In the summer of 1938, a small group of Detroit Habonim, among them Ben Kaminker, Mordecai Salinger, and Danny Ginsburg, pooled their resources to purchase a couple of tents which they pitched on the side of a hill overlooking Waterloo Road near Chelsea, Michigan. A patch of grass surrounded by a D-shaped trench formed the open-air dining table, but for all other facilities, the hardy group turned to Farband Camp, their neighbors across the road and owners of their camp site.
While exploring the area south of their encampment, a few members of the group waded through a swamp to find a large tract of unused ground, twenty acres of which belonged to the Farband. This they immediately staked out as the perfect spot for their future ventures.
That winter, they enlisted the moral and financial assistance of active seniors who helped plan construction of the new Habonim camp to be known as Kinneret. During the summer of 1939, under the leadership of Ben Kaminker, and with the assistance of a professional carpenter, our haverim cleared a road through the swamp, erected platforms for the tents, built a dining hall and kitchen, and sank a shallow well.
Kinneret was a success and ready for further expansion when Mordecai Salinger took over as rosh Kvutza in 1940. A large group of Cincinnati haverim joined the Detroiters, raising the number of campers to an average of sixty during that summer.
Shalom Wurm set the pattern for cultural activities at camp, while Aharon Remez was the fair-haired boy whose experience and muscle were relied on to continue with the building program. New tent platforms, the Ashkenazy building, a migdal, and last but not least, separate outhouses were under way.
1941 was a quiet year, with Ettie Skidell in charge of camp and the boys hard at work moving mountains of dirt to lay the sanitation distribution field. Electricity was installed, and the arrival of four girls from Cleveland marked the beginning of Kinneret as a regional camp.
1942 was another year of big construction - at Kinneret. The washing facilities were enclosed and work began on a real outhouse. We built a cabin, enlarged the dining room by moving the kitchen to a new addition. The rosh was Paul Milgrom (Pinhas Rimon), with Shirley Milgrom who came along for the honeymoon.
In 1943, Leon Adler became rosh, and all became sweetness and light at Kinneret-for once we were genteel. We began work on the hospital, which was dedicated to Donny Lee of Cleveland, and dug another distribution field for the modern improved shower house.
In 1944, under the tutelage of Yosef Israeli, work was again the watchword. The hospital was nominally finished and we began our eternal project, the storage cellar. Artie Goldberg was rosh Kvutza, and the hills around Kinneret resounded with labor songs. 1944 also saw the end of the beloved tower-the termites and old age finally beat the creosote and supports.
In 1945, the rosh, Harry Spoon, arrived late, but the campers carried on valiantly under the expert whistle blowing of Esty Carson. We added our annual brick to the storage cellar and spent the rest of the season looking for work.
Murray Weingarten, with Dave Katz as his righthand man, was rosh in 1946. That was the year of Doris Dombey's bouncing bed, the greatest stunt ever at Kinneret.
1947 was the year of Joey Criden. Joey brought the overnight hike back to Kinneret and the innovation of naming the tents-remember the famous Dorot and Mishmar HaNegev? And not to be outdone, Joey named his quarters, Pipeline HaNegev, in honor of sixteen-month-old Donny. Several more cabins were built, and Evvy Weingarten made her famous leap from rooftop to Ann Arbor hospital.
In 1948, Haim Stopak was rosh. This was the year of the "flexible schedule," and also a year of strong emphasis on scoutcraft. There were many midnight "Arab attacks," and Blue-White Day was distinguished by its blood and gore.
Dvora Frankel was rosh in 1949. A madrichim camp was held after the regular season.
In 1950, Abba (Cherniak) Tzuriel was rosh. The season gushed with culture, art, modern dance, drama,
In 1951, Doodle Horowitz led Kinneret in its first year as a Hebrew-speaking camp. Detroit's United Hebrew Schools provided a number of full scholarships and there was a large enrollment, including many younger chidren. Camp doubled its enrollment on weekends-an ambitious weekend program. The emphasis was on speaking Hebrew, and the discussion program centered about the False Messiahs. There was an ambitious work program mainly centered about maintenance-there were no new projects.. Of the season, the Detroit United Hebrew Schools said that more Hebrew was learned by their students that year than any other.
1952 opened with a low registration, but things picked up. Dani Kerman was rosh and Kinneret was still a Hebrew-speaking camp. There was no big construction projects because of the lack of people, but a marvelous business manager, Jerry Katz, managed to make money even on only twenty campers.
Dani Kerman returned in 1953. Detroit had had a very successful year and camp registration was up, again including younger children. Prior to opening, a group of 9 'old-timers" packed box-lunches, baby carriages, and assorted spouses and progeny, and spent a day of labor at Kinneret. The foundation for the wash house was laid that day and work for the rest of the season had a concrete basis-repairing the efforts of the old folks.
In 1954, Abbie Haklay was rosh.
1955 was Kinneret's last year. Geli Gelfond was rosh. Chicago and Detroit combined efforts in staff and campers. A new truck was purchased, and the last year of Kinneret closed with a Bonim Seminar.
Esther Goldberg, Seymour Salinger, Harriet Gelfond, 1957