Adjö till sunen, sanden och gyckelet för ett annat år.shorewood-hills.com/art/pdf/SSAutumn05.pdfAdjö till sunen, sanden och gyckelet för ett annat år. Our Swedish forebears might

Adjö till sunen, sanden och

gyckelet för ett annat år. Our Swedish forebears might say, “Goodbye to the sun, sand and fun for another year.”

Wow! What a summer! The extraordinarily dry weather made for an unbroken string of great weekends on our beaches. One Shorewood resident--who apparently has way too much time on his hands--checked the lake water temperatures regularly and reported that Lake Michigan hovered around 80 degrees for the entire month of August. None of the old-timers can remember the lake being that warm for that long. The local “old farmers” tell us the warm lake water will produce a record snowfall this winter as the frigid winter winds blow in over the warmer lake water.

While the lake appeared clear and calm, a contamination of Deer Creek resulted in South Beach being closed to swimmers for a few days; the creek and pond even longer. By early October the Berrien County Health Department and the state Department of Environmental Quality had still not identified the source of the problem. Both the BCHD and MDEQ have been looking for the source of contamination for over a month with little success. But the good news was that it was a safe summer on our beaches, with few days of rough water and no reported serious water accidents on Harbor Country beaches. That’s quite an accomplishment given that Warren Dunes State Park is the state’s most heavily used park by a wide margin.

We’re all hoping that 2006 will bring another summer on our beaches that has all the good things and none of the problems that we experienced this year. Until then, enjoy the more vibrant colors brought to our beaches by the oncoming autumn weather. Before long, we’ll have the “storms of November”.

A NEWSLETTER BY AND FOR RESIDENTS OF SHOREWOOD HILLS AUTUMN, 2005

PAGE 1

SHOREWOOD HILLS CONNECTS TO HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS

Over the recent Labor Day weekend, three very special Shorewood resi-dents, Mia Vitale and Elsa and Luke Broderick, took action to reach out and help the victims of Hurricane Ka-trina.

The three, armed with pitchers of lemonade and bags of popcorn, set up a stand to make a difference. And they did! Their sales totaled $97.00 over the weekend, and each of their parents has promised to match their fund-raising!

Mia, Elsa and Luke want to thank all the people of Shorewood Hills who so generously purchased their snacks.

Along with the hurricane victims they helped, we want to thank these very special Shorewood residents for doing it the “Shorewood way”...seeing something that needs doing, then going ahead and doing it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAN’S CORNER... The summer passed by quickly and as I write this, we’re already into October. In this autumn issue of Shorewood Sands, there are several people I want to thank.

Keith and Kevin Zabel, Peter Linscheid, and Zack Hays should all get a big round of our applause for the outstanding work they did around Shorewood this summer. Kudos also go to new resident Hershal Miller for showing his spirit of volun-teerism in assisting me.An extra special thanks goes out to Greg Wilkins for his donation of the Suzuki utility vehicle to Shorewood Hills. It will provide me with much improved mobil-ity to provide security to Shorewood during the summer as well as during the snowy winter months. It’s already proven to be a real “work horse” for maintenance projects around our community.As we enter the fall and winter, I’d ask that you let me know if you have any special security issues you’d like attended to during the less busy winter months. Please stop in the office so we can discuss your needs.Thanks again to everyone. I hope to see you during the autumn and winter; if not, I’ll see you next Spring.

Dan Pittner, Property Manager


PAGE 2

THE PREZ SAYS...

CITY, COUNTRY AND SHOREWOOD“The law is born "om despair of human nature.” -Ortega y Gasset

Most of us know the city: its freedoms, dangers, beauties and ugliness, the enlargement that min-gling with people of all levels, types and convictions may produce in a receptive mind. In Chicago surely, the contorted sad spectacle of politics and the groups it rises from. The hustle; the scrim-mage of traffic; the red light that means GO! The mass of people so dense that their energy seem-ingly forces even tornados to deflect away from their center; people so bound to interlocking sched-ules that their headlights form rivers of light at 5 AM on a frosty February awful morning. The city is the core of civilization, the first word the root of the second. The glories, and also the disgraces, achieved by our species are unthinkable without Babylon, Beijing, Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, Lon-don, Vienna, New York.

