CITs 2013: Lauren Gadol

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Cara

Name: Lauren Gadol aka Lgadol

Years at Camp: This will be my 8th summer at camp!

Hobbies When You’re at Home: I sing, I dance, I act, hang out with friends and stud!!!

Secret Talent: I don’t really have a secret one because everyone knows that I can sing however I have a secret language, zubidik, that only I can speak. My second summer, I claimed I had a concussion after I banged my head on the bed board and I started talking strange and that’s what I called it! Silly but always remembered!!

Favorite Camp Activity: EVERYTHING. There is never a dull moment at camp, you should love everything you get a chance to do because there are so many things to choose from!

Funny Camp Memory: In 2006 when there was water dripping over mine and Lindsay Gelber’s bed so in order to fix it, Lindsay and I had to move our beds to the middle of the bunk, beds facing opposite directions so that we couldn’t get wet!!

Advice for a First Time Camper: Camp will forever and always be your home away from home. Your bunkmates will be the sisters you’ve never had, ignore the little fights because you learn to laugh about it later in the day. Your camp friends will be your sisters and best friends forever. Where else in the world can you be with your bestfriends 24/7? Camps too short to not enjoy every second, so make it worth while 🙂

Something You Learned at Camp: How to be a true friend

I never leave for camp without my… BLUE AND GOLD APPAREL and my baby blanky! I’m a child at heart, that blanket travels with me all the time!! 🙂

If I could have any job in the world it would be… to become famous!! It’s my talent!!

My favorite place I’ve traveled is… CAMPPP!!! and Israel because my family lives there.

One thing my campers will learn about me is… I am the craziest human being, I love to have fun and too laugh beyond control. I love to sing and hopefully I can make up some crazy songs for them to sing with me!! 🙂

One fun fact about me is… I was third runner up at Canadensis Idol when it was an evening activity!

Last week in Philly, and look who I saw!

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Pam Levi

Starting Monday, the camp office is officially setup for the summer at Canadensis, if you need to reach us call 570-595-7461. With just a couple of more hours left in Philly, I’m packing up and getting ready for another wonderful season up at camp! Before I head up to the Poconos, check out some of the amazing Canadensis campers I got to see this week!

Above is a photo of Jason & Luke (both coming back to camp for their 3rd year as Upper Inters!), Sabrina and Rachel (coming up to camp and receiving 5 year jackets as Lower Seniors!) and Sage (coming for her 3rd year as an Upper Inter). We enjoyed some pizza, and talked A LOT about camp! They are all moving into new sections of camp this year, and will get to enjoy lots of new changes and perks – extra trips, extra choice periods, and much more. They had great suggestions for Evening Activities they’d like to do this summer, and I took notes! Their camp enthusiasm is contagious!

I also got to spend some time with Anna (2nd year camper, will be a Lower Inter) and we made some bracelets on the rainbow loom. I also got to hang out with her sister Lindsay (first time camper, will be a Junior…not pictured!) and we made some crafty cards which you can see below!

And, my week wrapped up with a lovely Shabbat dinner with Alexa (1st time Junior camper), and Brooke (1st time Lower Inter) was a special visitor who stopped by! After dinner, we talked camp packing – and check out the super cool lounge chair (pictured above) that is coming to camp with Alexa! The girls had a dance competition today, and I hope they had a great time!

Well, I’ve got some more packing to do myself…including these great Canadensis items my friend Sara spotted and was sweet enough to get…just one more way I’ll be showing my camp spirit this summer!

CITs 2013: Alix Steerman

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Cara

Alix working hard during Rope Burn!

Name: Alix Steerman
Years at Camp: 8
Hobbies When You’re at Home: sports, art and hanging out with friends!
Secret Talent: Some people know me for my unique dance moves.
Favorite Camp Activity: Soccer, because who doesn’t love those rare occasions when you’re playing world cup after its rained and you go to kick the ball but wipeout instead.
Funny Camp Memory: My bunk forced me to be the star of our MTV night, multiple times, they were both equally embarrassing.
Advice for a First Time Camper: Don’t be nervous! Your camp friends will become your sisters/brothers no matter how weird they seem at first.
Something You Learned at Camp: Always be sure to photo bomb camp mom’s pictures, they make for some great entertainment for when you’re home over the winter.
I never leave for camp without my… color war face paint because one of the best parts of color war is going all out and painting your whole face.
If I could have any job in the world it would be… to be a lawyer.
My favorite place I’ve traveled is… the little shed under the dining hall where you can get toilet paper, if you’re lucky you can find some magnificent things in there.
One thing my campers will learn about me is… I love to have fun! Also I give great piggy back rides, just ask Lauren Grama.
One fun fact about me is… in 4th grade I watched the Scripps Spelling Bee and went out and bought a dictionary and started studying the words as if I was going to compete in the next one, luckily that phase only lasted a few days.

