So you know how I keep saying there is SO much to do up at camp right now to prepare for the Summer. Well today, Matt and I took one for the team and the really challenging, difficult, and most unpleasant of tasks- TASTING BREAD, PASTRIES, DOUGHNUTS, AND OTHER BAKERY TREATS!

The very famous Rockland Bakery now delivers up in the camp area and so look out this summer for some great breads and rolls, amongst other treats. We are really excited about our new vendor!

Good Morning All from Canadensis! I have “made the move” and am now up here permanently along with Matt Unger making our final preparations for our first precamp group/CIT weekend on May 2.

I wanted to share with you what I did last Thursday. I had the unique opportunity of organizing a local camp tour with 5 camps who are all within the vicinity of Canadensis. About 10 of us met at Canadensis first (of course because Canadensis is the best, right?? hehe) and spent about an hour at each camp. I absolutely love spending a day with other camp directors for a number of reasons. We “talk camp” the WHOLE DAY and they don’t even roll their eyes at me because they understand and share the same passion for their camps! I have to be honest and say that the other camps were also beautiful. Each camp has their own unique special place, like we have our dining hall deck, amphitheatre, (now the new canteen!!), and lake front which is absolutely stunning, while other camps have a lookout where you can see mountains in the distance, etc. The benefit of seeing other camps is that you get ideas. From simple things like trash can placement (I know- exciting, right??) all the way to large scale buildings and how they are designed. We also talk about programming, safety procedures, etc.

In any event, walking around 5 camps all day is just energizing and exciting. Did I mention WALKING?? We WALKED 5 camps- no golf carts, no mules, just 24 inches (2 feet, haha) and yes I was tired when I returned home at 9PM that night. Saturday morning I went to visit one more camp in a different area of PA, which was also exciting and fun. But now, I am back “home” where I belong at Canadensis ready for an exciting upcoming season!

Below is a posting from one of the camp professionals on this tour with me (David Minkoff) who also happens to be an alumni! Enjoy.

“I had the opportunity to go up to Canadensis on that beautiful day last Thursday with a few other camp directors. I hadn’t been there since maybe 1990; definitely 1988, which was the dedication of the Alumni Pavilion. I couldn’t believe how much has changed, yet how much has stayed the same. What really floored me was the all the bunk pictures from 1980 on are still in the dining hall (some of the people I was with weren’t even born in the early ’80s). I hope to get back this summer for lunch if I can get a Saturday or Sunday off from Pinemere. I’ll definitely be there for the 2010 reunion!”

I can’t wait to see all of you real soon. If you have any questions or requests of pictures you would like to see specifically, email me at eric@canadensis.com. Thanks to Jaycal for providing great updates on his trip overseas!

Stay tuned to more posts from both me and Jaycal!

Hey All!

What a day today! Today was the march, it was incredible! The amount of people from all over the world that gathered to walk together. I met people from literally every part of the world. I met people from Mexico, Germany, Hungry, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and so many more countries. This was an incredible day. The march took about 3 hours and concluded with a huge Holocaust remembrance Ceremony.

After the Ceremony we boarded the buses for a 5 hour ride to our hotel. The bus ride was a lot of fun because it gave us time to bond even more. We have a kid on our bus that plays guitar so we were singing different songs throughout the ride. I even told my new friends about my performance in 2007 at camp of High School Musical. They can’t believe that I was in HSM. I told them I will send them footage after the trip.

That’s basically it for tonight, its very late…2AM and I have to be up at 7am!

Goodnight from Poland!

Jaycal

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to give a quick hello from Poland. We are on our second night here in Poland. We arrived in Poland yesterday afternoon and toured Warsaw. This morning we made the four hour trip to Krakow. We then traveled to Auschwitz and Birkenau. It was a really sad experience.

Tomorrow we are participating in the actual March of the Living with more than 7,000 Jewish teens and adults from all over the work coming from 50 different countries. We are marching from Auschwitz to Birkenau.

My group that I’m with is filled with more than 100 kids from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Ohio. I have made a ton of new friends already from all over the country! At dinner tonight the March of the Living group from Brazil and Canada were at the same restaurant as us. It was exciting to meet people from different countries.

Jaycal

Hey Canadensis,

I have arrived in Poland! We left JFK late last night and arrived in Poland around 2PM (8AM EST) today. The flight was very good, I slept for most of it though.

Once we got to Poland this afternoon we toured several sites include the Jewish Warsaw Ghetto Memorial and the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw. Tomorrow we are visiting some of the concentration camps from World War II.

I will have much more tomorrow when I’m not so tired! Check back soon for more updates.

