Hello Canadensis!

As I write this blog entry (probably my last of 2013), I get the impression that most of you are already enjoying your holiday break!  We hope that the next few weeks brings everyone an opportunity to relax and be with family and friends.  When I was a kid, I got so excited for this extended time off from school and would have sleepovers with friends, have movie marathons in my pajamas and hopefully go sledding if it snowed.  Of course, it was also an opportunity to play with all of the new presents I got from the holidays, too.  Whatever all of you end up doing over the holidays…enjoy!  As always, if you are away on a destination, be sure to pack your Canadensis clothes and take a picture wearing them on your trip.  Then, send them to us so we can post them on our blogs and Facebook pages.  Here was a great picture we received very recently of campers that coincidentally met at the airport before leaving for their holiday break…

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had some great opportunities to catch up with some of our amazing staff members from summers past.  In some cases, I got to sit down and have dinner with them.  In Lebanon, NJ, I got to see Jared “Groundhog” Katzman (former Director of Media) for our annual get-together the night before Thanksgiving.  The next week, in New York City, me and Alex Feigin (former Counselor and Group Leader) got to hang out and talk camp.  After that, I saw Jake Kohler (former Counselor and Group Leader) in Plymouth Meeting, PA for a great meal.  Finally, in Newburgh, NY, I celebrated the birthday of Chandler Evans (Theater Technical Director in 2013), who was in town while on tour for his show “The Man of Lamancha.”  Here are a few pics (my apologies to Jake and Chandler for not taking any photos while we were enjoying our time together)…

The new year will bring an opportunity for me, Eric, Pam and Matt to meet more staff (returning and new) in the upcoming weeks as we hit the road on our annual staff hiring travels.  As of now, here is where we are headed…

We have gotten some really great feedback from the Canadensis Cares Mystery Boxes since they were sent out at the end of November.  We are so glad to hear that everyone liked them.  Here were some great photos that were sent to us from the Finkelstein Family and campers Luke and Sammy enjoying their Canadensis surprise…

Here is a great home visit to report since my last blog!  In Plainview, NY, I had an awesome time getting to know Marissa Halpern, who is in the 3rd grade and will be an Upper Junior in her first summer at Canadensis.  Marissa likes to do a little bit of everything.  She has been taking karate lessons for four years and is currently a blue belt.  In January, she will be playing in a basketball league.  She likes to go snow skiing and has even been to the challenging slopes of Vail, CO to ski.  She has a lot of fun making jewelry on her Rainbow Loom.  She enjoys spending time and playing with her dog Hyland.  And, she can’t wait to go to Canadensis this summer.  In fact, she told me that she wishes she could go to camp in January.  Although she will have to wait a few more months until June 28, Marissa is looking forward to activities such as waterskiing, tie dying, the climbing wall, mountain biking and the Canadensis Today Show.  She is also excited to make a whole bunch of new friends!  Here is a picture…

The holiday season for me and Jaime has once again brought us the gift of music, one of our favorite things to do with our free time.  A few weeks ago, we saw Steve Winwood and Rod Stewart at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.  It was  good show and proof that you can still rock-n-roll when you are in your late sixties (ha ha!).  In fact, here is a video clip from the show of Rod kicking soccer balls into the crowd while singing his hit “Hot Legs”.  Click here.  This past weekend, Jaime and I saw a little known band that we absolutely love called God Street Wine, who were celebrating their 25th Anniversary of their very first show.  Back in college, I saw God Street Wine play a number of times and I think they just amazing.  If you are interested, you can see a clip from the show here.  Finally, the final week of 2013 will find Jaime and I at Madison Square Garden to see one of our favorite bands, Phish and will be ringing in the new year just like we did last year.  It looked like this.

So, what are your New Year’s resolutions for 2014?  For me, I hope to spend more time with my family and friends.  And certainly, to make Summer 2014 the best summer ever!

Well, that’s all the blogging for now.  Looking forward to a great 2014!  Have a great holiday break everyone!  See you soon (only a month away until our camp reunion on January 26)!

