Now, for many of you campers out there, you may not have ever attended a wedding (I went to my first one at age 24!) but it’s a really fun celebration.  It has some similiaries to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, but it’s for two people who are in love.  It’s a really great time to get creative and crafty, and make something either as a gift or as something that might be helpful to the celebration.

Wedding Craft #1: (pictured above) is from Robin & Eric Forti’s wedding at Camp Canadensis in 2010.  It was a really fun celebration and many people decided to stay at camp, but some guests stayed at a big hotel down the road.  The couple provided bus transportation for the guests who weren’t at camp, but they wanted to have a sign on the bus so everyone knew it was for the wedding.  Eric’s mom and I had a great time painting the banner you see above.  Eric’s mom does great bubble letters, and we had fun picking out paint colors.  We put a lace border on the banner, and we used A LOT of tape to attach it to the bus because we didn’t want it to fly off while driving down the road!

Wedding Craft #2: From time to time, guests are asked to make a scrapbook page that is presented before the wedding at a bridal shower, and when the pages of all the guests come together, the bride & groom have a great book full of pictures and memories.   I definitely do not consider myself a great scrapbooker, but I like the way this page turned out for my cousin Mandy and her husband Phil.  Mandy and I grew up at camp together, but unfortunately I couldn’t find a good photo from those days…however, I did have some great pictures from our family reunion at camp, so you can see them playing softball and working in the camp woodshop in the top right corner.

Wedding Craft #3: Whenever I’ve been asked to be in a bridal party (it’s one of my favorite things to do for my close friends!) I’ve always asked if I can help with any of the “crafty” things leading up to the wedding.  I’ve made the baskets of “necessities” that go in the bathrooms during the event, I’ve made the bags that guests get when they check into their hotel, I’ve done table numbers and place cards, and even helped with programs.  But my all time favorite craft to make is a “bridal hoodie” – something the bride can wear on the morning of their wedding as they get prepped and gorgeous for the big event.  Below is my friend Julie, who married her husband Josh…hence the “J+J” on the front with their wedding date.

On the back, I put a mixture of their two last names (because she kept her maiden name) and most importantly, I attached a “bridal veil” into the hood!  No one could mistake that she was the bride, and she got all the special pampering a bride deserves.  It was easy to cut the veil out when it was time to wash the hoodie, and I know she enjoyed wearing it throughout the honeymoon…

I hope you enjoyed seeing these crafts – I have a bunch more, so maybe I’ll do a part two in the future.  Looking at my tan in the photo above make me excited for the warm summer days we’ll all get to enjoy at Camp Canadensis soon!

The winter meeting for our camp leadership staff doesn’t officially start until tomorrow morning, and we are really excited to have our Canadensis team together so we can start moving forward on ideas for summer 2012!

One of the best parts of the winter meeting is that we get to see some of our favorite camp friends, and I have just returned from the airport where I was picking up Moira.  I get to work with Moira in the Programming Office during the summer, and she is one of my favorite people of all time!  She is the hardest working woman that I know, and she is so great at putting together the camper/staff schedules during the summer…and she’s also a lot of fun!! We are going to start working on some of our new programs today, so get ready for an amazing summer ahead!

Whenever we are together, we discover a bunch of things we have in common…we just realized on the ride here that we both took vacations in Pittsburgh this year, we both make wishes at 11:11, and we both just signed up for long runs in May!!  I’ll be doing the 10-mile Broad Street Run, and she’s going to do the Buffalo Half Marathon!  I have a feeling that her time for 13.2 miles might be better than my 10 mile race, because while we have a ton in common, Moira is definitely a sporty girl, and I usually stick to Arts & Crafts!

I’m sure there will be a lot of Twitter updates from the Winter Meeting this weekend, so consider checking it out!

Hello Canadensis!