Jason Calabretta (Jaycal)

Hey Blogland! It’s JCal blogging today, filling in for Forti who is busy getting ready for his big move to camp next week. I wanted to let you guys know about something that will be coming up beginning on Friday of this week. Forti and I will be trading places on the blog for about 2 weeks. Of course Eric will still put an update in while he settles into camp but many of the blog posts will come from me. I will be traveling across the Atlantic for two weeks to visit Poland and Israel. I will keep you all updated via Eric’s blog so check back beginning Friday, April 17th!

Hey Blogland! Sorry for the lack of postings this past week, but I took a few days off for the Passover Holiday. Long seders at the Forti household, but it was nice to be with my extended family! Things at work are absolutely hectic right now. Of course it is to be expected as camp for me is literally just around the corner- 7 days to be exact.

Yesterday (Sunday), Brian Krug, Programming Director Roy Faden, and I met the entire day to discuss the schedules for this coming summer. We made some changes, including a new Senior Choice period (more details to follow, but I promise you it’s exciting) as well as more availability in cooking, amongst other enhancements. I got to see the Fadens and the Jacobsons before they headed out to the movies, which was a nice surprise! They are doing well and are so excited for camp.

Updates on the water around camp- Senior Side and Freshman Hill have water! All of the hot water heaters in those cabins are lit, the water is flowing, and any cracked pipes have been fixed. It has been quite a challenge this year due to temperatures over night falling below freezing, which can cause the pipes to freeze. Hopefully it will warm up the next few days so we can turn on the kitchen and lower boys camp. Actually, a few cabins in lower boys camp are already on as well because believe it or not the water for 3 lower boys bunks comes from Senior side underneath the lake! At camp, we have well water and there are wells spread throughout camp. The main well comes from near the Art Center/Low Ropes area and that feeds the majority of camp. There is also a well in the parking lot, near the girls CIT cabin, Senior Boys side, and underneath my house on freshman hill! For some reason, the well on Senior side has a pipe running underneath the lake in order to feed lower boys 3 cabins. The rest of the water comes from the main well that I mentioned before.

Too much information? Well its GREAT trivia to use for the “Panel of Experts” at lineup one morning when I am not there! Make sure Matt Unger and I are NOT there and ask a question about the wells or water lines…my guess is that the “experts” made up of the groupleaders/head counselors will laugh and look at you like you have 10 heads- go ahead and try it!

Otherwise, things are shaping up nicely at camp. The pools will be drained soon, cleaned from the winter, painted and filled with fresh water. The leaves have already been raked from the grove, main office, and dining hall areas, but a lot more raking needs to be done! The kitchen staff arrive at camp on Monday, April 27 to begin cleaning the dining hall and reopening it as we welcome our first group and CITs that very next weekend.

A lot to do, but it will all get done and summer will be here before we know it!

P.S.- Will Armon jumped out of a plane this past weekend skydiving and lives to tell about it! Enjoy the picture…

 

Hi Everyone! It’s been a busy few weeks here in the winter office and it just keeps going! I cannot believe I’ll be living up at camp so soon, it’s only about a month away!

I’ve been doing LOTS of spring cleaning in my room, trying to decide what I’ll be bringing with me to camp and what will stay behind in my closet at home. I have all my camp shirts clean and folded and ready to be moved right into my cubbies, and I climbed through boxes in our shed to find my other camp essentials; my fan, duffles, plastic drawers, you know the drill! I’m also in the market for a very large Zac Efron poster for over my bed, so if anyone has any suggestions as to where I should search for such things, please let me know 😉

Last Wednesday I got to spend some time with JC Becky Jacobson as we shared a delicious lunch of coffees, cookies, and hot fries, eating our last taste of bread for the week! Then I picked up my sister from school and we hopped on the train to New York City. After passover dinner we saw Guys and Dolls on Broadway, and it was amazing!

Over the long Spring Break weekend I spent lots of time at home but I also made sure to visit with some friends! JC Rebecca Waxman joined my sister and I for a full evening of shopping, dinner, and a movie, and it was a great time! Of course, it’s not easy to go out to dinner during passover, but together we managed, and even got to experience some new things we might never have tried before,  especially  the Goblet of Fresh Strawberries!

This week I’ve got a few last interviews for counselor positions, but (scary as it may seem) the staff is pretty much hired and ready for camp! I love browsing the staff message board and seeing how excited everyone is for the season to arrive! Some of our new counselors have some crazy talents and amazing ideas for new games, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what they come up with for activities this summer!

I’ve got lots to do in the next few days and on Thursday morning I’ll be hopping on a plane at JFK and heading to Burlington, Vermont for a weekend with my sorority sisters. There’s going to be so much to do, so many people to see, that I’ll be there until Sunday night! We have a hotel room booked down by the lake, and I’m looking forward to lots of shopping and relaxing!

I guess that’s it for now. I hope everyone is having a great passover! We’ve been really into making some crazy matzoh creations this year, so if you have any good ones please pass them along!

More Info Coming Soon!