOTOGRAPHERS David Reed Ramiz Romaya OPERATIONS Interlink Media DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Paul Alraihani CIRCULATION Paul Alraihani CLASSIFIEDS Joyce Wiswell SALES Interlink Media SALES REPRESENTATIVES Lisa Kalou Crystal Oram Lisy Starr MANAGERS Vanessa Denha-Garmo Martin Manna Michael Sarafa SUBSCRIPTIONS: $20 PER YEAR THE CHALDEAN NEWS 29850 NORTHWESTERN HIGHWAY, SUITE 250 SOUTHFIELD, MI 48034 WWW.CHALDEANNEWS.COM PHONE: (248) 996-8360 Publication: The Chaldean News (P-6); Published monthly; Issue Date: DECEMBER 2009 Subscriptions: 12 months, $20. Publication Address: 29850 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 250, Southfield, MI 48034; Application to Mail at Periodicals Postage Rates is Pending at Farmington Hills Post Office Postmaster: Send address changes to “The Chaldean News 29850 Northwestern Highway, Suite 250, Southfield, MI 48034” Trust in the Lord The other day I was turning onto Orchard Lake Road from Long Lake and the car in front of me with Indiana license plates read, “In God We Trust.” Without thinking I blurted out, “that’s right!” My daughter, snug in her car seat watching a Dora video, looked at me startled. These past few months, I have put so much trust in God, more than I have in my entire life. I trusted in God when I decided to leave my full-time position as press secretary for Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano to build my own public relations and marketing company, Denha Media and Communications. Yes, I am still co-publisher and editor in chief of The Chaldean News – God willing, I always will be part of this publication I launched with my partners and that I love so much. I truly believe that success takes making strategic risks. I knew it was time to take that risk. I spend the month of December enjoying the holidays, resting and preparing to fully launch my new website and new company in 2010. I am sure I will face challenges and obstacles along the way as new businesses do, but I will trust in the Lord that everything will fall into place just as it should. This is a time of year to reflect on life. If you need a place of solitude and spiritual renewal to help organize your thoughts, head to the newly constructed grotto at St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church. A team of talented people designed, built and decorated VANESSA DENHA-GARMO EDITOR IN CHIEF the place of prayer for all the community to enjoy. Joyce Wiswell tells the story of how the grotto came to be in this month’s cover story. Think about all those things in life that trouble you, head to the grotto and give them up to God. We have an influx of refugees with more to come who have little money if any. They are at the mercy of the government and other Chaldeans for assistance. I am sure many of them are giving this cross they bear up to God this holiday season. I truly believe that success takes making strategic risks. This is the season we adopt a refugee family or another family in need through the Chaldean Federation of America or the Chaldean American Ladies of Charity. Share with your children this amazing opportunity to give back. Encourage them to actually pick out gifts for other children who they have never met, wrap them and even deliver them to the family. It is a humbling and rewarding experience. As Christians in Iraq and all over the Middle East celebrate the birth of Christ, they are praying for safety, peace and the opportunity for a better life. Sometimes I think about what has happened in Iraq; I hear so many stories because of The Chaldean News and every once in while, I will stop to really think about the tragedy and I sit in amazement and totally appalled. It is during the most drastic times in our lives that we feel no hope, yet there is no better time to lift our pains to the Lord. We had an opportunity this month to meet the newly elected Detroit City Council members. I think about Charles Pugh giving up a successful and lucrative career as a TV reporter and anchor to take on the challenges of the city as the council president-elect for a lot less money. He and three of the other new members of council visited with store owners inside Shenandoah last month and many of them did express their gratitude to God for being able to help turn the city around. Also new on the city council is Rev. Andre Spivey. Perhaps he will bring with him to council every day a prayer of gratitude, a prayer for strength and a prayer for guidance as they give up their challenges to the Lord. It is liberating and comforting to know that God is on your side. I have been in the car struggling in my mind with what to do about a certain situation and I have literally said, “OK God, this one is on you. You can figure it out. I have too many other things to do.” It may not be resolved overnight, but some how, some way, God always comes through. There is no need to go through life’s burdens’ alone – give them up to the Lord. Alaha Imid Koullen (God Be With Us All) Vanessa Denha-Garmo vdenha@chaldeannews.com www.sherwoodfoods.com The Midwest’s Leading Food Distribution Network Beef, Pork, Poultry, Processed Meats, Lamb, Veal, Seafood, Deli, Bakery, Frozen Foods and Dairy Our facilities are strategically located and well positioned to service our entire customer base from Michigan to Florida along the I-75 corridor. Corporate Headquarters 12499 Evergreen Road • Detroit, MI • 48228 • 313-659-7300 Regional Warehouses Atlanta, GA•Cincinnati, OH•Cleveland, OH•Detroit, MI•Miami, FL Trading Offices Oklahoma City, OK • Ponca, NE 10 CHALDEAN NEWS DECEMBER 2009 cn1209_0148.indd 10 11/25/09 5:00:31 PM
