12 October 2007

A bungalow colony in Aspen

The Catskills iconic bungalow colony moves west to Aspen, Colorado in this story by Brandeis sociology Professor Shulamit Reinharz on the children of Marjorie Morningstar.

Reinharz discusses several films focusing on the Catskills experience (1930s-1970s) and mentions the Catskill Institute, founded by Professor Phil Brown at Brown University, which holds an annual conference in late August.

Reinharz focuses on the new bungalow colony:

Another favorite spot of the new Jewish family – Marjorie’s children and grandchildren – seems to be Aspen. That’s where I go one week each summer. For the past several years, Harold Grinspoon and his wife, Diane Troderman, have invited Jewish academics, philanthropists, federation leaders, and more to Aspen.

What started as a get-together with 15 people has grown to a gathering of about 50, with some attendees buying time-shares (or fractional ownerships) in order to be in Colorado when the colony comes to town.

They come from all over the world; this year we had people from throughout the United States, a couple from England, a woman from Israel, and a man from Moscow! Unlike the bungalow colonies, we don’t come from one neighborhood. Our neighborhood is the Jewish world.

The group breakfasts together, packs lunches and goes off on a hike or bike ride. In the evening, there's a group dinner and an after-dinner talk or discussion. Reinharz's group is not the only one in Aspen and sometimes the groups invite each other.

As the week drew to a close, I asked a few participants in this new “bungalow colony” what had been most interesting for them. One woman talked about the passion with which people expressed their ideas. Another spoke about the synergy among the different projects that people support. A third focused on the diversity of our group ...

Read more here.

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