MAKING MEMORIES / ON THE COVER

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The placid waters of South Tea Lake

provide a gorgeous backdrop for Camp

Tamakwa in Ontario's Algonquin Park.

Lasting Legacy

For 75 years, Tamakwa has made an impact on Detroit campers.

Robert Sarner

Special to the Jewish News

O

n Oct. 23, some 500 people from
the U.S. and Canada will converge
on Rock Financial Showcase in
Novi. The crowd will span several genera-
tions. Some will not have seen each other
for decades. Others will be dose friends.
Most will be current or former residents of
Detroit's Jewish community.
What will draw them together is a shared
love for a place in the Canadian wilderness
called Camp Tamakwa. Through music,
songs, videos, skits and Tamakwa memora-
bilia, the evening will celebrate the camp's
75th anniversary, paying tribute to a sum-
mer paradise that has had a major impact on
thousands of people.
Among those planning to attend is Doreen
Hermelin of Bingham Farms. She was in the
first group of girl campers after the camp
went co-ed in 1949, and Tamakwa is where

she met her late husband, David Hermelin,
a former U.S. ambassador to Norway and
notable community leader and philanthro-
pist. Hermelin's five children also attended
the camp; 10 of her grandchildren attend,
too.
"Given the role of Tamakwa in my life,
I'm really excited about the party later this
month',' she said. "It will allow me to see
many good people I haven't seen in years,
some of whom I last saw at Tamakwa's 50th
anniversary party in Detroit"
The Novi event is the culmination of cel-
ebrations honoring Tamakwa's milestone.
Last month, more than 250 Tamakwans trav-
eled to Ontario's Algonquin Park (many driv-
ing seven hours from Michigan) to spend a
weekend at camp, where the magic began in
the 1930s and still continues.
This month's celebration will be especially
moving for Vic Norris, 60, Tamakwa senior
director. Having spent 40 summers there, the
camp is his second home. Along with former

Detroiter David Bale and Toronto business-
man Howard Perlmutter, Norris became
co-owner of Tamakwa in 1980, after working
on staff for nine years. Since then, he has
somehow balanced a law career in Detroit,
induding managing the law firm of Hertz
Schram PC, with running Tamakwa. One of
the camp's two off-season offices is located
within the Bloomfield Hills law firm; the
other is in Toronto, run by Craig Perlmutter,
his partner since 2005.
"Alumni from every generation and
decade always tell me their Tamakwa sum-
mers were the best days of their lives',' Norris
said. "This milestone is an incredible testa-
ment to the founders of Tamakwa and to
all those who were ever a camper or staff
member there'

Wilderness History

Located three hours north of Toronto in
Algonquin Park, a vast government-protect-
ed nature reserve spanning 3,000 square

miles, Tamakwa's setting is ideal for a sum-
mer camp. It occupies a majestic peninsula
on South Tea Lake accessible only by water,
creating a more self-contained, doseknit
community. Each summer, the camp runs
two four-week sessions for 250-300 campers
between ages 7 and 16, who relish a reality
far removed from the comforts of urban
civilization.
Best traversed by canoe or kayak,
Algonquin Park is a haven for loons, moose,
beavers and other wildlife and attracts out-
doors enthusiasts from across the world. It's
still largely unspoiled and its 1,600 lakes and
countless waterways are pretty much the
way they were when Lou Handler, with help
from his friend Omer Stringer, established
Tamakwa on the northern shore of South Tea
Lake in 1936.
Handler, a well-known prizefighter and
sportsman in his native Detroit with a degree
in forestry from Michigan State University,
had been a counselor at Camp Arowhon in

Lasting Legacy on page 14

October 14 • 2010

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