So, my apologies for the hiatus in blogs.  Basically, what happened is this…the New York Football Giants won the Super Bowl and I have been celebrating ever since!  Ha Ha!  I usually end my blogs with stuff like “football talk,” but for this one, it is where I absolutely MUST begin.  So, for all of those campers and counselors that unfortunately root for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles and happened to give me a lot of the “business” last summer about how my New York Giants won’t be doing anything in January and February and how your teams will be the “dream” teams of the 2011-12 season, all I have to say is this…the New York Football Giants are World Champions!  I now even have a T-Shirt saying the exact same thing.  And, for all those same fans that wouldn’t let me hear the end of how this was going to be the Jets or Eagles year, get ready to hear the score Giants 21, Patriots 17 at every morning line-up this summer just as a reminder!  While we’re at it…how ’bout a picture, too…

Eli Manning holds up the Lombardi Trophy as the New York Giants win their 4th Super Bowl! Oh yeah, this picture is also my screen saver.

Now, onto camp stuff…

As many of you know, right around this time of year, we have many travels as part of our schedule.  Matt went to Eastern Europe to hire many of our support staff.  Eric was in Australia to attend several counselor recruiting fairs.  Pam and Cara hit the road in places like Arizona, Michigan and Louisiana to interview staff.  And, this year, I got to go to Paris, France!  Over the past two summers, we have had a number of international countries from France and Spain join us at Canadensis.  So, this trip was to intended to meet many French families looking to send their children to camp for the summer.  Jaime and I headed overseas to attend three camp fairs in Paris.  While there, we also got to take in the sights and do all the things that many visitors would do while in France.  We spent an afternoon at the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.  I was particularly impressed with the Egyptian exhibit there, too.  We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  And, we ate a whole lot of French pastries…yum!  While there, we met up with the amazing Lauren Berry, who was on vacation from her current nanny job in London.  The three of us took a boat ride down the Seine river, taking in all of the amazing architecture of Paris.  Then, we hit a nearby cafe to eat some lunch.  Unfortunately, the weather was very, very cold…in the low 20s on most days.  But, here are a few pictures from our week in Paris…

Me and Jaime at the first level of the Eiffel Tower. We, of course, went all the way to the top!

Me and Jaime at one of the Camp Fairs in France, ready to meet many families.

Me as an Egyptian mummy in its tomb at the Louvre.

Me with 2010 and 2011 Lower Senior Group Leader Lauren Berry. We were very happy to see her. We laughed and talked camp for hours!

On the staffing side of things, we are very busy filling many of our counselor positions.  Over the past few months, me, Eric, Pam, Cara and Matt have met and interviewed more than 400 applicants who are looking to work at camp this summer.  This process is very exciting as we know just how important it is to have the best staff ever at camp.  In the upcoming months, we will be filling everyone in of our returning and new staff for Summer 2012.

Next weekend, we get the summer unofficially underway with our Annual Leadership Weekend.  Here, we bring together many of our head staff to talk about the camp program and great things we have in store for 2012.  We will be sure to bring you pictures and videos on our blogs.

We hope to see many of our camp families on Sunday, March 18th at 10 am at our Annual JRA Community Service event.  This wonderful opportunity allows Camp Canadensis to be represented while it helps box and deliver food to local Jewish families in need.  If you are interested in attending, please e-mail Assistant Director Pam Levi at pam@canadensis.com .

I got a great e-mail from 2012 CIT Rebecca Altschul a few weeks ago, who told me it was OK to share her great news with everyone at Camp Canadensis.  During the high school football championship season, Rebecca’s high school choir was asked to sing the national anthem at one of the games, which are played at MetLife Stadium, where the New York Giants and Jets play.  She got to go on the field and perform, which she described was “one of the coolest experiences EVER.”   Rebecca said that the choir sounded really great and her team, the Cedar Grove Panthers, even ended up winning!  Here is a photo she sent me…

2012 CIT Rebecca Altschul (center) and friends got on the field at MetLife Stadium to sing the national anthem.

Since my last blog, there are a number of home visits and camp get-togethers to fill you in on…