Most of us do not know the country. Vast slow beautiful and dull it proceeds with the work of life, not just us. Its human inhabitants are scattered and now not very large in number; almost every-thing they work at is finally in service of the light of the sun, from which flow fertility, power, food, oil, timber, paper, oxygen. Its natural laws are invariant, slow and immensely powerful; and nature is a hanging judge. Those who are close to the operations of its system learn deep lessons in patience, fortitude and submission and form communities where common values arise from mutual need. They agree with Twain’s definition of ‘conscience’: “the feeling that someone might be watching”. They have precise minds for social relations: my wife who grew up in a small town can easily define ‘third cousin, twice removed’; this is a wonderment to me.

All of us know Shorewood. It is neither city nor country. It is in between, needing both. It pro-duces nothing but a state of mind, and tax revenue. Places like it are growing, at the expense of both city and country. How, and why?

The how is too easy. By decision of persons to share in its peace, beauty and community, a decision they are exchanging money for. Lately, lots of money. By community I mean recognition of com-mon responsibility. By responsibility I mean a voluntary loss of freedom in the small sense, a gain in the large one. By small freedom I mean one’s right to abuse, disfigure, coarsen, endanger or cancel the peace and spirit of others, because one wants to, or doesn’t mind. By large freedom I mean not needing the power, money, aggression, deceit or tendency to violence that are so often enlisted by the need for the small version.

The why is never easy. Part of it is that one may make a difference without great sacrifice; Plato’s opinion was no town greater than a few thousand could achieve democracy, ‘rule of the people’. Part of it is that poverty in Shorewood is manageable, not problematic. Part of it is that most of us have one foot in another, dissimilar world. And there are very many other parts!

The implications for us? Better to give than receive; like your neighbor as best you can; treat him as you’d like to be; help the unfortunate; observe and defend the rules, cherish and preserve nature; encourage your larger self, and control the smaller. Love of money can be a problem. (Some of these may not be original to me)

Have a very pleasant autumn, and thank you for your patience

Stephen Sittler, President


PAGE 3

DOING THE DUNESBy Mike Johnson

On Saturday September 3rd, Chuck Nelson of the Sarett Nature Cen-ter near Benton Harbor spoke to about thirty people of all ages on the North Beach concerning Har-bor Country’s famous sand dunes. A naturalist at Sarett for over twenty years, Chuck explained how the dunes were formed, the link with glaciers, and how the dunes are doing today. This talk was sponsored by the Deer Creek Open Space Assoc ia t ion (DCOSA).

It all started 10,000 years ago with the last ice age. As the glaciers retreated, they formed a geological formation called the Valparaiso Moraine running from Wisconsin around the bottom of what is now Lake Michigan and up into Michigan. The glaciers left behind dirt, clay and rocks scraped down from Canada which formed the moraine. An earlier version of Lake Michigan was then created as the rains from the watershed were collected in an ancient river valley. About this time the Algonquin series of dunes were formed. About 7,000 years ago, the Nippissing series of dunes was created. The so-called “Mount Baldy” at the state park is a Nippissing dune. Only 2,000 years ago, the latest series of dunes called Algoma was formed, and those are the dunes on our beach today.

Chuck explained it takes three things to form dunes. The first is obviously sand which we have in abundance thanks to the glaciers. The second is wind to move the sand. Because of the prevailing westerly wind flow, Michigan is blessed with dunes rather than Wisconsin. The third is more subtle, a flat place to put the sand dune, i.e. a platform. Sand cannot stick to the moraine, one example being St. Joseph which is built on top of the moraine. However, the moraine moves inland at Lake-side and only comes back to the lakefront around Stevensville. That results in our coastline being a prime location for dune formation. Indeed, the stretch of Lake Michigan coastline from the Indiana dunes all the way up the western side of Michigan is one of the best dune areas in the world.

