Did somebody say something about ......

.....FOOD?
Ellen Van't Hof with her pipin' hot rolls in 1979.

And don't forget the protein
all you
carb-laden Hofmans!

Oh jah .... we definitely need a
vegetable
(Uncle Art supervising, Grace VH, Mickie VH,
Lies Rosema & Don VH corn husking in 1988).

And for dessert,
some finger-lickin' ice-cream.
(Stevie Phelps,
just as cute as he can be,
sitting on his Grandma Claire's lap in 1969.)

BSL Mystery #2: The Burning Bowery

As kids, we loved loved loved The Blue Horizon, but sometimes,

when The Blue Horizon was out of milk or the GR Press or nightcrawlers,
we had to go a little farther along Big Star Lake Road
and shop at The Bowery instead.
The Bowery was a mom & pop type convenience store
with a gas pump in the parking lot.
It was on the edge of what had been Mil-Jon Resort.
Later on Mil-Jon, (which had quaint green cabins as opposed to
The Blue Horizon's robin egg blue cabins),
became Helder's North Bay Resort.

There was always a little air of the illicit about the Bowery.

For one thing, they sold alcohol (gulp!).


And.......
there was this racy picture by the door.

Hmmmm.... I don't think this lady is Dutch, do you?

Unfortunately, Lady Luck ran out of luck in 1994.

This is what happened:

FIRE!!

This is why it was a total loss:

The mystery, then, is two-fold:
1. How old do you think that fire truck is?
2. Who wanted the Bowery To Burn?
Tee-totalers, random people who got sick on their pizza,
The Bikini-Top Burglar,
or the owner?

Hofmans = Fashion Challenged

Elhart's Cottage, 1977
Don Van't Hof, Art Hoogstrate, Barbie Boo Phelps

Let us set aside the obvious fact that poor Boo has resorted to
roasting marshmallows in an unlit fireplace for fun,
seemingly ignored by her elders and left to her own devices,
and address, instead,
the more pressing concern
of the Hofman clan's inability to wear
appropriate attire while on vacation.

What is going on with Don VH?
How is this even possible?
My head is throbbing!
Notice how Uncle Art is avoiding direct eye contact.
Boo is too, for that matter.

Three simple words: Never. Mix. Plaids.

In case you missed it on the first photo, regardez:

It's Sunday so we must be .....

..... going to the Chapel!

Oh the bittersweet memories that linger here. "Bitter" because, seriously, didn't Sunday often seem to be the sunniest day of the week, and,
oh right,
Hofmans didn't swim on the Sabbath. However, Hofmans did regularly fall in.

One year there was a very important Tiger baseball game the outcome of which was to be determined at some point during the evening sermon. Some nameless person devised a kind of morse-code plan with another nameless person that if the Tigers won their game, the second nameless person should drive by and lay on the car horn in one long blare. If the Tigers lost the game, two short blasts on the horn would suffice. (Our thanks to Paul Revere for this ingenious "one if by land, two if by sea" system). We arranged to sit as close to the back of the chapel as possible. In fact, in those days of overflow crowds, we were probably sitting right out on the porch. Oh praise the Lord and sound the timbrels when we heard that long, drawn-out toot from an "anonymous" automobile.

We had some sweet moments at the Chapel, too. Uncle Art Hoogstrate preached often and well and there was an added perk if he was in charge -- we could sometimes pick the hymns. Two hymns we loved were "Bringing in the Sheaves" and "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms". Both of these songs we could sing "double time". When we chimed in on the chorus we would sing double the number of "bringings" and "leanings". Try it when you're in the shower sometime. Great fun.

We were also greatly entertained by mice running around on the rafters and
other people's children being unruly and bad.

1970, Dave Van't Hof

Here's a great shot of my brother Dave
in front of Owen's cottage.
The reason why this moment needed
to be recorded for all eternity
was the fact that he forgot to bring his church shoes
up to the lake so he was forced to wear his tennis shoes.
Oh the HORROR!
He's doing a little soft-shoe shuffle
which was kind of his way of
grovelling for mercy from the older generation.

The Grandmas

August 1989: Claire, Mickie & Marge

How many countless hours did these Grandmas put into their grandkids having
a good BSL time?
We will forever be in their debt!
Cooking for truckloads of kids (and their friends),
wiping faces, wiping bottoms, referee-ing games, putting on life jackets, taking off life jackets, making sure the little ones did not go
OUT PAST THE DOCK,
singing children to sleep, rousing children in the morning,
taking loads of laundry to the Blue Horizon Landromat,
DEFROSTING REFRIGERATORS
(an unbelievable, only-at-BSL-type rule!),
going on nature walks with the kiddies, putting worms on hooks,
taking fish off hooks, organizing crafts,
impaling 20 gazillion marshmallows
onto 20 gazillion sticks, chanting
STAY AWAY FROM THE FIRE every 30 seconds,
and the list goes on and on....