GUEST column your LETTERS 2009 year end musings MICHAEL G. SARAFA SPECIAL TO THE CHALDEAN NEWS What a tough year — for most of us anyway. I hesitate to call for celebration that the year is over in hopes of a much better 2010. We tried that last year and look what happened. But things have to be close to “bottomed-out.” It just has to be. Hope springs eternal. So here’s looking forward to the New Year. Speaking of having a rough year, Kwame Kilpatrick probably tops the list. He was disgraced into leaving office, served jail time and just generally humiliated by his own antics, behavior and misguided sense of his own “ordination.” Come to find out he was actually bribed out of office by some of Detroit’s top corporate enablers of bad government, who should be ashamed of themselves for supporting him after it was clear he was not worthy of their support. But they were “big Kwame Kilpatrick fans,” as one of them once told me. I remember coming out of the Archer Administration how some in our community took some pleasure in the fact that I lined up on the wrong side of the next two mayoral elections. First I supported Gil Hill and then Freman Hendrix. Kwame had their number both times. But I was thinking about this the other day and just wanted to say I told you so. On another front, it’s getting difficult to keep on supporting the various and disparate community causes — from a financial perspective, that is. The Chaldean Federation, Adopt-A-Refugee Family, the Chamber Foundation and PAC, Shenandoah, our churches, the E.C.R.C., the Ladies of Charity and others. All of these groups are hurting for funds. Nowhere is the lack of fundraising prowess and sophistication more apparent than at the church level. It took St. Thomas nearly three years to finish the grotto because of a lack of funds. (By the way, it is beautiful). Nonetheless, we need to get our act together and better coordinate and centralize these efforts. It was a good year for gas stations in terms of getting beer/wine/liquor licenses. State law has been completely flipped on its head as these licenses proliferated in drastic numbers this year. I’ll buy lunch for anyone who can find me a gas station with $250,000 of inventory excluding beer, wine, liquor and gas. I’m not sure what happened but it’s out of control. In politics, it has been disappointing that President Obama’s initial call for bipartisan cooperation has fallen flat. His style of leadership, which seemed to be exactly what the doctor had ordered, may prove ineffective. We shall see. It is not entirely his fault, however. The Republican Party, especially in Washington, D.C., has fallen off the right side of the partisan cliff to become barely recognizable as a mainstream political party. Most disappointing to me is Congressman Pete Hoekstra who, at one point, seemed like an interesting and independent-minded person possibly worthy of support for governor of Michigan. But he’s part of the herd that fell off the cliff so I no longer expect him to be formidable in the race for governor. On Shenandoah, it seems that the club will stay in the hands of the community. That arrangement should be wrapped up before year’s end. That has been a very difficult and stressful part of the year for many. Thankfully, many good people stepped up in different ways to help. We have many good and loyal members who are the bulwark of the club and the community. Foremost among the supporters has been His Excellency Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim. Thanks to him for his leadership on this and sorry to those who were rooting against Shenandoah’s success. I’m sure you’ll find another cause for the New Year. Finally, this year, like all others, It seems Shenandoah will stay in the hands of the community. That arrangement should be wrapped up before year’s end. had its ups and downs; its moments of happiness and, at times, tears; its moments of tragedy and triumph. On balance, though, it was a somber year, appropriately so. As a nation we are still bogged down in two wars and a severe economic downturn. For those of us in Michigan, we are in the midst of an economic depression. Somber is the feeling for those of us still working and living in our own homes. For many others, it’s more like fear, anger and pain. Ultimately, it