The 95th Anniversary of the Israel Cantor Family Society was held on the S.S. Cabaret on a spectacularly beautiful fall Sunday. The boat left Pier 81 for a brunch cruise that sailed down the Hudson River around the tip of Manhattan and up the East River to the United Nations providing us with amazing views of the three major bridges, the “Waterfalls” art installation, the Brooklyn waterfront, Governor’s Island, and, of course, close-ups of Ellis Island, where our ancestors landed.
The Society thanks Larry Becker, Phil Cantor, Ron Jordan, and Madeline Cantor for their hard work in putting the trip together and to making it a success. The 95th Anniversary will be difficult to top… the planners of the 100th have their hands full to top this incredible afternoon.
Keep reading to see lots of photos and read reports from three members.
Our Family Portrait
The boat’s captain maneuvered the boat to place the Statue of Liberty in the background for our formal group portrait.
Gloria Fenston, Buffalo
Even though the invitation seemed to offer an enjoyable 95th Cantor Anniversary celebration, it mentioned nothing of the royally pampered treatment we received. Yet, from the moment we were welcomed on board with goblets of sparkling water and juice, to the waves of wonderfully warm-served appetizers (even duck phyllo cups), to the fruit, salad and cheese board, to the filet mignon and/or stuffed trout roulade, to the open bar aperitifs, the food and beverages reflected the cherished feelings of those on board for the Cantor Family Society.
The powers-that-be provided a perfectly sunny, warm day with just the right breeze made me think that the many dearly departed Cantors were smiling down on us.
Anyway, I’m mentioning last what was probably the most important part of the day’s events, and that was the intermingling of family members. I realized, in some ways, a boat was a great idea for making this happen.
People could not escape to their hotel rooms or other activities…and we stayed on the two lovely decks of our World Yacht with the skyline of NYC to talk about and the lives of the Cantor Family members to share.
Who could have asked for anything more?
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Phil Cantor, Montclair
For me, the most poignant moment was during the Cantor Family Trivia Game, organized by Larry Becker.
The last question was “Name a Cantor who is an AFC”. I didn’t know what an AFC was, but since our 23 year old cousin, Aaron Hornick had arrived the day before from his Air Force base and was wearing his uniform, I guessed that it meant Airman First Class and I was correct. To everyone’s total surprise (including Larry Becker, who wrote the questions), one team answered “Aaron Hornick and Arthur Epstein?” Arthur Epstein, now in his 80s, had been an Airman First Class and has seen service during WWII and was shot down over Okinawa. There was quiet in the room as we saw these two Airman come together, whose service is separated by over 65 years, and it dawned on many of us all that we were looking not only at the story of our family, but also, the continuing story of our country.
Photographs by Phil Cantor and Ethan Cantor