Business & Professional

GEORGE DILA
Special to the Jewish News

Rothbury, Mich.

n his suede vest, blue jeans,
and saucer-sized Western
belt buckle, Bob Lipsitz
looks the part of the successful
rancher. But even though he
owns a 2,000-acre spread with
an airstrip, a herd of longhorn
cattle and 150 horses, he's just
as happy talking about state-of-
the-art conference centers,
indoor water parks and
hotel/condo developments.
All of these disparate ele-
ments, from the cattle to the
condos, come together at the
Double JJ Ranch and Golf
Resort, the business Bob and
his wife Joan own and operate
in the rolling, tree-covered hills
of western Michigan, near a dot
on the map called Rothbury.
The Lipsitzes are Detroit-area
born and bred. Both are gradu-
ates of Southfield High School.
Their permanent home is in
Bloomfield Hills.
But for the past
30 years
or

I

so, Bob has spent nearly every
summer in the countryside,
first working his way up the
career ladder from dishwasher
to associate director at Camp
Tamarack and, since 1988, as
the owner, with Joan, of the
Double JJ. Now that their two
sons are away at college, Bob
and Joan Lipsitz spend the bet-
ter part of their life on the
ranch year-round.
Back in the late '80s, Lipsitz
was crisscrossing the state,
hunting for a site for a new
family camp for Tamarack
Camps, and for the State of
Michigan, which was interested
in opening a camp of its own.
He visited dozens of properties,
and when he found the Double
JJ, a modest, 500-acre dude
ranch in Oceana County, about
20 miles north of Muskegon, he
knew he'd found something
special.
"But neither Camp
Tamarack nor the
state was
inter-

ested in acquiring the Double
JJ," he said. "So Joan and I
bought it for ourselves."
They paid a price "in the high
six figures," according to
Lipsitz.
The Double JJ dates back to
the 1930s. Two brothers, one
who owned a riding stable and
the other who owned a girl's
camp, brought their two enter-
prises together as the Jack and
Jill Ranch - a dude ranch for
adults. The property had
passed through several owners
and had been renamed the
Double JJ by the time the
Lipsitzes bought it.
At first, most of the guests
were women. Wives would leave
their husbands and kids at
home and come to the ranch,
often with friends or in a
group, for a week or so of relax-
ation and horseback riding.
"But from the beginning
we've listened to our cus-
tomers:' Lipsitz said. "That's
been the secret of our growth
and success."
And the lady guests were
telling him that if there was
something for the men to do,
they'd get their husbands to

Bob and Joan Lipsitz at the ranch

Ride 'Em Cowboy on page 150

Ride 'Em,
Cowboy!

A publicity photo for the

Thoroughbred golf course

A former Tamarack
camp director has
taken "ranch" to the
multi-million level.