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Memories
"Catskills of the Midwest" exhibit
recalls heyday of South Haven.
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A day at Fidelman's Resort swimming pool and guest houses 0
UZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
T
he drive from Metro Detroit
to South Haven spans some
three hours, but many travel-
ers will cover a much greater time
frame when they visit the Lake
Michigan town during the last week-
end in June. That's when townspeople
and guests will participate in program-
ming to draw them back to the sum-
mers of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s,
the years the city was filled with Jewish
resorts and crowds of Jewish tourists.
The centerpiece of the weekend will
be "Catskills of the Midwest — The
Jewish Resort Era in South Haven," a
photo and memorabilia exhibit run-
ning June 17-July 31 and coinciding
with the 350th anniversary year of the
settlement of the Jewish people in
North America.
The exhibit will be featured at the
South Haven Center for the Arts,
where the heyday of Fidelman's,
Mendelson's, Baron's and so many
other resorts will be recalled. A video-
tape of Jewish resort owners, commis-
sioned .by the Kalamazoo Valley
Museum, will be shown.
Getting activities started will be a
reception planned 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Sunday, June 26, at the First Hebrew
Congregation, where there will be a
brunch and a performance by the
Klezmedics, a Chicago band.
The day's programming includes
individual driving tours to see what
has become of the property that held
the vacation lodgings, slide presenta-
tions to capture the resort experiences
and a lecture and book-signing by Bea
Kraus, author of A Time to Remember
— A History of the Jewish Community
in South Haven. Complementing the
look back will be opportunities for
vacation outings at the currently pop-
ular tourist destinations — beach-
front attractions, restaurants and
children's activity centers close to
bed and breakfast accommodations.
Resort Community
"This exhibit was suggested by a
member of the Historical
Association of South Haven," says
Sue Hale, vice president of the
board of directors. "We've been
working on it for a year to show
the microcosm of the Jewish com-
munity within the larger commu-
nity: I wish I had been old enough
to experience the times when the
resorts were so popular."
Hale says that one of the goals
of the exhibit and the day of
events is to honor the creativity
and the industry of the people
who turned their farming com-
munity into an area where
resorts could thrive.
"There are two segments to
the display," Hale explains.
"The foyer will show pictures
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HAPPY MEMORIES
on page 45
South Haven: Fun in the sun
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6/16
2005
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