1989, Owen & Spaak's cottage
L to R: Lies Rosema Kelder, Patrick Ottenhof, Matthew Reid, Drew Rosema, Elliot Ottenhof

Here is "Grandma Mickie" conducting a TV Tray Orchestra, and, yes, the kids are all standing on a bed. I remember this photo well, because Elliot, on the right, had just wacked Drew with his "drumstick" for being out of sync with the rest of the orchestra. You can tell by the look on Drew's face that he is thinking about asking for a new tray-partner.

BSL Mystery #1: The Mystery of the Missing.....

.....Bikini Tops!

The year was 1968 (or maybe it was 1969, no matter), the location was Stroven's cottage on Chapel Road, the time was deep dark night and all the little Hofman offspring were sleeping with visions of canceled Sunday services in their heads, when out of the gloom and gloaming came an ancient car with a bad muffler, idling briefly behind the slumbering cottages and breaking the idyllic BSL-type silence, and then off it sped with it's stolen loot -- Bikini Tops!

The motive? Too weird to even contemplate!

But, hey! It was the 60s. In a way it was kinda groovy,
so Eunice and Judy wrote a song
about it.......


and Debbie decided to wear her
beach cover-up
for the final two weeks of summer vacation.

Although a lot of baiting with more bathing suits and Nancy Drewlike sleuthing went on, and our beloved Blue Horizon posted more photos of other purloined bathing attire, (or rather, denuded clotheslines where swimwear had recently hung), no perpetrator was ever apprehended, which is kinda creepy because that means.........

He's still out there!

Bright Gems For His Crown

1993, Elhart's Cottage

Top row, left to right: Emily & Jennie Cooney, Laina Rosema,
Matt Hoogstrate,Luke Van't Hof,
Grant Alphenaar, Lies Rosema Kelder
Bottom row: Jake & Katie Hoogstrate,
Missy Cooney, Grace Van't Hof,
Drew Rosema, Natasha Cooney

"Let us now praise famous men
And their children after them."

Even More Jewels .... HELP!

August 1977
Wow!

Your guesses are as good as mine.
I know for a fact that that's Uncle John in the back row,
fifth from the right,
making rabbit ears behind Aunt Dot's head.

Some things never change.

Precious Jewels .....

"When He cometh, when He cometh,
To make up His jewels.
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own...."
page 150 in the Big Star Lake Chapel Hymnal

This is Memorial Day 1948, folks, and the jewels from left to right are:
John Hankie Hofman, Danny Vermeer, Judy Vermeer Seth,
Sandy Vermeer Ricucci, Barbara Jean Hoogstrate Quinlan
and Jimmy Hofman.

Note to Judy and Sandy: isn't it a sin in the Christian Reformed Church to be quite so happy? Maybe that's why John & Jimmy are brandishing sticks.

Whole Lotta Hofmans!!

1967 (see below for who's who)

Wow! I think every Hofman family was represented here, at least in part, except John & Dot Hofman's wild western bunch. But don't worry, Uncle John, I've got some of you and yours to be posted later. Okay, I'm going to give this whirl and I'll see if I can get this even half right. Starting from the front lefthand corner and working around the picnic table I think these individuals are as follows: Marge Vermeer, Claire Hoogstrate, Wally Hofman, Edene Hofman (in sunglasses), Billy Hoogstrate, Jane Van't Hof, Don VH, Stephanie Barrows, Elly Barrows, Mickie VH, Joanie VH Rosema, Eunice Hoogstrate Hayes, Janice Hofman, Karen VH Reid (in front of E and J), Judy VH Alphenaar, Steve VH, and Tommy Barrows.

I'm not sure what the celebration was but I think it was probably one of those massive potluck picnics we had every so often. I was crazy about those picnics because we VH children were able to gorge ourselves on food we were never normally served. In particular I remember Aunt Edene's deviled eggs and baked beans served in a heavy brown bowl that meant some serious cooking had been going on. The closest we ever got to baked beans at home were lima beans and to this day I just can't go there. Aunt Claire made lasagna and I would eat so much I would be in pain.

P.S. I like how Aunt Marge's and cousin Tommy's black eyeglasses kinda frame the photo. This makes me think Uncle Art, with his artistic bent, probably took the picture. I guess Uncle Ade was bravingly manning the grill and flipping burgers.

John & Jennie

This is Grandma Jennie Hofman and her photo is stamped on the back with the date, June 8, 1948. She looks like she's standing on Munising Point with Oddfellow & Rebecca Camp being that spit of land over her shoulder. I know Grandma & Grandpa rented D'Archangel's cottage which is situated on this very point. Never the "comeliest" of women, I still find it VERY impressive that her stomach is so flat after eight pregnancies! Now, let us exam the dress code for a minute. Grandma is rockin' that linen dress with the pearl earrings and the gold watch. That's exactly what I would pick for beachwear at BSL.

Below is a picture of Grandpa John Hofman (he's the one sitting down in the boat -- smart idea, John). This particular bay looks to me to be the one that culminates (dissipates) into Mucky Harbor. What I find so impressive about this photo is the sight, preserved for all eternity, of men fishing in neckties! It's kinda like, Robin Hood, Men In Tights! This photo is even older and is similar in dimension to Hofman photos I have from the 1930s. We know they're old because, look Ma, no cottages!

