MAY 26 • 2022 | 25

OUR COMMUNITY

T

ake a peek inside JSL
’s Meer 
Apartments in West Bloomfield and 
you’ll see residents participating in 
usual independent living activities, such as 
a book club, playing cards and shmoozing. 
But one you might not expect — a men’s 
woodworking club — was started about 
four years ago by Meer’s Environmental 
Services Supervisor Rick Napper. 
“
At previous buildings I’ve worked at, I’ve 
always had a men’s club and we always did 
woodworking,
” Napper said. 
Creation of the club was as simple as that 
— Napper approached Meer Administrator 
Marcia Mittelman and asked if he could 
start a weekly woodworking group. 
Mittelman gave the thumbs up, and they 
began making stuff around the building. 
Since then, the club has built a Torah ark, 
benches, tables, flower boxes and outdoor 
furniture, including Adirondack chairs. The 
club is currently in the process of building 
a sofa table.
The club has also planted a vegetable 
garden every year in the flower boxes they 
built. They plant tomatoes, herbs, pep-

per plants, eggplant, some zucchinis and 
squashes.
The club meets for one hour on Tuesdays 
at 1 p.m. 
In addition to the satisfaction of com-
pleting projects, it also gives the men the 
opportunity to socialize, build friendships 
and enhance their quality of life.
Napper believes the club’s members take 
pride when their family visits, being able to 
show them stuff they’ve built all over the 
building. 
“The real reason I started the men’s club 
here is because I love to do woodwork-
ing,
” Napper said. “I learned a lot from my 
father, and being able to pass that (knowl-
edge) on to someone who doesn’t know 
anything about it and watch them get a lot 
of fun out of it, that’s what counts for me. 
To give the guys here something to do that 
they like.
” 
The Torah ark was the club’s biggest 
project to date, taking at least 10 weeks. 
The ark is a favorite creation among mem-
bers, including 92-year-old Meer resident 
Manny Kalef.

“It’s not like work; it’s fun,
” Kalef said 
of the club. “I like working with the tools. 
There are some tools I never saw before 
and Rick taught me how to use them. The 
end result is really the enjoyment, when we 
finish it and we stand back and look at it, 
it’s a sense of accomplishment. 
“The guys interested in the woodwork-
ing show up, do the work, have fun and 
we kibbitz. We all get along good,
” Kalef 
said. “It takes time, and we do a good job. 
We use good wood and finishes and paint, 
nothing schlock about it.
” 
Kalef says the club even gets requests 
from management from time to time.
“We just built a couple of shelves for the 
front reception desk,
” he said. “Whatever 
they want, we’ll give them.
”
The club was mostly put on pause during 
the pandemic lockdown, but they’re happy 
to be back together and are looking for 
more men to join them. 
“We have a couple new guys that moved 
in, so hopefully we can get them involved,
” 
Kalef said. 

Men’s Woodworking Club at JSL’s Meer Apartments 
tackles problems big and small.
“Building” Character

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Hale Garmel, Manny Kalef, and Rick Napper 
are hard at work.

Rick Napper poses with the Torah 
ark built by club members.
The plaque on the ark 