In Merrick, NY, I met up with Rachel and Ava Fisher.  Rachel is back for her 2nd summer as an Upper Inter Girl while Ava joins us for her first summer in our Junior Girls Division.  Now in 5th grade, Rachel is busy with tap, jazz and hip dance classes and will be performing at a recital in June.  She is also taking tennis lessons.  She wanted to give a shout out to the girls of Bunk 6 from Summer 2011 and was so happy to see everyone at the reunion in January.  She also let me know that she is stocking up on duct tape as she is anxiously counting down the days until the summer.  She is also looking forward to the Banana Boat, Triple Dare and Summit.  Ava, currently in 1st grade, is also taking tap and jazz dance classes and preparing for a Spring recital.  On top of that, she is active in basketball, piano, gymnastics and karate.  She is also excited for her upcoming birthday!  When at camp this year, she can’t wait to make S’Mores, jump on the Water Trampoline and have fun!  Here is a photo…

Me with Upper Inter Girl Rachel Fisher (left) and Junior Girl Ava Fisher (center).

In Oceanside, NY, I got to hang out with Jake and Sydney Tavroff, both who will be joining us at Canadensis for their first summers.  Jake, currently in the 4th grade, will be in our Lower Inter Boys Division and Sydney, currently in 1st grade, will be in our Junior Girls Division.  Jake plays basketball, his favorite sport, in three different leagues from CYO to Game 7 to the Long Island Lightning.  He plays both forward and center on these teams.  Jake is also a big sports fan and can be seen rooting for the Jets, Giants, Knicks and Yankees.  He also enjoys playing video games like “Kinect Sports Season 2” and watching TV shows like “My Wife and Kids.”  This summer, he is excited for the lake and water activities, swimming, the high ropes course, overnights, the Summit, mountain bikes, hondas and Inter-camps.  As for sister Sydney, she is taking an art class once a week, where she is currently working on a portrait of her dog Casey.  She also plays in basketball clinics and plays soccer.  She loves to dance and play in the backyard.  When she gets to camp, she is looking forward to horseback riding, overnights, high ropes course and all the lake activities.  Here is a pic…

Me with Junior Girl Sydney Tavroff and Lower Inter Boy Jake Tavroff. And, their dog Casey.

In Brooklyn, NY, I got to know Garrett and Sara Hiller as both will be joining us for their first summers at Canadensis.  Garrett is in the 6th grade and will be in our Freshman Boys Division.  Garrett is currently taking tennis lessons.  When at home, he might be found taking care of his pet gecko Walter, three pet toads or his cat Puck.  Or, he might be found playing PSP or X-Box.  At the moment, his favorite games are NBA 2K12 and Goldeneye.  When he comes to camp, Garrett is ready to try a lot of things including archery, lacrosse, photography, hondas, the ropes course and climbing wall, fishing and boating at the lake.  Sara is currently in the 4th grade and will be in our Lower Inter Girls Division.  She is involved in jazz, hip hop and lyrical dance classes and is rehearsing for a recital in the Spring.  She also takes tennis lessons and does gymnastics.  She loves art, too.  When she comes to camp, she can’t wait for all of the activities at the Art Center and gymnastics.  Both Garrett and Sara are excited to join their cousins, Zoe and Max Hiller, at camp in 2012.  Here is a picture…

Me with Lower Inter Girl Sara Hiller and Freshman Boy Garrett Hiller.

In Dix Hills, NY, I got to see the Greenbaum Family.  This included Super Senior Girl Casey, Lower Senior Boy Jake and Upper Inter Girl Jolie.  Whereas I didn’t do an official “blog write-up,” we spent a lot of time talking about camp and all their great memories.  Jolie and Casey were sure to remind me that there were “too many fake breaks last summer” and Jake let me know that his bunk won every week’s inspection last summer.  Casey is really enjoying her freshman year of high school.  Jolie won her school election and is now the president of her elementary school.  And, Jake is busy on the bar mitzvah circuit of friends, playing tennis and hockey.  Here is a photo…

Me with Upper Inter Girl Jolie Greenbaum (center), Super Senior Girl Casey Greenbaum and Lower Senior Boy Jake Greenbaum.