Marram grass is what holds the dune in place. It anchors what is known as the “upper dune” and sends out runners to anchor the “middle dune.” The “lower dune” is basically the water line area. Chuck commented that the middle dune area is now unusually wide at North Beach. Nature is try-ing to correct this by sending out marram grass runners, and it is easy to see where this has suc-ceeded in less-trafficked areas. Marram grass is remarkably resilient to winter storms where it is of-ten completely buried in new sand. The grass reacts by putting out new roots from anywhere on its stem, thus soon piercing through the new layer of sand.The sand dunes in our area were highly prized by industry, especially the automobile industry, for making metal castings. The sand has the appropriate chemical properties for making engine blocks, for example. This led to the virtual de-struction of the dunes just to the north of the state park. Michigan law now precludes the estab-lishment of any new sand mining operations in the dunes. Industry has moved inland to other sand deposits, thus leaving the remaining coastal dunes for enjoyment of us all.


PAGE 4

SHOREWOOD HILLS HISTORICAL DVD NOW AVAILABLE FOR SALESHOREWOOD HILLS: The Early Years. A fully-narrated historical documentary of our commu-nity is now available on DVD. Thirty-five of our earliest homes are featured. Also available, in lim-ited numbers, is the book “Growing Up in Shorewood Hills”, a 1989 book written by Norm Hasen-fang whose family built the log cabin at Forrest and Cedar. He tells the story of Shorewood life in the 1930’s. For information, call John Lamping at 426-3793. ($12 for the DVD; $15 for the book, shipping costs additional.)

MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT DECIDES BEACH RIGHTS CASE The Michigan Supreme Court filed its final decision regarding beach rights on July 29th. In essence, the court decided that members of the public can walk along any private Lake Michigan beach as long as they stay below the “ordinary high water mark”, a line generally accepted as the high point of the waves on the beach. Another definition is where there is driftwood or the first line of vegetation. Though all seven court members agreed that the public has this right, two members disagreed as to the definition of the “ordinary high water mark”. That’s probably a minor point in the grand scheme of things.The legal bottom line for us in Shorewood Hills is that the public can walk past our beach. They can’t party; they can’t picnic; they can’t play ball; they can’t pull their boats or wave runners on the beach; they can’t ride ATVs; they can’t litter or create any other form of nuisance. They can walk--period. This probably won’t change our ability to enjoy our beach from the way we have for years. Members of the public are not likely to begin marching along our beach with copies of the courts’ 67-page decision in their back pockets. So, relax, be happy. See you at the beach. Smile at the walkers.

DCOSA SPONSORS “BEGINNING BIRD WATCHING” WALK

On Memorial Day weekend, our own Deer Creek Open Space Association (DCOSA) sponsored a walk thru Shorewood Hills for the purpose of exposing Shorewood residents to the beauty and thrills of bird-watching. DCOSA arranged for a trained naturalist to lead resi-dents in a several-hour “Beginning Bird Watching” walk thru our community.

Since its formation several years ago, DCOSA has pro-tected nine parcels comprised of fourteen Shorewood Hills lots. Their goal is to continue to protect land through property donations, conservation easements, and property purchases. In order to meet those goals and continue to grow, DCOSA needs both additional volunteers to serve as committee members as well as further donations. Donations can be in the form of cash or real property.

Anyone interested in either of these opportunities can contact Bob Beemer, Clyde Rode or Mike Johnson.


PAGE 5

2005 PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS


PAGE 6

MORE PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS


PAGE 7

“STUFF” YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. EMERGENCIES----Should you need to contact 911 for an emergency, be sure to tell them your STREET ADDRESS. At the 9-1-1 Center all Shorewood Hills addresses show up as 12370 Tower Hill Road. Emergency responders won’t know where to find you unless you tell them the number and the name of your street! It might be a good idea to put the 9-1-1 call instructions on your ‘fridge in case guests or other family members need to know.

2. STOP SIGNS—New top signs have replaced old ones to have better uniformity and street sign-posts have been painted to complement our environment. Speed bumps have gone into hiberna-tion for the winter (but the speed limit remains 15 mph even without the bumps!)

3. CONSTRUCTION FEES—Shorewood members approved a new schedule of fees at this year’s Annual Meeting. Theses construction fees will be used to ameliorate the damage to our roads caused by construction vehicles.The fees will be charged and deposited into a Shorewood Road Repair Funds account. The fee schedule is:: New Home--$250, Garage-- $160, Home addition/extensive remodel--$200, Shed or Deck--$80, Demolition of existing building (new category)--$400.