Blue Horizon = Good Times

1989, Owen & Spaak's Cottage
Left to right: Matt Reid, Lies Rosema Kelder, Valerie Reid, Drew Rosema, Grace Van't Hof

How to describe the Blue Horizon? Hmmmmm......maybe part general store, part laundromat, part candy counter, part bait shop, part front porch, part information central (including newspapers and a payphone and a bulletin board), but DEFINITELY, it was all about the ice cream. In our family, Blue Moon was the perennial favorite. (Trivial Pursuit Question/ BSL Version: What is the flavor of Blue Moon ice cream?). Usually the Van't Hof day was capped off by pulling on any old thing over a still-wet swimsuit, skin chafing from the sun and sand, and walking the mile or so to the Blue Horizon to agonize over the ice cream selections. Shoes were never a consideration so the walk involved an extensive stretch of hotfootin' it down the broiling tar of BSL Road, ice cream cones dripping profusely, until we reached the luxurious squishy-cool sand of Chapel Road. Once we had to make a wide detour around a Blue Racer Snake that was partially run over by a car and had its midsection permanently melded to the asphalt. It was so long it stretched across one entire lane. Yuk Yuk and TRIPLE YUK! The Blue Horizon eventually evolved into Bozo's, and now its called Mel's, but in our Hofman psyche, it will forever be known as the Blue Horizon.

Below I have lifted verbatim some thoughts that Deborah Hoogstrate Cooney posted on the bigstarlakehistory.com website (A must read, btw. Be sure to click on everything because there are all kinds of hidden gems).

I've been at Big Star Lake every summer of my life. It has played a big role in my family's history. My mother, Claire Hofman (who was born in 1919) vacationed at Big Star before she was married in 1941. She and my father, Rev. Arther Hoogstrate, then vacationed there every year of their marriage of 50+. I came on the scene in 1955 when my father was the minister of Alpine Ave. Christian Reformed church in Grand Rapids. At that time we rented a small cottage from the D'Archangels, just down from Munising Point. I believe that they owned a bigger and grander cottage on the point at that time. We then moved west and were in the Owen and Spaak and Stroven cottages. Marv Huizingh used to pull us on skiis, as well as entertain all of us with his water antics such as being pulled by a boat while sitting or standing on a chair on a disk. It was great!

We called the western swamp area "Mucky Harbor," but that is probably only a Hofman-Hoogstrate term. We'd take a canoe into Mucky Harbor and, yes, we would pick the white and yellow water lilies before it was illegal to do so.

The Blue Horizon, the Bowery, the Nook-in-the-Woods, and the Bait Shop also played an important role in our vacations. My mom and aunts would do the laundry at the Blue Horizon, and we kids would walk to the Blue Horizon to get candy or the GR Press, or to ride the coin operated horse out front.

Speaking of the horse. We knew we had arrived at the lake each year when the first person in the car spotted the horse!

Big Star Lake was quite primitive back in the '50s and '60s and I remember having huge kettles of water heated on the stove to be poured into the big kitchen sinks for our Saturday night baths. Of course, there were no telephones in the cottages back then, and with my father being a minister, he would have to leave his name at the Blue Horizon in case someone in his church/parish happened to die or be in need of immediate pastoral care. The Blue Horizon personnel would then drive down Chapel Road and alert my dad that he had a telephone call. This didn't happen often, but there were a few times that this scenario played out.

One last memory was that of July of 1969. Only a few people had TVs in their cottages, and so many people crowded into the Klassen cottage to watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take the first steps on the moon. Each summer, Gerry Klassen, always interested in space, often had a telescope pointing into the heavens. It was through his telescope that I first saw Jupiter's moons. He also meticulously built a beautiful wooden canoe, which was passed on the Marv Huizingh, which was further passed along to my brother Bill Hoogstrate. We now have this relic at our own cottage in the north bay, near the current MELs.

Thank you for this opportunity to reminisce. Deborah Hoogstrate-Cooney

No, This is not an inbred "DELIVERANCE" type family ......

....it's just various Hofmans
wearing underwear on their heads and,
in one case, a loincloth.

Welcome, everyone, to my new project,
a blog celebrating 75 years of Hofmans vacationing
at Big Star Lake in Northern Michigan.
I hope to upload tons of photos and group them
more or less by decade.
I also hope to garner lots of Big Star memories
from Hofmans flung far and wide.

1973, an Art Class taught by Ellen Van't Hof featuring
The Beauty Of Tie Dye

Back row: Judy VH Alphenaar, Gwen Primus Hendrikse (friend), Joanie VH Rosema, Karen VH Reid, Don Van't Hof, Claire Hoogstrate, Art Hoogstrate, Bill Hoogstrate, Ellen Van't Hof
Kneeling: Jane Van't Hof, Mickie Van't Hof