Have a great day…Brian

This past weekend, Matt Unger (operations manager at Camp Canadensis) and I decided to hit the slopes and go skiing.  This was the first time either of us had put on ski’s in about a decade…needless to say it was a bit scary at times, but we had a great time going down the green circle (easiest!) slopes at Bear Creek, and I’m proud to say that after almost 10 runs, we both ended the day injury free!

Here’s Matt mid-run on the Broadway trail.  He was much faster than me, but always waited at the bottom so we could take the lift back up together.

Our matching green jackets and black pants were just an accident!  We had an awesome time getting back on the slopes, and we are both hoping to take advantage of the many ski destinations close to us in PA this winter – I’m actually hoping to get back out there this weekend!

In addition to enjoying the winter sports you can do with the tons of snow we’ve been getting in the Northeast, there are ways to enjoy the cold weather while staying inside.   I recently had a Soup-A-Thon with Cara Corradetti (our CIT Head Counselor at Camp Canadensis) where we made endless soups over the course of three hours in her new Vitamix blender (a similar version is pictured above).  This machine is amazing, and can blend smoothies, nut butters, dips and even puree and heat up soups!

(Of course I was cooking in my favorite Canadensis sweatshirt!)

By the end of the night, we had made 9 different soups – the perfect thing to add to a meal during the chilly winter.  Brian Krug (director at Camp Canadensis) has recently gotten in on the blender craze too…he’s recently starting making fruit smoothies, and I’ll bet he’ll be blogging about it soon!  The green smoothies were a big hit with campers this summer – we made them during Free Play with the “Avocado Aficionado” club and it was also a fun prize bunks won at the end of the summer!

Hi All from a snowy Philadelphia! I feel like our winter office has become more like the Poconos, as we have had so much snow around here the past week! Snow, ice, and cold temperatures makes me excited for the upcoming Winter Break, when Robin, myself, and Carli are headed to ARUBA! Will you be in Aruba? Let me know so we can meet up on the beach!!

The last few weeks have been full of travel for me. For Thanksgiving, we took a quick trip to see my in-laws down in Florida. It was a short trip and Carli didn’t do so well on the airplane this time around. She has flown tons of flights before, but it used to be easy. This time the flights were full and she was quite restless! Oh well, at least it was warm down in FL. The following week, Matt Unger, Jcal, Sam, and I went to Las Vegas for a quick vacation with “the boys”. We had a great time and got to see the Criss Angel Cirque Show. It was awesome and he even did a regurgitation act, similar to what our visiting magician, Brad, has done in the past at Canadensis!

Following Vegas, Matt and I went straight to NY, where we met up with Chef David for a food conference. The name says it all- the best one of the year! We got to taste food from 19 different vendors, ranging from cookies to tuna fish (at 9AM!) and everything in between.  We took in many new ideas and even met with the Asian Company that came to camp last year and helped cook dinner the first time we did Asian Night. They have promised to return, and they have reformulated some of their products based on the feedback WE gave them! How cool is there. One new idea we learned about is a Fry Seasoning Station. It may not sound so cool right now, but I bet you will LOVE it this summer! We will be doing this as part of a New Special Night in the Dining Hall for dinner this coming summer!

Chef David is doing well down in FL and enjoying some rest and relaxation before returning to camp for his THIRD season! He was just on a cruise and is headed on another one in January. He sends his best to everyone at Canadensis. He will be back up at camp in late April, to get the kitchen setup and ready to go for Summer 2014!

I know this is now old news by now, but I hope everyone who participated and purchased a Holiday Carewear Box enjoyed the gift! Pam worked really hard at setting up such a great gift, and not only was it great for everyone to receive, but it also helped raise over $2,500 for Canadensis Cares!, which is a scholarship fund to help families at Canadensis. Head on over to Pam’s blog for more info on what was inside this First Annual Mystery Box! And don’t worry if you missed out on it this year, because it will definitely return for Chanukah 2014, with new surprises for all of you.

http://www.canadensis.com/2013/12/07/coming-to-you-in-the-mail/

Hopefully by now everyone has received the 2013 Summer Yearbook DVD in the mail. Special thanks to our incredible media team for an awesome production! It’s nice to be able to relive Summer 2013 by watching a DVD at home, although of course nothing is as good as being up at camp.

