28 July 18 • 2019
jn

in Charlevoix. I walk my dog every 
morning around Round Lake and 
often watch the sunrise. It’
s always so 
gorgeous. It never gets old.
” 
In 2015, Freund and his wife, 
Emily, opened That French Place, a 
café on Bridge Street specializing in 
crepes, pastries and coffee. Two years 
later, they opened Brian’
s Ice Cream 
Experience. Seventy-five percent of 
their income is generated between 
Memorial Day weekend and the end of 
October. 
Freund isn’
t the only native Detroiter 
with a business in the downtown area. 
Brothers Bill and Jack Schulman start-
ed Schulman Paddleworks with their 
wives, Lori and Marcia, in 2011. The 
store opened the same year they sold 
Camp Sea-Gull, a northern Michigan 
overnight camp that attracted kids 
from Metro Detroit. 
“We call Charlevoix the ‘
West 
Bloomfield of the North’
 because 
during the summer it feels like I see 
everybody I know from high school 
and Temple [Beth El]. My parents’
 
friends are regulars up here, too,
” said 
Freund, a 1988 graduate of Andover 
High School. 
The popularity of Charlevoix wasn’
t 
lost on Todd and Jennifer Kroll. When 
they bought their summer home in 
2010, they counted the number of 
other people they knew with vacation 
properties. 
“I think we came up with something 

like 23 or 24 families with homes in 
the area,
” said Todd, who has consis-
tently visited the area for the last 18 
summers. He knows this because his 
oldest daughter is 18. “Right away, we 
got a generational feeling from being 
up there, and it was something we 
wanted to start with our kids.
” 
Because of the large number of 
Jewish families who chose to vacation 
in Charlevoix, Temple Beth El began 
hosting a yearly outdoor Shabbat ser-
vice at East Park, located downtown 
and overlooking Round Lake.
This summer’
s service, scheduled for 
Aug. 16, is the temple’
s third. The first 
two attracted more than 300 people, 
including members of Temple B’
nai 
Israel of Petoskey, the only permanent 
synagogue in the area. 
Now there is a Chabad presence in 
Charlevoix as well. Mendel Shemtov 
of West Bloomfield and Mendel 
Goldman of Oklahoma City, both 23, 
moved in July 12. They plan to host 
a variety of programs ranging from 
Shabbat dinners and lunch-and- learn 
sessions to putting up mezuzahs on 
vacation homes of those who are 
interested. There also are plans to host 
some kids’
 programs. Shemtov and 
Goldman decided to spend part of 
the summer in Charlevoix with the 
encouragement and support of resi-
dents Mark and Shoshana Schulman. 
“This is a way where people can 
have a dose of Jewish fun in the place 
where they vacation,
” Shemtov said. 
“We’
re open to hearing suggestions 
from the community about what else 
they are looking for. We want to offer 
things in a fun, relaxed, summertime 
atmosphere.
” ■ 

continued from page 27

COURTESY RICK BERMAN

Jimmy Berman in 1971 on his boat (left) and a 

current photo of his son, Rick, near his property 

in Charlevoix (above).

on the cover/travel
arts&life

MEL DRYMAN
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