4. ADVANTAGE—TENNIS COURTS—new tennis nets will be a great addition to our courts and thanks to the donations of Ed Monty and Al Zelechowski the new wind screens will be installed in the Spring.

5. QUIET TIME—Thanks to Bob Beemer, Paul Gaecke and Marty Smith’s communications with state officials, we no longer hear the loudspeaker announcements from the state park. They are now using hand-held speakers except for emergencies.

6. HOUSEWALK—made $500 for contribution to the Playground Fund. Kudos to Sue Johnson.

7. SUMMERFEST---The two days of fun and games last August made about $200 for our treasury reports Hope Gaecke, this year’s chairperson. Along with all of you, Hope had so much fun, she’s agreed to chair Summerfest 2006. E-mail her at <[email protected]> if you can help.

8. SHOREWOOD-HILLS.COM WEBSITE—is coming! Ken Slauf, Paul Gaecke and John Lamp-ing are working on it. It will be announced by e-mail. If you haven’t provided us with your e-mail address, please do so. Stay tuned!!

SEARCH FOR SOURCE OF DEER CREEK CONTAMINANT UNSUCCESSFULIn mid-July a noxious odor signaled the contamination of Deer Creek as it passed thru Shorewood Hills, under the Lindbergh Bridge and on to the pond and Lake Michigan at South Beach. The Berrien County Health Department (BCHD) and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) immedi-ately became involved. There were unconfirmed reports of both the cause of the contamination as well as several reports of people and animals becoming sick after contact with the creek and lake water. Warnings by the BCHD were posted at Deer Creek and South Beach in Shorewood Hills, closing those areas for pub-lic use for several days. The beaches at Bethany Beach were closed for a longer time.

Since the initial incident, both BCHD and MDEQ have conducted continuous investigations in an attempt to find the source of the contaminants causing the problem. Representatives of both agencies have “walked” Deer Creek in hip boots from the lake all the way back to the east side of I-94. While the agencies have suspicions that septic drainage is the cause, they have not found the source as of early October. In the in-terim, tests of Deer Creek by the BCHD has shown wild variations in contaminant levels. Residents are warned not to use or expose themselves to the waters in Deer Creek or the pond at South Beach.


PAGE 8

OUR 100-YEAR OLD NEIGHBORThird in a series on Shorewood Hills’ history

By John Lamping

That’s right, we have a next-door neighbor who is 100 years old and will have a one- week long birth-day celebration next summer. Isn’t that a little risky, waiting a whole year when you’re already 100 years old? Not really. That neighbor, you see, is the Bethany Beach Association.Around the turn of the last century all the Swedish Baptist Churches in and around Chicago held a three-day annual conference, one day of which was devoted to the Illinois Swedish Baptist Sunday School Union, an organization of school superin-tendents and workers. They decided that the Un-ion would somehow arrange for needy children to spend summers in the country for a period of rest. The first thing that was needed was the right loca-tion, some place near Chicago, in the country and preferably near a lake. In spring of 1905 the Sunday Daily News advertised a 40-acre fruit farm that was for sale in Sawyer, Michigan. Three men from the Union went to inspect the orchard, taking the Pere Marquette train from Chicago to Sawyer on April 12, 1905. The realtor met them at the train with his team of horses and then drove the mile and a half to the property. It was just what they were looking for. After returning to Chicago they decided to buy the farm and established a trust agreement. On July 15th the deed was recorded in Berrien County and the ball started rolling. At first it was proposed to name the location Palm Beach in honor of Charles Palm, the missionary who was a member of the three-man team. Being a modest man, however, he suggested it be named Bethany Beach. Yes, they agreed, a good name.The farm was subdivided into 25 by 100 foot lots that were to be sold from $50 to $100 each. The three founders made a very interesting decision to not sell individual deeds to the lots, but to sell long-term leases instead. That way there was only one deed for the entire property and the owners retained much more control over restrictions re-garding the “moral character” of Bethany Beach. Unlike any other subdivision in the state of Michi-gan, Bethany Beach is the only one to receive a sin-gle tax bill each year. Prorated shares are then paid by the individual leaseholders.

