I hope everyone is having a great Monday morning!  We have been so lucky to have incredible weather in the Northeast for the past few days, and I hope it holds out through the weekend because I’ll actually be making my way up to camp on Sunday!  I’ll be giving a winter tour to two families from Connecticut that are thinking about Camp Canadensis for summer 2012.  If you are also thinking about camp and would like a tour, it’s not too late to call the office and schedule something…you can even join my tour this Sunday, December 4th – just call us at 484-674-1941.  I’m looking forward to it – and I will definitely be stopping at Callies Candy Kitchen on my way back to pick up some holiday treats.

Now is also the time when we are planning out our home visits for the winter. For more than 70 years, Canadensis has had the philosophy of visiting every new camper in their home, it really helps us maintain the close family we have at camp.  With campers coming from PA, NJ, MD, NY and CT…there is a lot of ground to cover!  If you haven’t been contacted by one of our directors yet, you can expect a call in the next few months.  If you’d like to set up something sooner, just give us a call and we’ll be on our way to get to know you and your camper better!

Some of our new campers who met at Canteen on the Fly have already been getting a jump start on building friendships!  The girls, who are currently in 3rd grade and will be Juniors at camp this summer, had a blast at a sleepover this weekend on Long Island, and made an adorable pillow craft project.  I love the results, and can’t wait to see them on their camp beds this summer!  Thanks for sending us photos so we can keep up with the Canadensis fun happening all over…we look forward to seeing each of the girls at their home visits this winter!

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving Break! Holiday breaks are always my favorite times to see camp friends, so I will now share with you a collection of photos taken at our Thanksgiving Camp Dinner:

It was a fun night full of delightful Italian food (yes, home of the Parm!), good friends, camp stories, and the usual silliness. After dinner we stopped by the Faden home for some more camp love and a brief jump in the leaves (as seen above with Becky J). I must say of all the things I’m thankful for this year, having an amazing camp family definitely ranks up there at the top of my list.

Now with Winter Break only weeks away I’m gearing up for even more nights of camp friends and fun! What do you do with your camp friends over the holiday breaks?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  We hope you are enjoying a great holiday with your family.  The images this week are dedicated to the some of the many many Canadensis families that we are thankful for…

Carly (left) and Brianna (right) are both blog readers!!!  They are going to be Freshman girls in 2012, and we got to hang out at Canteen On The Fly in Westchester, NY!

Zoe (left) is a new 2nd grade girl, and Jordan (right) is a current 3rd grader returning to camp for her second summer.  Both girls will be in the Junior Division in 2012, and Jordan did a great job telling Zoe what to expect being in bunk 2 (youngest bunk).

We gave out awesome camp t-shirts at every location – this is me giving out the shirts in the parking lot at the North Jersey Canteen on the Fly.  Won’t this be awesome for tye-dying this summer??

This is Bailey, who is a current 3rd grader, and will be coming to camp for her first summer in the Junior Girls division.  We got to hang out at the Long Island Canteen on the Fly, where she met up with a lot of the new girls coming in…

Bailey and her new Canadensis Friends were winning tons of tickets in the arcade, and they were so thoughtful that they decided to pool their tickets and get a bunch of rings to share.  They got one for me, Cara and Robin too – we are so excited to be in on the fun!

At the very last Canteen on the Fly Stop, Eric and I stop for a camera op!

Baby Forti! Robin and I in May will be welcoming the newest member to the Forti Family and even more importantly the Canadensis Family!

We are unsure yet if the baby is a boy or girl, but he or she will definitely be up at camp spending the summer with all of us. And all of you are the big brothers and big sisters. Obviously, our entire family is so excited and we are beginning to prepare for the lack of sleep now (by going to sleep at 10PM!!)

Facebook went wild with the news. We posted it on Sunday night and on my personal page there were over 100 “likes” and over 50 comments, ranging from good luck to “Eric, you better wait on Robin hand and foot with whatever she needs!”. On the Canadensis Today page, tons of shout-outs from alumni, parents, and campers, so thanks to all of you who sent in your well-wishes. And, to save the best for last, don’t forget to visit the BRAND-NEW Official Facebook Page for Camp Canadensis at http://www.facebook.com/campcanadensis

Changing gears, it was great to see everyone at all of our Canteen on the Fly Events! It seems like it is now an “annual tradition” to hold these and it was such a great turnout at all of the locations. We got a chance to hear about all of the great things our campers are up to, details about Bar/Bat Mitzvah’s, take pictures, and eat ice cream!! Cara will be uploading the photos from Canteen on the Fly to Facebook in the next few days, so don’t forget to check back there often!

Speaking of Bar Mitzvah’s, Robin and I were at the nearby deli Pumpernick’s enjoying dinner and we ran into Max and Blake Rapoport’s mom, who sent me this photo from Matt Wiener’s Bar Mitzvah. Congratulations Matt!

Tonight, I will be having dinner with camper David Brucker in Plymouth Meeting. It has become our annual chance to catch up from the summer and hear all about his school, activities, etc. Looking forward to catching up with him!

Camp is looking great and remember there is a BIG announcement coming real soon about something new at camp! Stay tuned…

Hi Everyone!

Over the last few weeks we’ve been on the road meeting up with our camp friends and enjoying some ice cream during our annual Canteen on the Fly! Here are some of the glorious pictures I took:

Right now I’m on my way to Long Island for our last Canteen on the Fly for 2011 – I can’t wait to see some of our NY families, and I’m really excited for the Senior Summit which is happening right afterwards!  I just wanted to share two amazing photos for Frame Worthy Friday- we have an amazing staff at Canadensis – and they put the campers above everything else, and here are just two photos that prove it!

