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Tour The Collection!
continued from page 14
“David and I were both people people.
He loved people. I love people and I enjoy
having them at the house.”
— DOREEN HERMELIN
be exact. The most recent occasion, in
2015, was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s
presidential campaign. But the first big
event was a fundraiser that took place
before Bill Clinton was even a presiden-
tial candidate.
“We had the whole place decked out
with red, white and blue decorations,”
Doreen recalls. “We had red, white and
blue straw hats. Everyone was taking
snapshots. We had musicians. David
always wrote songs for everybody and he
did everything in costume; it was always
costume.”
Twenty-five couples attended and
all gave Clinton a very large donation,
Doreen says.
After winning the election, Clinton
returned for another epic celebration.
A March 1996 Jewish News article found
in the Detroit Jewish News Foundation’s
William Davidson Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit History, written by Danny
Raskin, describes the party this way:
“The president came to the Bingham
Farms home of David and Doreen
Hermelin last week surrounded by Secret
Service men and Buddy, the Secret Service
dog. Simone Vitale’s band played instru-
mental light jazz … David Hermelin did
his wondrous thing again with lyric paro-
dies of ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy,’ ‘Grand Old
Flag,’ ‘Glory, Glory Hallelujah’ and ‘Happy
Days Are Here Again.’”
According to the report, “Star Trax pro-
vided valet parking and Cloverleaf Market
brought the Silverado Merlot and char-
donnay wines.”
In return, Doreen says the Clintons
repeatedly invited them to the White
House for “dinner and a movie,” but David
always refused unless all 25 couples who
had attended that first fundraiser were
invited, too.
“Bill Davidson took us all on his plane
to Washington,” Doreen recalls.
Photos from that visit include hand-
written notes from the former president.
One reads, “With best wishes and grati-
tude for your friendship over the years.”
CHERISHED CAUSES
The Hermelins were good friends to
many individuals and organizations
over the years; opening their home to
support so many causes it’s difficult to
recount them all.
Searches of the DJN Foundation’s
Davidson archive turn up a 1992 men-
tion of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin speaking to a
group from the Jewish Federation’s Young
Adult Division, a 1988 gathering featuring
actor Elliot Gould that raised more than
16
October 12 • 2017
jn
$30,000 for Shaarey Zedek’s Sisterhood, a
2001 performance by Itzhak Perlman to
benefit the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a
1990 tennis exhibition by Israeli youths, a
1978 visit from a dean of Haifa University,
a 1986 parlor meeting with an Israeli bio-
physicist who helped treat victims of the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and the list
goes on.
One evening when six senators were
visiting, Doreen says her son Brian, then
about 10, was letting a friend on a bicycle
pull him on a skateboard. Brian fell off, hit
his head and suffered a concussion.
“All six of the senators went up to see
him,” Doreen recalls. “They were good
politicians.”
There were events to benefit the Cancer
Society and Karmanos Cancer Institute,
AIPAC and the Michigan Parkinsons
Foundation, a seminar on estate planning,
a high tea and also Camp Hermelin. Since
2008, the annual summer event on the
grounds has included s’mores, arts and
crafts, flag football, dance, bounce houses
and more. Hundreds of children attend
from different summer camps each year.
The event is a family-friendly fundraiser
for ORT.
“David and I were both people people,”
Doreen says. “I love people. He loved peo-
ple. I love people and I enjoy having them
at the house.”
LOVE OF ART
Doreen’s other great love is art, as evi-
denced by her extensive collection that
consists of contemporary, abstract and
traditional works from local, national
and international artists. It’s an eclectic
mix. Some pieces are quirky, like a stack
of small, medium and large wooden
tables that seem to each balance on one
leg in mid-air; others are humorous like
a “guitar playing the drums” made by
attaching a guitar neck to a chair with
wooden arms and bent forks wrapped
around a set of drum sticks. There are
paintings of all sizes, sculptures, ceram-
ics, even two papier-mache ladies sip-
ping tea.
“I was an art major. I did watercolors,
pastels and fashion drawings,” Doreen
says. “So for me to have a place to hang
art was the best thing I could imagine.
When we really had walls to fill, for me, it
was like a gift.”
No surprise, she plans to share that gift
with the community Oct. 19 during the
first-ever docent-led tour of the Judaica
and Jewish artists in her collection. The
event, which includes a strolling dinner
buffet and drinks, will benefit the Jewish
Each intricate creation — from ancient
Roman glass vessels carefully balanced
on a windowsill to a silver Secret Pitcher
Hidden Synagogue teapot — has a story.
Doreen Hermelin has something to add
about each one.
On Thursday, Oct. 19, beginning at 6:30
p.m., 10 docents will be on hand to give
an exclusive tour of the Judaic art and
Jewish artists in the Hermelin family col-
lection. The evening includes a strolling
dinner buffet and drinks and ends with a
conversation with Doreen. Tickets begin
at $118 per person. The event will benefit
the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan,
fitting since the first major fundraiser for
the organization (an evening honoring
Philip Slomovitz, founder and editor of the
Jewish News) took place in the Hermelin
home back in May 1991.
“Doreen knows the story behind every
piece in the collection, where every piece
is kept and how that piece should be
showcased,” says Barbara Cohn, event
co-chair and Jewish Historical Society
board member. “She has graciously
opened her home and shared her stories.
It has been so inspiring to work with her
and I have learned so much from her
about contemporary art.”
Just pulling up the long, winding private
drive to the Bingham Farms home is sure
to be a treat for art lovers. There are large,
interesting sculptures placed strategically
around the grounds. Most of those sculp-
tures are from Israel, Doreen says.
All in all, the collection consists of
pieces that reflect Doreen and her late
husband David’s love of contemporary art-
ists, Detroit and Michigan artists, Israeli
art, Jewish ritual objects and pieces from
Norway.
“David and Doreen both felt it was
important to purchase art from living art-
Historical Society of Michigan (see side-
bar).
“The house is filled with art and
Judaica from across the street and around
the world,” explains Wendy Rose Bice,
executive director of the Jewish Historical
Society of Michigan. “The Jewish
Historical Society is beyond honored to
have the chance to share the stories of
Doreen and David’s collection and family.”
With the Hermelin home up for sale,
this could be one of the final events in its
long, storied history. The website Zillow.
com describes the property as a “1939
grand estate that has been enhanced by
innovative additions making contempo-
rary living and entertaining a dream.”
While Doreen can certainly use the
room to host her five children, their
spouses and 16 grandchildren for holidays
and other family gatherings, she says she’s
ready to downsize. She hopes whoever
ends up buying the house will keep it
intact and continue to make it accessible
to the community.
Israel antiquities mostly fill this glass cabinet.
Woman bronze sculpture
ists and support them,” adds Cohn, who
curated the tour. “Their home is truly a
repository of our Jewish heritage and his-
tory.”
For tickets and more details, visit
michjewishhistory.org or call
(248) 432-5517. •
“Everyone’s been welcome,” Doreen
says. “I like my house to be comfortable.
I wanted my kids to make themselves at
home and everybody else to make them-
selves at home.”
And so many people have. In a way, the
guests have become a special collection in
and of themselves.
“This amazingly generous couple lived
their life and created a residence that is
at once both a warm and inviting home,”
says Rose Bice. “There isn’t a significant
Detroiter, Jewish and non-Jewish, who
hasn’t broken bread here.” •
Your Memories
Have you ever been in the Hermelin home
for a community event? Have any memories
to share? If so, send your recollections to
Story Development Editor Keri Guten Cohen
at kcohen@renmedia.us by Monday, Oct.
16, and we will share them all on our web-
site: thejewishnews.com. Thanks.