Very rapidly visitors appeared, lots were sold and a hotel opened for boarders: $4 a week for ladies and $5 a week for gentlemen. By summer of 2006, Reverend Palm’s family moved to Bethany Beach and ran the hotel as well as a small grocery store. The first Tabernacle was dedicated on July 4th. Though it was little more than a simple roof, no walls and a sand floor with 2 by 12 plank benches, Bethany Beach Tabernacle was formally open. That’s the reason 1906 is considered as the estab-lishment date and not 1905.With no electricity or refrigeration, kerosene torches lighted at night and sewer tiles dug into the sandy soil down to ground water provided cooling for food. Three trains a day dropped off visitors who had to walk the mile and a half with their own baggage. On Saturday afternoons a hayrack and two horses would shuttle passengers back and forth between Bethany Beach and Sawyer and an extra-long “resort” train, starting in St. Joseph, would take weekenders back to Chicago. With nothing but loose gravel roads all the way through Indiana it would take large touring cars 4 to 7 hours, and 7 to 8 tire punctures, for a one-way trip complete with acetylene gas running lights, long duster coats, caps and driving goggles.By 1924 the new Tabernacle was opened with great celebration. Now a roundtrip on the Pere Mar-quette cost $3.75, including luncheon in the “Impe-rial Salon Car”; a round of golf up at Bridgman was 50 cents, eight days of room and board at the hotel was $15 and a ticket to the Saturday-evening social cost 15 cents a person for hot-dogs and SFSC (Swedish Full Strength Coffee).When electricity was run along Red Arrow High-way in 1925 a line was pulled into Bethany Beach. For $30 a month, electric pumps and bathrooms could now replace the outhouses, some of which were quite fancy. One, named Deacons’ Retreat, sat at the corner where four minister’s lots came together, each having their own door into the “re-treat”.After 100 years, Bethany Beach is still going strong and has big plans for a birthday bash in 2006. Mark your calendars and plan on attending some of the birthday events from July 15 to July 22. You don’t have to bring a present; our neighbor won’t mind.


PAGE 9

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE SAFE...By Sally Kinnamon

...from gardening...just as you were about to put your feet up in your comfy slippers in front of the fire with a good book, now comes the news that in order that your garden to be beautiful next Spring, there are chores yet to be done this Fall.Linda Patejdl, Landscape Designer and co-owner of the Sawyer Garden Center, was kind enough to provide us with excellent information for making your garden next year the best you’ve ever had.

✓ Here’s a great idea—Make a map of your garden before you do anything—then you will know what will be coming up next Spring. Add colors and when plants bloom if you can.

✓ Remove and discard all your annuals. If any perennials are diseased, i.e. “powdery mildew” as an example, cut them back and discard them.

✓ Cultivate the ground (turn it over), loosening the soil to let air in.✓ Mulch, mulch, mulch—2 inches (hardwood or cypress is better than pine or cedar, although

cedar does repel rodents). Don’t pile it around the tree trunks, crowns of roses or peonies as the mice will nest there and eat the bark and crowns. Leave a couple of inches open around tree trunks or roses.

✓ Lawn—Use winterizer fertilizer early in Fall. This means low nitrogen and high potassium. Certain brands, like Scott’s, take all the guesswork out of the process of selecting fertilizer by giving you a “number”...1 in the spring, 2 and 3 in the summer and 4 in the fall.

✓ Water evergreens well and soak them before you leave as they lose moisture in the winter.✓ Plant pansies and mums now. They will come back next year. They can be left in planters

and pots as long as they are sheltered from the lake.✓ Give serious thought to which bulbs you plant—tulips are favorites of deer. Forget them.

Daffodils are deer resistant. Also you can plant hyacinths and narcissus now. Mums and as-ters that are planted now will come up in February!!

✓ Vegetable Garden—After the harvest, remove the plants, turn the soil and let it dry. Then mulch with straw—straw will add much-needed carbon.✓ Trees—Protect any smooth-barked tree if it has a strong south/southwest exposure by wrap-

ping in a tree wrap. Arborvitae need to be wrapped to prevent ice from weighing them down. . For deciduous trees, cut out dead branches, crossed branches to prevent rubbing to-gether

✓ Pruning—Anything late blooming should be pruned now. Hydrangeas should be pruned to shape them. After autumn use, clean your garden tools with wire brush, sharpen them and oil with linseed oil; paint the handles with bright color so you’ll see them if dropped in the gar-den.