Coming Up

Special congratulations to former counselors Jared Sorin (my cousin) and Kayla Chambers (my soon-to-be cousin), as they will be getting married in NYC this coming weekend! Jared and Kayla met at camp during the Summer of 2010 when Kayla worked in cooking and Jared was a LAX instructor. Yet another Canadensis wedding and I am honored to be a Groomsman. Looking forward to a beautiful weekend in NYC and I hear the weather is going to warm up into the 50’s!

Following their wedding, we headed to Aruba for Christmas Week and hope to see some of you there. Please email photos from your vacation to us (info@canadensis.com), Tweet them to us @Canadensis, or post them on our FB wall so that we can see where you are! Don’t forget to pack a Canadensis shirt.

And then in early January, it’s off to Australia/New Zealand. I am going to be in Melbourne, Sydney, Sunshine Coast, Auckland, and Christchurch recruiting the best counselors for Summer 2014. If you live there…I hope to be seeing you!

I hope everyone has a great Winter Vacation and make sure to send us your photos!

I haven’t been crafting nearly enough lately, but I thought I’d post some photos of recent projects over the past month.  In the photo above, you can see the 2013 Canteen on the Fly t-shirt.  It was a mostly blank canvas, and at each ice cream shop location, we setup a bunch of fabric markers to let kids create!  I got in on the fun, and colored mine as shown above – I love pink and orange together!  At the Westchester location, it inspired new Lower Junior Girl, Juliana to create a similar masterpiece!  I’m excited we can match at camp this summer!  Check out some awesome creations below…each one was totally unique!

 

Sisters Anna (3rd summer, Upper Inter) and Lindsay (2nd summer, Lower Inter) made multicolor creations on the Mainline

Dylan is a new  Lower Inter Girl, she went for a tie-dye look on Long Island.

Noah is a 2nd year, Upper Junior Boy from NYC, he took a minimalist (maybe cubist?) approach.

Hannah is a new Upper Inter Girl from Blue Bell, I love the way the black, pink and yellow look!

New Upper Junior Girls Samantha & Sydney met at the Mainline event and colored together.

New Upper Inter Boy, Noah went for a striped motif in Westchester.

Last week while I was interviewing Art Students at Temple University, I happened to be there during a community event while they were making gifts for an after school program, and a senior center.  In the photo below, balloons were used to make stress balls (which also happen to be great for students taking finals!) – how cute is the Minion stress ball?

This next project used an easy to follow template to weave two pieces of felt together into this adorable heart purse with a small wrist strap.  It was fun to mix and match different color combinations.

Recently, 2013 Girls Bunk 6 had a reunion where they got crafty…they went to Make Meaning in NYC – a place that has soap, candle, ceramics , jewelry and tons more projects to enjoy!  In the photo above, the girls have the candles they created in the polka dot bags.

The parents of Girls Bunk 6 had a great time getting together as well, and one of them is super crafty in her own right!  Above is a photo of Jordyn, who will be returning to camp for her 3rd summer as an Upper Inter Girl, with her family.  Her brother Jared will be a new Lower Junior Boy this summer, and he can’t wait!  Every summer while Jordyn is at Canadensis, her mom Wendi takes some of the photos she’s in on the website and creates a unique way to show them off in her room, and it’s a surprise when Jordyn gets home!  This year, Wendi made a #18325 (our camp zip code) full of photos to hang above her bed…so awesome!

 

 

The 2013 yearbook DVD was mailed on Friday afternoon, and will be arriving in your home soon!  Here’s a sneak peak at the front and back of the case, featuring our amazing 2013 CITs!  Pop some popcorn, and enjoy the summer memories!