is a matter of perspective. I was reminded of this yet again at this year’s Candlelight Vigil at Covenant House of Michigan. Each year, we hear testimonials from young people who have survived some of the worst life conditions possible in America. These are kids who have been tossed out on the streets by those unwilling or unable to care for them and love them. These are young people who have crack addicts and murderers for parents. Some of the young ladies are “babies with babies” and have been sexually active since their early teens as part of their “street” condition. Their personal stories are heart wrenching. This year we heard from four of these kids. They were thankful to Covenant House for a place to stay and food to eat; for staff that guided and loved them. They are thankful for the schooling, job training and the chance for a career. Most of them are just thankful to be alive, off the street and amongst people who care about them. We know from our experience that some of them will not make it; they will land back in the street, in jail, in the hospital or dead. But for these kids, for now, it was a good year — maybe the best year they ever had. May God bless them and give them another good year. Michael G. Sarafa is president of the Bank of Michigan and a co-publisher of The Chaldean News. Hard to Swallow An open letter to the Shenandoah Country Club Board of Directors: This is in regard to the subject of your report on August 11, 2009. To say that the club “has always been something we supported for the enjoyment of our families and community, etc.” is a sheer misrepresentation of the truth. The fact of the matter is that this is and always has been a shareholders’ institute as clearly defined in its constitution. A good witness to that fact is that a shareholders’ value has already been paid to certain resigning members. To deprive hundreds of resignees of their legal sharing equity is to deny them their years of contribution, morally, physically and materially, to their beloved club. Most of those resigning members were forced to resign by old age or inability to pay the rising annual fees, or both. I, for one, have given a quarter of my life to the service of the club as a co-founder, a board vice chairman and its bulletin editor. To punish me and hundreds of unfortunate retirees is an outrage. To say that equity is “no different than what has happened to the values of our home or investment property” is a misleading interpretation. A huge property like a country club, equaling in value hundreds of regular homes, cannot make a like-kind comparison. Your hardship is understandable, but your best choice is to keep the prior equity alive for the resigning members and their successive family generations until such time as they can be paid their fair shares. To erase or usurp the retirees’ shares by a stroke of your pen is not possible. It is a large chunk of legal morsel to swallow. The court of law is the only legal authority to decide the fate of legal shares, especially since the club is still alive and functioning and no bankruptcy has been declared. It is very unfortunate that the board has chosen this time to throw this bitter taste in the throats of our old-timers. Killing the only link the retirees have left with the club is a severe blow to the harvest of their lifetime labor for this institute. The club downfall is a result of the poor management on the part of the successive boards. For the retirees to pay the price is a big sin. It is worth mentioning in this respect that I wrote two letters to the club boards warning them of the wrong elite stand they were adopting by increasing the costs to the members and the party-goers, plus the “serving staff” who were foreign to our Chaldean culture. No reply did I ever receive from the club, the reason being, as I see it, that the old-timers are something of the past generations, regardless of their experience. This letter represents the grief of all the club retirees. Amen. – Joseph Nadhir West Bloomfield DECEMBER 2009 CHALDEAN NEWS 11 cn1209_0148.indd 11 11/25/09 5:00:32 PM
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Page 3 and 4: Gary Sako 248-990-3010 Mary Ann Yon
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Page 7 and 8: W FARMINGTON HILLS 33250 12 MILE RO
Page 9: CONTENTS DECEMBER 2009 THE CHALDEAN
Page 13 and 14: A Fond Farewell From Jerry Shannon
Page 15 and 16: noteworthy Sharon Hannawa Paul Aske
Page 17 and 18: Community Bulletin Board Blame It o
Page 19 and 20: Happy Holidays from Tapper’s With
Page 21 and 22: SETTING THE STANDARD FOR INTEGRITY
Page 23 and 24: TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE Welcome t
Page 25 and 26: looking BACK Khalid Bahoura: Chicke
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Page 49 and 50: PROFESSIONALS PROFESSIONALS PROFESS
Page 51 and 52: Wedding Specials SEPTEMBER 15TH - M

DECEMBER 2009

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