Dave & Archie Wolansky (left) and Sandra & Fred Michaels (right)

Dave and Arline (Greenbaum) Wolansky of Avon celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Aug. 20.
Credit for the shidduch goes to Morris Perkel, Arline’s Hebrew teacher at the Yeshiva of Hartford (now Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy in Bloomfield). After completing the yeshiva and graduating from Weaver High School in Hartford, Arline received her professional degree from the University of Bridgeport Fones School of Dental Hygiene. In 1960, she came home after summer vacation.
“My mom said, ‘Mr. Perkel called and he has a nice Jewish boy for you,’” she recalls. “I replied, ‘Oy vey, I care so much for Mr. Perkel, I can’t say no. I’ll go once!’”
Arline and nice-Jewish-boy Dave Wolansky were engaged three months later. Dave, a native of Springfield, Mass., moved with his family to Hartford as a child and graduated from Hartford High School. He earned a degree in economics from UConn and served in the U.S. military, then completed a teaching degree at Central Connecticut State University.
Arline’s sister, Sandra, was already engaged, to Fred Michaels. A student at Stamford Hospital School of Nursing, she had a week off every summer. As an educator, Dave Wolansky also had vacation time during the summer. The two couples decided to have a double wedding and were married on Aug. 20, 1961 at the Emanuel Synagogue on Woodland Street in Hartford. Rabbi Morris Silverman and Cantor Koret officiated.
The Michaelses moved to Pennsylvania. The Wolanskys moved to Avon in 1963 and joined the fledgling Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation, where Arline taught beginning Hebrew for 35 years and served as first woman president, from 1978 to 1980. Perkel was honored as the sandak at the bris ceremonies of both Wolansky sons.
The two couples celebrate their anniversary when they can. This year, to mark the milestone, the extended family will spend a week together on the Jersey shore.
The Wolanskys joined The Emanuel Synagogue in 1995, where Arline and Dave are still active.
Arline attributes the long marriage to communication, compatibility, strong familial ties, and the fact that the couple has swum together every day for nearly half their marital life.
And, oh yes, when the two couples married, the brides’ parents, Betty and Samuel Greenbaum, gifted them with a subscription to the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. The Wolanskys have been subscribers ever since.