Also, the Canadensis Carewear Boxes arrived two weeks ago, and we are hoping everyone has had a chance to open it up by now!  I wanted to show everyone the awesome stuff inside.  Above is a sample girls box, and here’s what was in it:

A- Camp Canadensis 9-inch wall clock

B- Package of stickers, 4 lollipops, pen and car magnet

C- Canadensis overnight duffel bag – this is the perfect item to bring on a sleepover with friends!  We have 6 different colors of bags so even siblings got different ones!

D- Canadensis sunglasses, imprinted on both sides.

E- Deck of Canadensis playing cards

F- Canadensis tumbler, packed with candy

G- Girl also received this adorable and soft Teddy Bear wearing a Canadensis t-shirt

The boys package was really similar, but a lot of the colors were different.  Also, the Teddy Bear is swapped out for a mini-basketball hoop!  We hope you all loved it!

I recently got to spend some time with Sydney, a current 3rd grader who will be a new Junior Girl this summer.  She lives in Delaware, which was the very first state in the US, and as far as I know, she’s the first Canadensis camper from Delaware!  She is so excited, and ready for camp.  She had her first sleepover with a friend when she was 5 years old, and she’s loved it ever since!  Sydney had tons of questions about camp, and even though it was late at night right after ice skating practice, she didn’t even need to write them down, she remembered them all!

She goes to Tower Hill school, and they run on a 6-day schedule…just like camp!  Her favorite special subject is arts and crafts, and a big reason why she picked Canadensis is because of our art center.  In her school art class, they are learning about the Van Gogh “Starry Night” painting, and making their own version in ceramics.  Although she likes art, she is a well-rounded girl – and likes just about everything!  Sydney’s favorite sports are soccer and tennis.  She’s excited about being on the swim team at camp this summer, and he favorite stroke is backstroke.  She’s taking piano lessons at home (maybe one day she’ll play as well as her dad!), and she also LOVES roller coasters – she’s not afraid to go upside down, or backwards…the bigger the better!

Sydney can’t wait to try horseback riding at Canadensis this summer.  When we looked through camp pictures, she was also really excited to see the tent the campers use on the overnights – she can’t wait to sleep outside!  (She’s a little nervous about where she goes to the bathroom and changes…but I told her we have a plan for that!)  She will be turning 9 years old right before camp ends, and she thought the pizza party sounded great, but the Sprite soda will be the highlight for her!  She was disappointed that we don’t have sushi or Indian food at camp, but she loves sloppy joes and Mexican food, so we’ll find plenty of options for her in the dining hall each day!  Before I left, I gave her a copy of the 2013 Video Yearbook DVD – she was the very first camper to receive it this year, but all of your copies went in the mail this afternoon! 

Earlier in the day, I was on the University of Delaware campus interviewing new staff members.  I very lucky to get a tour from the guy in the photo above…2013 Upper Senior general bunk counselor, Matt Bibby!  Matt is a Senior, education major and he’s about to spend all next semester student teaching.   In addition to being in Lamda Chi fraternity, he’s also a coordinator of the Blue Hen Ambassadors, the group of 200 students that give tours to prospective High Schoolers.  It’s a very prestigious organization, and I was glad to have him show me around campus.  It seemed like Bibby knew EVERYONE on campus -and he’s full of facts and info about the school, it was a great tour!

I also met up with Dana Aronowitz, a CIT of 2009 and someone who spent many years at Canadensis as a camper and counselor.  She is now a Junior at University of Delaware, and is studying Engineering.  She is also a member of AEPhi (LML to all my AEPhi’s out there!) and through them gets involved with a lot of things happening on campus.  She hasn’t made it up to camp on a Visiting Day recently, but hopes to be back in 2014.  She has been spending her summers working for a Engineering firm and last summer traveled to Israel.

Overall, it was a great to see all of the extended Canadensis family members in Delaware, and we recruited some new staff members to join us!