62 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2024 
J
N

L

exie Vineburg may not recall her first 
trip to what was then Erwin Orchards 
& Cider Mill in South Lyon, but a 
photograph of her picking apples with her 
mother, Wendy Strip, at less than a year 
old, is a snapshot of a tradition that would 
continue for 30 years (and many more to 
come).
Vineburg, now 30 and married with 
a baby of her own, plans to take her 
4-month-old daughter, Michela, to Blake’s 
Orchard & Cider Mill in South Lyon, 
which took the place of the former Erwin 
Orchards & Cider Mill. It feels like some-
thing she has to do, Vineburg explains of 
the annual tradition.
Since Vineburg was a baby herself, 
Strip, 62, of Bloomfield Hills, took her and 
eventually Vineburg’s younger sister, Eden 
Sittsamer, 27, to the orchard to pick apples 
and enjoy the Rosh Hashanah season.
The apples they picked would then be 
turned into a variety of seasonal dishes and 
recipes.
The family would make and freeze 
applesauce for Chanukah, bake an apple 
kugel and, of course, cut up and eat apples 
throughout the week. Remaining apples 
would be served for Rosh Hashanah with 
honey that the family would pick up 
throughout their travels that year.
“We get a honey local to wherever we go,” 
says Vineburg, a Farmington Hills resident 
who participates in The Well programming.
In recent months, for instance, Lexie and 
her husband, Isaac Vineburg, traveled to 
Charleston for their baby moon and picked 
up honey while there to enjoy on Rosh 
Hashanah this year.
Sittsamer, meanwhile, purchased honey 
while traveling out west with her boyfriend.
Each Rosh Hashanah, the family will 
enjoy their hand-picked apples and honey 
while sharing memories of their trips that 
year. They’ll also taste-test each apple and 
honey combination to choose their favorite.
Vineburg recalls these traditions fondly 
and made it a point to participate every 
year, regardless of her stage of life. “This 
is something that has always led to happy 
memories for me,” she explains.
Even while attending college at Western 

continued on page 64

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY 
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ROSH HASHANAH

A beloved Rosh Hashanah 
A beloved Rosh Hashanah 
family tradition continues 
family tradition continues 

for its third generation.
for its third generation.

Celebrating 

of Apple 
Picking

30 Years 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FAMILY

Wendy Strip, 
Lexie Vineburg 
and her daugh-
ter Michela and 
Eden Sittsamer.