In Voorhees, NJ, I got to be a special surprise guest at Jacob Batt’s sleep over for his camp friends.  Upon getting there, the boys had just woken up a little bit before and were eating breakfast.  From there, we played games of Ghosts in the Graveyard, Zombie Tag and Knockout.  Apparently, the night before, the boys stayed up extremely late, playing basketball, hockey X-Box and even forming their own nightly entertainment talent show.  Also that day, the boys were surprised with a game truck that arrived at Jacob’s house, complete with video games and flat screen TVs.  They boys thought that was awesome!  Here is a photo from my visit…

Me with some of the 2012 Upper Inter Boys. On the couch (from left to right) are David Brucker, Max Kruman, Dan Igielski, Dylan Carruba and Isaac "Ice G" Grama and his balloon friend Frankie. Top row (from left to right) is Michael Poulshock and Jacob Batt. On the floor is Julian Batt.

While at the sleepover, I got to know Jacob’s younger brother Julian Batt a little better, especially since he will be joining us for his first summer at camp.  Julian is in the 2nd grade and will be in our Junior Boys Division.  All year long, Julian plays soccer, both indoors and outdoors.  He plays midfield on his Vorhees Power team.  He also plays defense on a Floor Hockey team, the Avalanche.  In the Spring, he will also play baseball.  He likes to pitch.  When at home, he enjoys X-Box and games like NBA and NHL.  When he comes to camp, he can’t wait for all the sports, Color War and the Banana Boat.  Here is a pic…

Me with Junior Boy Julian Batt.

Still at the sleepover party, I saw new camper Marissa Brucker, who will be in our Junior Girls division this summer.  Marissa lives in Plymouth Meeting, PA and is in the 2nd grade.  She was at the sleepover, picking up her brother from the fun.  But, Marissa told me that she is currently taking hip hop dance classes and rehearsing for a dance recital in June.  She plays basketball on her team, the Hawks, and has already scored two baskets this season.  She is also involved in lacrosse and practices with the Conshy Bulldogs.  This summer, she is ready for all of the lake activities, the Art Shack, sports, Color War and making new friends.  Here is a photo…

Me with Junior Girl Marissa Brucker.

In Cherry Hill, NJ, I met up with Zach Schreiber, who will be in our Junior Boys Division for his first summer at camp, joining his older twin sisters Hannah and Daniela, both who will be coming back for their third summers.  Zach is in the 2nd grade and plays a lot of different sports.  In the fall and spring, he plays in the Cherry Hill Little League.  He plays both short stop and 2nd base.  Currently, his Street Hockey team, the Kings, are in the playoffs.  At the same time, Zach plays in two different basketball leagues.  At home, he enjoys playing X-Box.  Right now, his favorite game is NBA 2K12.  In Summer 2012, Zach is ready to try the Triple Dare, go waterskiing and ride some go karts and quads.  Here is a picture…

Me with Junior Boy Zach Schreiber.

Well, that’s all the blogging for now.

Have a great day!

-Brian

I hope you had a Happy Valentines day!  Of course, I look at it the same way I look at everyday…a chance to be creative!  Do you have someone in your life who loves a certain color?  Do they wear the color all the time, buy things in that color when they have a choice, and do they want to paint their bedroom that color too??

Well, Dave loves ORANGE…and since he deserves a special meal, I packed him an orange lunch on Valentines Day!  Everything was packed in his bag, so it was a surprise when he opened it!  There was orange juice, goldfish crackers, mac & cheese, carrots, jello, cheese sticks, orange crackers, orange starbursts…and of course an orange!  I wanted to make it extra special, so I added some corny lines to each of the food items, like this…Get it??  I “carrot” about you A LOT…like “I care about you a lot”.  Like I said…really corny.  I used the great new Post-It labels that you can cut into any size to make it stick to the items.

If someone you know loves YELLOW – think about bananas, lemonade, corn, pineapple and egg salad!

If someone you know loves GREEN – think about green apples, string beans, wasabi peas and a spinach salad!

If someone you know loves RED – think about pasta with tomato sauce, cherries, twizzlers, strawberries and red velvet cupcakes!

Get creative!  Good luck if the person in your life loves HOT PINK!

Before I go, check out the amazing photo of Simone wearing the elephant hat I crocheted for her.  Isn’t she the most precious thing you’ve ever seen?