Linda is delightful and a wealth of information. She is an experienced and skilled landscape designer. She has designed and supervised the planting of some of Shorewood’s most beautiful gardens. Linda gives presentations regarding landscaping all over the area to all kinds of groups. If you have a group that might be interested in learning from Linda, or if you would like her to review your landscape design needs, contact her at the Sawyer Garden Center. (426-8810)


PAGE 10

THE WAY WE WERE

By Sally Kinnamon

As we close the first volume of Shorewood Sands, it seems only right that we look back over the last six months and savor yet again the “stuff” that makes Shorewood Hills what it is, and reminds us of why we come here. Each of these phrases causes a flood of feelings and memories...

✧ Family traditions ✧ Spring rains. ✧ The first leaves of the hostas and the burst of lilacs. ✧ More lights in more windows on the weekends as the weather dictates that it is time to come back “home” to Shorewood. ✧ Lazy strolls on the beach; “power” walks on the roads. ✧ The smell of smoke from barbeque grills ✧ The giggles of children from the playground; the plop-plop of tennis balls on the court ✧ Spontaneous “drop in” visits of friends ✧ Fresh corn and tomatoes; picking blueberries, ice cream at The Well. ✧ Memorial Day-- “Welcome backs!” ✧ Good neighbors ✧ The House Walk, this year hosted royally by Sue Johnson ✧ SummerFest with painted faces, bocci, ice cream, folk music, games, egg toss and all the good old-fashioned summer fun, organized so well by Hope Gaecke and her committee. ✧ Grille on the Green, under the excellent planning again of John Lamping-- we bring our tables, candles, flowers to be together again with our “Shorewood family”. And the music performed by Jos Davidson and Ken Slauf...oh my! Even the kids were toe-tapping to the blues and the oldies. ✧ Sunset vigils—celebrating yet another day “in Paradise” ✧ Respite

And when those who must leave now, come back, it will begin again,the “stuff” for which we come—and which adds to who we are--the Shorewood Hills family..


PAGE 11

IN MEMORIAM

LaVergne Mae Jensen

Charles Kevin Long

SHOREWOOD HOMES

FOR SALE

12230 Tower Hill Road

12324 Tower Hill Road

508 Lakeshore Drive

510 Lakeshore Drive

346 Forest Trail

665 Longwood Drive

Lot For Sale -

543 Hillcrest Drive

WELCOME TO OUR NEW NEIGHBOR

Elizabeth Wangler

103 Hillside Drive

SINGIN’ THE BLUESBy Mike James

You may have noticed the three Blue Recycle Containers located at the North and South beaches and at the playground. Our “blues” are intended to keep those areas free of cans and bottles also help make money for our Beach and Playground fund. We have redeemed cans and bottles for more than $150 since Memorial Day. That’s over 1,500 cans and bottles turned in since we began the program. The first year results are great! However, we can do even better.Unfortunately, of all the bottles and cans collected--roughly 1/3 could not be redeemed. Only cans and bottles marked with a barcode that are returnable for a $.10 deposit should be placed in the blue containers. Unfortunately, our “blues” have been contaminated with plastic milk bottles, tuna cans, juice bottles, water bottles and soup and vegetable cans...all stuff we must remove before redeeming the cans for refunds. The deposits of non-redeemable containers is well intentioned, but they are not what our program is about. We can’t redeem any cans or bottles not marked with a deposit barcode or those that have been crushed or are dirty. Those should be placed in the garbage cans at each location.

Our blue recycling containers will be put in storage starting in November and will be back out next April. Until then, the next time you are on the beach and you finish a drink, drop it in the Blue Recycle Container. If we keep the non-recyclables out of our blue containers, we can keep on “singin’ the blues”!

Shorewood SandsBox B12370 Tower Hill RoadSawyer, MI 49125


PAGE 12

Mailing Label

Documents

Adjö till sunen, sanden och gyckelet för ett annat år.shorewood-hills.com/art/pdf/SSAutumn05.pdfAdjö till sunen, sanden och gyckelet för ett annat år. Our Swedish forebears might