Hello Canadensis…

So.  I really missed camp today.  I know that as a director of camp that my life gets to be Canadensis, 24/7, but today was one of those days where I really missed the summer.

I missed the bugle call of reveille and wondering what song was going to be played on the PA right after.  I missed waffles and ice cream for breakfast.  I missed the dance party on the amphitheater right before line-up.  I missed not shooting hoops on the office courts.  I missed not seeing someone go down the zip line for their very first time.  I missed talking about “what are the color war team names going to be” with the campers.  I missed Swedish Fish at canteen.  I missed MTV Night.  I missed talking with the counselors outside of the HQ at sign-out.

It’s days like this when I truly love that we do have the opportunity to do it for seven weeks every summer!  I also think about how awesome Summer 2011 was and really can’t wait to be back up there next year (although it still feels so very far away).  I will actually be heading up to camp this weekend and know that I will be able to “hear the voices” as I like to say even when camp is empty.  I will be sure to get some photos for the next blog of what camp looks like in the off season.

In my “missing camp” mood, I think I might watch one of my all time favorite movies about camp.  I actually found it on cable a few weeks ago and set it to my DVR.  It’s called Indian Summer.  The short plot is…A group of childhood friends, now in their thirties, reunite at the camp they went to as children.  The people share experiences and grow while at the camp. They are dismayed to discover that the camp’s owner, Unca Lou, is going to close the camp down.  It’s really a great movie.  To see a scene from the movie, click here.

Things have definitely started to pick up at the winter office now that November is upon us.  We have started to hear back from many of our staff that plan to return for Summer 2012.  We have begun to talk about programming and activity scheduling.  Once again, thanks to all the campers that completed the camper survey.  It was extremely helpful to get your feedback.  And, we’ve been busy making all of our off season plans.  My schedule has started to really fill up for November and December with many camp family home visits.  I am so excited!

I got to see some campers this past weekend as I headed to Wayne, NJ on Sunday morning after getting an invitation from Lauren Schwed to come and surprise her boys, Matthew, Alex and Ben Schwed, who were hosting a camp sleepover.  In attendance was Alex Leon, Brett Podell, Josh Rogers,  Josh Halpern and Seth Brand.  Apparently, the boys stayed up extremely, extremely late, hanging out all night long, playing video games, watching movies, etc.  When I got there in the morning, we played some touch football in the backyard.  It was great to see everyone and hear that everyone is very busy at school and enjoying a wide array of after school activities.  Here is a pic from the weekend…

In Plymouth Meeting, PA, I got the chance to see 2012 Lower Senior Adam Center play a game for his middle school football team.  After camp, Adam decided that he would try a new sport and went out for the football team.  After conditioning camp, the team placed his at the center position.  Now, could it be anymore perfect?  Adam Center is the center.  Anyway, I got to see the last game of the season the other night.  Adam’s team, the Colonials, have had a pretty good season.  Here are pictures from the game.

Can’t wait for our final Canteen on the Fly Event this Friday (Veteran’s Day) in Long Island.  A two-hour ice cream fest with Canadensis T-Shirts for all campers that attend.  It will be from 2-4 pm at teh Carvel on Old Country Road in Westbury, NY.  For those campers that will be Upper and Super Seniors and CITs in Summer 2012, we hope you will join us at 4 pm as well for a Senior Summit, an opportunity for campers to give their input and hear some of our ideas for next summer.

This blog certainly wouldn’t be complete without some mention of New York Giants Football.  Halfway through the season and the Giants are 6-2!  Woo Hoo!  What a win by Big Blue over the Patriots on Sunday!  Memories of Super Bowl 42 all over again!  I have also noticed that all of our Canadensis Eagles Fans really haven’t been hounding me as much lately.  Wink, Wink.

By the way, one more thing.  Do you know there is a video game about camp called “Summer Camp Showdown”?  Does anyone own this game?  Is it good?  If you never heard of this, check this out and click here.

Well, that’s all the blogging for now.  I still miss camp.  But, writing this blog made me feel a little bit better.

Have a great day!

-Brian

So when you become my age (I feel so old saying that) Halloween just isn’t that much fun anymore. It’s definitely cool to see all of the kids in costumes, make roasted pumpkin seeds, hand out candy, but come on…if you don’t get to go trick or treating and eat all of the candy that you get that how much fun is it really? So for years, I haven’t been the true grinch of Halloween (I happily give out candy), but I haven’t been so “into it”. Then we started Halloween at camp and that got me more into the spirit (in July though), but this year I got to spend Halloween with my niece up in Boston!

Emily Forti (now 1 year 8 months old) was dressed as Dora the Explorer. To try to get her to wear the Dora backpack was quite a challenge, but nonetheless she resembled cute Dora. We set out (with Robin in tow) around 5PM for a night of trick or treating. We even got Emily to say trick treat and she held a pumpkin pail in which she collected all of the candy. Now of course she couldn’t pick which kind of candy she liked from houses, so I had the unfortunate job of having to decide if she should take the Reese’s, Snickers Bar, Kit Kat or PENCIL. Of course, the pencil never got chosen! The ultimate is when you go to a house that gives out the FULL SIZE BARS! Anyway, we stayed out for about an hour and a half and of course snacks were enjoyed by all during the process. It really was a fun time!

I rarely take the time to talk about my family on this blog, but I figured it was appropriate to give my niece a shout out!

One camp related thing, how cool is this Indian Head Pumpkin?! Special shout out and thanks to the Mindy and Rachael Rosenthal for sending this in. Great job ladies.

Next blog post, all about camp and some of the new and exciting projects we have planned for this winter! Enjoy the warm up coming over the next week or so!