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Mercury Club Founding Members, Circa 1930

The Mercury Club has a long and rich history: It was started in the 1920’s by a group of men who were interested in sports, school, family, social justice and the Jewish community. The Club played football and basketball together, quickly becoming not only a popular, but also talented, group. They added meetings, officers and non-sporting events to their activities. The group did everything together and as they grew up to be young married men with families, they kept the importance of the award in the forefront of the Jewish Community. 
   
When Hy Truman, one of the original club members, passed away, an award was created in his memory and was named the Hy Truman Memorial Award. It was given to the outstanding senior male Jewish scholar-athlete in the Minneapolis area.  Milt Mintkin was the first award winner in 1936. Later, when Don Goldberg, a former winner and Mercury Club Selection Committee Chairman, passed away, his name was added and the award became known as the Hy Truman/Donald Goldberg Memorial Award. From that time on, winners were selected based on their athletic accomplishments, scholastic achievement and community and religious involvement. In 1987-88, the Club added a female winner, with Deborah Levin as the first. In 2017, the award for the female winner was named for the last founding member of the Mercury Club and Hy Truman's sister, Rae Kleinbaum Cooper. Rae attended every banquet until 2015, at the age of 101.

Past winners include Leonard “Butch” Levy, Marvin Wolfenson, Bob Stein, Marc Trestman, Jake Waldman, Allison Barnett, Allison Bloom, Elle Yesnes and many other deserving winners. The Mercury Club Award is believed to be the longest running Jewish scholar-athlete award in the United States.  A lot has changed since the Club's beginnings, but the legacy and tradition of the Club has remained intact. Thanks to support from the Marvin Wolfenson family, we have also been able to add a $1000 scholarship for each winner. 

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