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.
giii#Tinay superfiCial-
efOish 1_iburbs everywhere,
is a mirror of the
sfnguIar
20th-century Jeviisli-American experi-
ence. Its founders were Yiddish-speak-
tradegmen who immigrated to the
United States from eastern Europe at
• the turn of the century. Their children
came of age with the Depression and
World War II. The next generation in-
cludes affluent professionals born and
raised amid the prosperity and Cold War
of the 1950s. The great-grandchildren
are now in their 20s, members of "Gen-
eration X," and several of them have
young children — a fifth generation of
American Jews spending their summers
on the same Lake Michigan beach.
Milton Shochet believes Mt. Pleasant's
land originally was owned by his aunt.
"Her husband was a tailor and she was
a socialist," says the retired business-
man. Around 1915, she sold the land to
the Workmen's Circle, which was look-
ing for a location on which to build a
camp for its members.
Yi
The Workmen's Circle, known in Yid-
dish as Der Arbeter Ring, was founded
'
STEPHEN SAGNER
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
A Workmen's
Circle subdivision
is still thriving
— but with VCRs
and BMWs.
A Mt. Pleasant
subdivision transit
authority sign.
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58
in New York in 1892 to provide loans,
health benefits and insurance coverage
to immigrant Jewish workers. After their
arrival from eastern Europe, many Jews
worked in garment and retail trades in
which they had little protection and or-
ganizational strength. And they often
lived in cramped, unventilated urban
tenements.
To escape the stifling summer heat and
provide a safer atmosphere for their chil-
dren, Jewish families initially camped in
tents on Lake Michigan beaches. Search-
ing for a more permanent summer refuge
for its members, the Workmen's Circle
purchased the farm in western Michigan
on which it soon built the Colony, a camp
for children and resort for adults.Jn 1924,
four Jewish families bought the adjacent
property and sold sub-divided lots to in-
dividual members of the Workmen's Cir-
cle. After installing sewage and water
systems and establishing electrical con-
nections to nearby South Haven, the
founding members celebrated their new
summer home with a grand-opening cer-
emony.
Sophie Lipshutz Germaine still re-
members taking part in the event. "I was
13. They built a stage. There was a pi-
ano and speakers and dancers and we
had electricity from here to town."
Members purchased small plots of
land, and simple two-room cottages with
gas plates and cold water, atop a bluff
overlooking Lake Michigan and its cool-
ing breezes.
Milton Shochet's family built a cottage
in 1927 that has been expanded six
times. That same year, Sophie Ger-
maine's father built a house that his fain- <
ily has since modernized: electric heat
replaced kerosene, a water heater was
installed.
While Jewish summer retreats like
those in the Catskills had existed from
the time eastern European Jews arrived
in this country, Mt. Pleasant was differ-
ent. It provided home ownership in a qua-
si-rural location 25 years before Jewish
families began moving to the suburbs.
Mt. Pleasant also was unusual because
it was — and remains— self-governing.
Each property is assessed annually for
sewage and water rights and is entitled
to one vote in a town-hall style democ-
racy.
'We've always had one meeting in the
winter," Mr. Shochet says. "And in the
old days, if you couldn't pay dues, fami-
lies would help you out."
Mt. Pleasant also was different be-