JKole loves the climbing wall!

Justin Kole

Hobbies when you’re at home: Lacrosse

Years at Camp: 7

Favorite Camp Activity: Lacrosse

Favorite Camp Memory: Being a wood gatherer

Best Advice for a First Time Camper: Get along with your bunk and make friends with your counselors

What you’re most excited to do this summer: Sleeping through breakfast

One thing you’ve never done at camp that you’re going to do this summer: Be OD for a younger bunk

If you could plan your own perfect camp day, what would it look like: waking up at noon, eating bagels and cream cheese, playing lacrosse, going back to sleep, NBA game, dinner, then Canteen

I arrived in London, England just a few hours ago!  This is my final stop in February for staff hiring, and I’m excited to be participating in the Camp America Staffing Fairs in the United Kingdom!  I got to attend this fair a few years ago, and before that, I spent a summer living in London while I was in high school.  I was actually setup with an internship with a photographer, and being a photographer was the only other job I ever thought I wanted besides from being a camp director!

London is gearing up to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, and you can learn some London Fun Facts by clicking here!  I’m so excited to see some of our staff who live over there, and I’ll be uploading a photo of us soon!

I recently got to spend a lovely Saturday morning getting to know a new camper who lives on the Upper West Side of NYC.  Michele is a current 4th grader, and will be a Lower Inter Girl at camp this summer.  I first met her when she came up to take a tour of Canadensis and I was her guide – so it was only fitting that we switched roles, and she gave me a guided tour of her apartment!  I was so impressed by her awesome room – she has shinny pink carpet, oversize 3D cube art coming out of the walls, and fun stuff in every direction you look!  However, if you get dizzy, I don’t recommend looking down and out the window…she’s so high up that the people on the street below look like ants!

We both love dogs, and as you can see from the photo above, her dog Oreo is super cute!  This photo doesn’t even show how cute he is, but he loves to play soccer…just like Michele!  She loves the color blue, and all kinds of sports – she plays tennis mostly, but she also has gone to a golf camp, and played a season of softball.  She is a really good student, and she was telling me about the different class room jobs she has.  She is in charge of answering the classroom phone, but she also gets different jobs every two weeks…like being in charge of recycling, or giving out snack.  She said the best job is being the joke teller…which sounds like a great idea for our camp job wheel!  Oue bunk jobs rotates everyday so campers get to do different things that help keep the bunk clean.  Even when she’s not in school, Michele makes sure to spend 30 minutes a day reading.  Right now she’s enjoying the Percy Jackson book series.

She’s going to have no trouble finding foods she likes at camp this summer, and some of her favorites on the salad bar will be red peppers, cucumbers and carrots.  We talked about the awesome new water slides we are building in the brand new blue pool, and although she doesn’t think she’s ever been on a water slide, she is planning to try it this summer!  Although she doesn’t know anyone coming to Canadensis yet, she has a lot of friends at home…including some that live in the same building as her, so they are only an elevator ride away!  She was off to a chocolate birthday party at Max Brenners after our home visit, and hopefully one of her new camp friends will have a summer birthday so she can see what it’s like to have a Canadensis pizza birthday celebration!

Earlier this winter, “Aunt” Terri, the owner of Camp Canadensis, was taking a trip to London and Paris.  She had a great idea to pull together our international campers, and throw a “Canteen on the Fly” for our French campers!  Since we had just finished giving out t-shirts to all the US Campers that came to our Canteen’s on the Fly in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, we thought we could make a special shirt for those overseas…

Supplies:

-A clean, pre-washed t-shirt – and an extra cloth

-Iron-on appliques – easily found at a craft store like Joann, Michaels or AC Moore.

-An iron and ironing board.

Instructions (This is super easy!)

1.  Layout the appliques and make sure they are in a straight line.

2.  Grab your extra cloth (I used another t-shirt) and use it as a barrier between your letters and the hot iron.  Make sure your letters aren’t shifting before you place the iron down!

3.  Press hard and gently move the iron in circles for however long it says on your package.

4.  Let the shirt cool, and enjoy your personalized shirt!

Here all the final shirts for “Aunt” Terri, the Paris campers, and an outstanding staff member named Lauren Berry who is currently living in London!

