Bad postcard of the week:

 Treetop danger in Ludington's Epworth Heights
From: The Grand Rapids Press

A squirrel's view of Epworth Heights.

When did we start giving cameras to squirrels?

I’m assuming the photo in this week’s bad postcard was snapped by our tree-dwelling forest friends because I can’t think of another reason why a photographer would climb up in a tree to find this view of Ludington’s Epworth Heights.

Julie Toole gets credit for this week’s find. She runs The Windowsill Used and New Books in Ludington.

“I just discovered your bad postcard habit and I have quite enjoyed them! I have one here for you. It's in Ludington. If anybody needed a reason not to come to Epworth Estates, this would be it. Of course, Epworth is now an exclusive community, so maybe postcards like this kept people out. Who knows?"

I confess that I have not spent much time in Ludington. I’ve visited the lighthouse in the state park, and went to the Whippi Dip near Silver Lake after going on a Mac Woods dune ride and making my kids, wife and parents take the 1.5-mile walk from the park parking lot to the lighthouse. Ice cream was on me that day for sure.

So I had to do some research on Epworth Estates. Pretty cool.

Epworth Heights – not sure when there was a name change – was founded in 1894 as a Methodist Chautauqu-style family camping experience. According to the Wikipedia entry, it was intended to be a two-week program devoted to entertainment and spiritual teaching.

Tents gave way to about 200 cottages, some available for rent if you have the appropriate references. The Epworth Hotel still exists, but no longer offers rooms, serving a number of other uses instead.

Based on the postcard, I’m impressed by some of the roofing. The cottages seem to have electrical or telephone service. That’s the way I like to camp.

There are apparently nice paths where well-dressed men can escort ladies wherever they are going.

Our mystery is why it takes two gentlemen to escort ladies through what seems like a safe place. The guy in the dark suit seems a little concerned. He's spotted our shutterbug squirrel.

Maybe they’re the muscle for young Methodist starlets looking to escape the pressures of Hollywood with a few weeks of entertainment and spiritual enlightenment with the family on the Lake Michigan shore in quiet, pre-Badger Ludington.

Naturally, these well-dressed but beefy bodyguards are on the lookout for tree-dwelling rodent paparazzi working for postcard publishers with alarmingly low standards.

That’s just a guess. Thank you, Julie, for sharing this treasure!