July 18 • 2019 27
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FAMILIAR AMENITIES
Today, returning tourists are accustomed
to things unique to this particular north-
ern Michigan town. A longtime favorite
includes watching the drawbridge on the
north end of the downtown open every
half hour so that larger boats can travel
between Lake Charlevoix on the east side
and Lake Michigan on the west side.
Visitors also looked forward to seeing
the Dexter Bus, a 43-foot boat consis-
tently parked for the summer at the
Charlevoix City Marina. This year marks
the first time in 44 years the boat won’
t
be there. Its owners, Michael and Margo
Goldman of West Bloomfield, sold it
last year when it became too difficult for
Margo to get on and off the vessel.
Other regulars, including Berman of
West Bloomfield and Carol Hooberman
of Franklin, have never missed a sum-
mer there.
“I’
ve been up to Charlevoix 65 years in
a row. I think it’
s paradise on Earth. It’
s
is just an amazing place,
” said Berman,
who has more postcards in his collection
than the town’
s historical society. The
oldest dates back to 1896.
Berman’
s father, Jimmy, started vis-
iting the area in the early 1940s with
his father. He fell in love with the city
and eventually built a house there. That
home is still owned by members of the
Berman family (there are five brothers).
Berman himself bought a home there 21
years ago, and one of his brothers owns
one as well.
In 1943, the same year Hooberman
was born, her parents, along with an
aunt and uncle, had a house on Dixon
Street. She recalls spending many of her
childhood summer days at one of the
local beaches while evening activities
consisted of shuffleboard, biking or
catching a movie at the one local theater
in town.
Although Hooberman’
s family sold
the house in 1964, she continued the
tradition of heading Up North in the
summer. For many years, she and her
husband, Paul, along with with their
children, spent a week or more at either
the Lodge or the Weathervane, two long-
standing hotels on Bridge Street. The
Lodge was sold and renovated, and it is
expected to open in coming months as
the Hotel Earl.
In 1986, the Hoobermans purchased
a condo a few blocks down the street
from her childhood home. Now their
Charlevoix summers include visits
from the grandchildren with trips to
the beach, taffy store and walks up and
down Bridge Street.
Hooberman said her parents, like
so many other families, chose to buy a
house in Charlevoix because her older
brothers suffered from hay fever and
the cleaner northern air made it easier
for them to breathe during the summer
when homes were not air conditioned.
Alan Hayman, first cousin to
Hooberman, said his parents went north
for the summer to avoid exposing them
to polio when there wasn’
t a vaccine for
the debilitating disease and because of
his brother’
s hay fever.
“My parents literally picked me up
on the last day of school in June and
went right Up North. We came home in
September, the day before school started.
The thinking was, ‘
You got your kids out
of Detroit in the summer months when
the incidence of polio seemed to be
higher.
’
If they could, parents took their
kids away from the more densely popu-
lated areas to avoid polio,
” said Hayman,
a West Bloomfield resident who would
later continue the tradition of vacation-
ing there with his own family.
NOSTALGIA AND NATURAL BEAUTY
It’
s not completely clear why Charlevoix
became such a favorite place to visit or
own property except to say that its nat-
ural beauty, relaxed pace and the desire
to create or continue family traditions
appeal to many.
“Everything here feels like it did
when I was a child,
” reminisced Glenn
Wachler. “There has always been a little
downtown area with a bridge. There is
still the same number of traffic lights in
town (two), and the bell on the bridge
makes the same sound as it did when I
was 5. I don’
t feel any older living here
because so much about Charlevoix hasn’
t
changed except now I’
m the dad and not
the kid.
”
Brian Freund, also a Charlevoix
transplant from West Bloomfield,
added: “There aren’
t many places that
are more beautiful than what you see
JENNIFER LOVY
continued on page 28
FA
FAMI
MILI
LIAR
AR AME
MENI
NITI
TIES
Brian and Emily Freund, owners
of That French Place restaurant
BETH EL SHABBAT IN CHARLEVOIX + CHABAD PROGRAMMING
Temple Beth El’
s Shabbat in Charlevoix will begin at 6:15 Friday, Aug. 16, with a “nosh
and schmooze.” Services start at 7 p.m. A Havdalah service takes place the following
evening at 7 p.m. Both free events will be at the park in downtown Charlevoix. New
this year is a kid’
s fun zone. To register, email Lindsay at lfoxwagner@tbeonline.org or
call (248) 851-1100. Chabad of Charlevoix will be planning progams as well; contact
Chabad at (248) 489-6376 or email mendel@chabadcharlevoix.com.
Round Lake seen
from Edgewater Inn.
JENNIFER LOVY