WATERFRONT RETREAT

WATERFORD

Watkins Lake provides privacy and respite
from the work world.

J

oyce Keller, executive director of
JARC, and her husband, Michael
Walch, a social worker at
Odyssey Hospice, don't mind the
weekday commute to their
Farmington Hills and Southfield
offices and back to their lakefront
home overlooking Watkins Lake in
Waterford.
For the last 11 years, the couple
have enjoyed the spectacular view and
the time spent relaxing on their pon-
toon, which they refer to as a "floating
living room."
Although Michael was the catalyst,
Joyce has been thrilled with the deci-
sion to live on the lakefront. Their 51-
year-old log house, which they reno-
vated, still has the original log through-
out.
"It's absolutely heaven on Earth,"
she says. "Watkins Lake is private
and very wooded. At first, I thought we
were moving so far out, but it's really
not. We have all the basics right here,
and everything else is no more than
half-an-hour away. And I love that I

TOWNSHIP

can go to our neighborhood Meijer's
with my glasses on, frizzy hair and no
makeup!"
A major highlight of lake living for
Joyce was learning how to slalom
water-ski at the age of 50, thanks to
the patience of her husband.
"As a total non-athlete, it was my
biggest accomplishment!" she says.
Although Waterford and the sur-
rounding area is not known for its
large Jewish population, Joyce says she
has been amazed at how many Jewish
families have moved to Watkins Lake
and other lakes in the vicinity.
"All of us north of Square Lake
Road should think about starting our
own chavurah," she says. When they
moved there 11 years ago, only a half-
dozen Jewish families lived on the
lake; now there are two dozen.
Joyce and Michael are members of
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.
They are involved with Jewish Hospice
and devote much of their free time and
energy to JARC.

A 7,

Population: 73,150
Square miles: 35.3
Chartered: 1947
Claims to fame: 34 lakes and
50 miles of bike paths

Jewish institutions:
Jewish Women International
of Metropolitan Detroit

COMMERCE

TOVVNSHIP

Population: 30,349
Square miles: 28.1
Chartered: 1978
Claim to fame: 1,704 acres of lakes

WALLED LAKE

Population: 7,000
Square miles: 2.3
Became a city: 1954
Claim to fame: Downtown area
is on the lakefront

Jewish institutions:
Chabad Jewish Center of Commerce

— Ronelle Grier

N ovi

Population: 47,386
Square miles: 30.5
Became a city: 1969
Claim to fame: Twelve Oaks Mall

Favorite Community
Hangout:

"Believe it or not, the Old Country
Buffet has become a favorite," Joyce
says. "They have a terrific salad bar,
decent baked chicken, lots of steamed
vegetables and the best no-fat, no-
sugar soft serve I've ever had."

Michael Walch and Joyce Keller relax on Watkins Lake.

2004-2005 Community Directory ■

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