Mike and Jan Gordon have been around Barron Lake for decades—from growing up here themselves to raising their family.
Mike’s dad bought property in the late 60s from his grandfather on the north side of the lake on Breezy Beach. “We used to have two houses but they burned down in the 70s. Now it’s an empty lot.” He said renters were in the house when it caught on fire. “It was the week before Christmas. I believe it was 1978. The house became engulfed and the fire took out three houses,” Mike said.
Jan grew up on her family farm on M60, less than a quarter mile from the lake. Her father, Gib Brazo, gentleman farmed the 40-acre parcel, which became renowned for its amazing sweet corn, garden vegetables and fresh chickens. “As kids, we worked on the farm and earned a treat to go to the lake,” she said. “We even had a vegetable stand at the end of our driveway on M60 to see the fruits of our labor.”
SUMMER FUN IN THE WATER
Jan recalls that as a young child they were allowed to walk or ride bikes through Rivers Court to spend the day at Kugler’s Beach or at the homes of friends who lived on the lake.
Mike reminisced about his time growing up both on and mostly in the lake. “In the summer time, my friend Mike Peters’ dad would come out to the lake with this big red, white and blue kite,” he said. “We’d go out and fly around the lake on skis hanging on to this big kite. It was like the kind you’d see in ski shows. You’d get up real high and when you fell, you knew it.”
Mike, who said he used to live on skis, remembers once when they were able to get quite a few skiers secured to the boat at one time. “My dad was driving the boat and we got 13 water skiers up at the same time. We used to do a lot of things on water skis. You just don’t see that too much anymore,” he said.
It was in the 1970s, Mike said, when the township was celebrating its sesquicentennial that the Barron Lake Days started under the direction of then park director, Terry Redman. “That’s when we started having boat parades and a ski show. They hired a ski club out of Elkhart and they ended up putting me, my brothers and Mike Peters in the show with them,” he said. “People came from all over, not just people from the lake. It was the Greater Niles Recreation event. That’s when the city would get involved a lot out here with the lake, but not so much anymore. And the boat parades back in the 1970s, they used to be big and a lot of fun.”
Most of Mike’s days growing up were spent in the water, whether on a boat, riding the waves on skis, swimming the lake’s length or playing with friends at Kugler’s Beach.
He recalled that in the late 60s and early 70s, there would be a large group of kids out together to swim from one side of the lake to the other. “We wouldn’t be wearing life jackets so my mom and other moms were in a pontoon following us in case someone got tired and couldn’t make it,” Mike said. “We always were wanting to see who was going to make it first across the whole lake–from Breezy Beach all the way down to Shady Shores. It was like going across the desert when you get halfway out there. We did that every summer.”
Something Mike and his friends did frequently was visit Kugler’s Beach. “We used to sneak in there by swimming from Breezy Beach at night time when they had that real high diving board. There was one year I couldn’t go to Kugler’s during the day because we were bad boys. We got caught sneaking in there and they kept us out for the whole year.”
WINTER FUN
Snowmobiles always have been a frequent activity around and across the lake, and Mike and his family enjoyed the winter sport, as well. “My dad and Roy Peters and a few other guys started the Niles Snowmobile Club. We used to have a lot of activities with the club out there,” he said, recalling that Fred Clubb used to run snowmobile races complete with trophies.
LAKE LANDMARKS
Mike’s grandparents bought their first house across the street from the Howard Township Fire Department on Lake Shore Drive at Elder Ct. His grandfather, Rollie Gordon, worked as a part-time bartender at the Avalon Ballroom and in the early 1960s purchased the bar.
“I was little when my grandfather bought the bar. It was called Lake Shore Lounge. I don’t recall how long he owned it, but he sold it and it became the Swinging Door. Then it was the Oasis. Then they tore it all down,” he said.
In addition to the Avalon on Lake Shore Drive, Jan recalls there were several dance halls in the area that were a popular spot with residents in that time era. “Actually, what is now Wegner’s Lakeside Bar and Grill was the Hide-A-Way and before that it was called Hass Resort. Hass sponsored a bowling team that my father, Gip Brazo, bowled on and the I have the trophy they got when they won the championship game in 1965,” she said.
Jan talked about the bank that used to be where the old Stop In Restaurant was located. “I worked there in the 1980s. It was Old Kent Bank, then Pacesetter Bank and then became the Stop In. It’s the same building that’s always been there, except now it’s abandoned,” she said. Mike noted that the old bank safe is still inside.
Patrons of the Stop In Restaurant who weren’t aware the building was once a bank could walk up to the side of the restaurant (facing Barron Lake Road), order ice cream or other food through a window and eat at the picnic table that sat near the window. “That was actually first there as the drive-up window for the bank,” Jan said.
The restaurant was a favorite for Jan’s mom, Leah Brazo, who frequented the eatery for her 90th birthday in 2010. “The Stop In was her favorite place to eat. Mom and the owner, Dave, got to be good friends. Dave always would do special things for his patrons’ birthdays.”
GIVING BACK
Jan, who serves on the Howard Township Park Commission, also is a lifelong resident of the area. “I have served on other township boards and as treasurer. Being on the park commission is another way to service my community and give back after leaving the treasurer position,” she said
Giving back is a trait she inherited from her parents. “My mom and dad both were very active in many ways in Howard Township,” Jan said. “Mom served on the township board and dad quietly assisted neighbors with many tasks and share his garden wares with many. He also was one of the community dads who cleared the land and built the first baseball field at Pepper Martin Park.”
Mike currently serves as the Howard Township treasurer. “I have no intention of ever moving away. No, I’ll die here. That’s why I’ve been a township trustee for three terms. And, I’ve been on and off the park board since right out of high school when I got appointed by Farmer Don Marlin who used to be our township supervisor back in the early 70s,” Mike said.
As told by Mike and Jan Gordon.
Written by Jodi Marneris for the Barron Lake Association website. February 2021
Jan and Mike during a recent trip along the Dragon’s Tail in Tennessee.