Another fun night of home visits!  My first stop was in Villanova, PA, and I can’t wait to introduce you to Skye, a current 3rd grader who will be a Junior Girl at camp for the first time this summer.  I first got to meet her when she spent the night at camp last summer for the Tour & More Weekend, and I can’t wait for her to spend the full seven weeks!  The first thing you need to know about Skye is that she is a serious dancer…she is at the studio at least three times a week, and she knows a bunch of routines!  She has recently danced to the song “Low” and “Superbass” in some of her recitals.  If Skye is in your bunk this summer, you are definitely going to have an awesome MTV Night dance routine! She is already planning on joining the Camp Canadensis dance team, and getting to travel to other camps for competitions.

She loves watching reality talent shows, including “American Idol”, “America’s Got Talent” – and she also likes “Glee”!  Her favorite movie is “Back The The Future”, so when we vote on the drive-in movies for summer 2012, she might have to convince her friends to vote for it! She also likes riding her bike, and she has a great driveway for practicing.  She enjoys playing tennis and doing gymnastics – and she plans to do a bunch of it this summer!  She has dedicated her winter to dancing, so she doesn’t get to do those activities as much this year.  She does make time for Hebrew school each week, but on the night I spent with her, she got to skip it because I was visiting!

By the time this blog goes up online, she will have just turned 9 years old (happy belated bday!).  When I met with her, she told me the plans for her candy themed/dance routine birthday party, and it sounded sweet and fun!   She had already gotten one of her gifts though, it was an awesome makeover of her bedroom!  She gave me a tour, and told me how everything was different just a few days ago.  Now she has a huge canopy bed, cool blue walls, and really fun decorations.  I can’t wait to see how she decorates her camp bed!  Her dad went to University of Arizona (like me!) and her mom is a huge fan of all things campy!  She is the big sister to two adorable little brothers, and everyone will be expecting lots of letters explaining all the camp fun she’s having this summer…

My next stop was in Merion Station, PA with siblings Ben and Talia.  Ben is a current 4th grader, who will be a Lower Inter Boy at camp for his second summer.  This guys stays VERY busy during the winter – he told me about the cake decorating class he’s taking, the books he’s been reading (he just finished a “Wrinkle In Time”) and the baseball he was playing in the Fall, and is looking forward to playing in the Spring.  He also told me about the art classes and ceramics workshops he’s in, he showed me some of the construction projects he’s been working on (like a huge bridge made out of plastic drinking straws that can hold more than 30 pounds!) and I don’t think that this even scratches the surface of what he’s been up to since camp!His sister Talia is a current 2nd grader, and will be a Lower Junior Girl at camp for her first summer.  Talia has been a Tour & More overnight camper for two summers, and now she’s going to have the experience of being in a bunk and spending a few weeks with us as a true camper!  She and Ben share a mutual love of the Phillies, The “Lord of the Rings” movies, and they definitely love their puppies!  They have two dogs – Oliver, and the newest addition who joined the family only a few weeks ago is Hobie – named after another one of their favorite activities…sailing!  (Hobie gets his name from the “Hobie Cat” boat).  They also just got a very cool pinball machine, so I imagine they’ll be having some sibling contests in the years ahead as they become pinball wizards! Talia also goes by the nickname “T”, and while I was visiting, she gave me a great tour of her room.  She even gave me a demonstration about how she’s going to clean the bunk this summer!  She showed me how she folds her t-shirts – and she did an awesome job making her bed and arranging all the pillows…it looked like a big, comfy hotel bed!  She really likes to read as well, she has a lot of the American Girl books, but her favorites are series of books about puppy breeds.  She also likes to construct things and put them together – she had built a bunk bed for some of her dolls, all by herself!  Talia has a sporty side too – she loves soccer, and was on a development travel team this fall.  She also really likes to ski, and she recently was on the slopes in Utah with another new Lower Junior camper named Avery!  I can’t wait to see both girls up on water-ski’s on Lake Lenape this summer!