From her home overlooking Hamlin Lake, Gin Hluchan can see her family’s history in the waves. She remembers spending summers at the lake with her sister, Sally Dierks, their parents, and extended family. She remembers the sense of adventure and freedom she felt there as a child. “I can see Dad out there fishing,” Gin said. “In the waves, I constantly see history turning over.”

Gin and Sally’s connection to Hamlin Lake and Mason County helped inspire the Benseman Family Build A Fund, which was recently established at the Community Foundation for Mason County by Gin, Sally, and Sally’s husband, David Dierks. The fund honors Sally and Gin’s parents, Fred and Mildred “Dolly” Benseman, and creates a way for the entire family to continue their generosity.

The Benseman family’s love for this region began more than a century ago. Sally and Gin were born in Ohio and raised in Riverside, Illinois, but their great-grandparents and grandparents had already discovered Hamlin Lake. In 1917, their German immigrant family members purchased a cabin on the lake as a hunting and fishing retreat from life in Chicago.

Over time, the grandmothers began adding curtains and other touches that transformed the rustic cabin into a family cottage. There was no shower or hot water, and the girls remember washing in the lake with Ivory soap. But the lack of modern conveniences hardly mattered because it was a welcoming place where cherished generations of family gathered. “Our cousins on my dad’s side, our grandparents, our great-grandparents would congregate all summer long,” Gin recalled.

Those summers gave Gin and Sally a sense of independence they still remember clearly. When their mother, Dolly, needed to do laundry in Ludington, she sometimes dropped the girls at Park Dairy, where they would get an ice cream sundae for 35 cents. Other times, she left them at the beach. They spent long stretches of the day swimming and exploring. “It was the days of come on in when you get hungry,” Gin said. Hamlin Lake and Ludington were not simply places the family visited each summer; they became the setting for the girls’ childhood adventures and warm memories they carried with them wherever they later lived.

Gin and Sally’s father, Fred, had been visiting Hamlin Lake since he was three years old. Mason County remained important to him throughout his life – a place where he celebrated, grieved, and loved. In fact, Fred solidified his future with Dolly at Ludington State Park, where the couple celebrated their engagement. Later, while working in the insurance business in Chicago, he made summer weekends with his family up north a priority. Fred would leave work on Friday, take the train to Milwaukee, and board a ferry to Ludington. Dolly would go into town at 11 p.m. to pick him up. Then on Sunday, he made the trip in reverse, sleeping on the ferry before catching the train into Chicago and heading straight to work Monday morning. “It was always worth the trip to him,” Sally said. “He loved the lake.”

For Gin and Sally, Hamlin Lake revealed another side of their dad. In Chicago, he was a businessman. At the lake, he relaxed. He fished, swam with his daughters, and explored the South Bayou with them. Their mother, Dolly, also found peace at the lake. She loved watching the sun set over the water and approached life with what Gin described as a “cup half full” outlook.

Fred and Dolly’s faith and devotion to one another and their family defined the home Gin and Sally grew up in. So did their generosity. Dolly, once a volunteer at the Shriners Hospital, baked for neighbors and quietly helped others. Fred, a WWII veteran, was a Shriner and a Mason, supporting causes that mattered to him throughout his life, including disabled veterans and the police.

The Benseman family’s connection to Mason County and the values Fred and Dolly modeled shaped the generations that followed. Sally and Dave raised their family in Iowa City, Iowa, but for about 25 years they spent summers in a home they owned on Lewis Street, where their three children could ride bikes into town or head to the beach. Gin and her former husband also brought their two children to Ludington throughout their childhoods, passing along many of the summer traditions that had meant so much to her.

Although the five now-grown cousins and their families have spread across the country, Mason County remains the place where the family comes together. “The wonderful thing is to see our kids and our grandkids and the cousins find that magic that we found here,” Gin said.

Gin’s connection to the region eventually led her back for good. She had lived in 13 different places over the course of her life, but when it came time to retire from education, she chose to make the place that held her fondest memories her permanent home. Gin quickly discovered that living in Mason County year-round was different from spending summers here. “You get to know the locals,” she said. “You get to know the organizations. You get to know what makes the city move.” After all the places she had lived, Gin came to a firm conclusion: “This is the most giving community I’ve ever lived in. By far. It’s a good place to be. It’s a good place to call home.”

One of Gin’s early experiences with the Community Foundation came through her work with the Friends of Hamlin Lake Committee to bring “Hooked on Hamlin” to Waterfront Park. The Foundation supported the group’s fundraising effort for the sculpture, and the community’s response left a lasting impression on Gin. Together, donors contributed approximately $250,000 in just one year. “That was my first experience of just seeing how much this community can give,” she said.

That experience helped build the family’s trust in the Community Foundation. When Gin, Sally, and Dave began discussing how to honor Sally and Gin’s parents, they wanted to do something that would continue to grow and help people. A Build-A-Fund offered that opportunity.

The family designated specific areas for the fund to support that reflect both their parents’ values and their own. Their father’s military service influenced their interest in veterans, while Gin’s background in special education guided their decision to help people with disabilities. The family also has a heart for seniors. Ultimately, the Benseman Family Build A Fund will become a Field of Interest Fund that responds to community needs in each of these areas.

Gin, Sally, and Dave value having the Community Foundation help them connect with the causes they care about. Dave described the Foundation as “the conduit” between the family’s desire to give and the organizations serving local needs.

They hope the fund becomes a bridge across generations — something their children and grandchildren will take part in over time, honoring their family and carrying forward the values passed down to them.

For six generations, Hamlin Lake has been a constant: a place where history turns over in the waves and family traditions are passed down from one summer to the next. The Benseman Family Build A Fund ensures that Fred and Dolly’s legacy will continue to roll forward, lifting up the community that gave their family a century of home.

For Gin, Sally, and Dave, the reason for establishing the fund comes down to a simple truth.

“We were so blessed,” Gin said. “You have to give something back.”

If you have been thinking about how your own story could shape your giving, contact the Community Foundation for Mason County to learn more about Build A Funds and other ways to create a charitable legacy in Mason County.