CITs 2013: Melissa Goldstein

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Cara

Name: Melissa Goldstein

Years at Camp: 7 years!

Hobbies When You’re at Home: Hanging out with my friends and I am in a lot of clubs for school.

Secret Talent: I used to be a really good singer. I had a solo in chorus once. I wish I could still sing like that but I can’t! But that won’t stop me from doing Canadensis Acapella.

Favorite Camp Activity: Cooking and Zumba

Funny Camp Memory: Last summer I was at the hydration station with Carly Lieberman and there wasn’t a lot of ice left so she leaned all the way into the machine and as she was getting ice a new layer of ice fell on her head! It was the funniest thing!

Advice for a First Time Camper: I know this is what everyone will tell you but you really have to go into everything with an open mind and try everything. You never know what you like unless you try it and you will never be able to do most of these things anywhere else but camp so don’t be afraid to try new things!

Something You Learned at Camp: (that you couldn’t learn anywhere else) The friendships that you create in camp will last a lifetime. The bonds that are formed with your bunkmates and other friends in camp will never be broken and camp friends are the best friends!

I never leave for camp without my… Color war stuff!

If I could have any job in the world it would be…Being able to work with celebrities and going shopping with them.

My favorite place I’ve traveled is… China!

One thing my campers will learn about me is… I love to have fun and I always try to make the best out of every situation!

One fun fact about me is… I go to the same high school that Amanda Miller went to!

Melissa stops to catch up with her sister, Ally, at fruit on the fly!

Weekend Happenings…

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Pam Levi

Last weekend was the 10-mile race I’ve been training for, and Carli Forti’s 1st Birthday Party! It was great, and next weekend (Brian’s Camp Wedding!) is going to be awesome too! I wanted to share some photos, and let you know to expect the Camp Canadensis Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Blogs) to be all abuzz with updates from Brian & Jaime’s celebration soon!

My friends Katie & Jay came into Philly for the Broad Street Run. Jay works at Camp KenMont/KenWood in Connecticut, and in the picture above Katie and I are both rocking our camp swag! She’s an amazing runner, former collegiate athlete and it was incredible to have her expertise and advise right before and after the 10-Mile Broad Street Run. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would finish the race in under 2 hours, but I did it in 1:57:31 – a major accomplishment for a novice runner like myself. I set a goal, and it felt great to achieve it! I hope many of you start thinking about goals you want to achieve at camp this summer, anything is possible!There were 40,000 runners, and it was a perfectly beautiful day in Philly. It turns out that after the run, the picture you see above of me at the finish line was randomly picked and used in a Philly Magazine blog. My friend spotted it and shared it with me, so cool! Maybe it’s because they liked my Camp Canadensis t-shirt? (Of course I had to run with something to show my Canadensis spirit!!)

There wasn’t much time to rest after the race, because a year ago Miss Carli Forti was born! It was time to celebrate this amazing little girl that has brought so much love and fun into the world! She had a great party with music, games, and of course cake! I got crafty and made her the birthday card above, it’s actually a “pop-up” card, and when you open it a birthday cake springs out! Just a reminder, you can learn how to make awesome cards and envelopes like this by signing up for the Stationery Making elective! (Keep an eye out for a blog post coming soon with a programming preview of all the new stuff at camp to try!)

There were so many camp friends at the party! In the picture above is Sam, Dani, Cara and JCal. But, I’m not the only one who got to see camp friends this weekend…

There was a camp friends gathering in NYC, and I got some adorable photos that I wanted to share with you! Bailey, Julie and Jordan are all in 4th grade, and are going to be Lower Inter Girls at camp this summer. They enjoyed spending time together, and it looks like they got to enjoy some milkshakes and Baked By Melissa cupcakes…could there be anything better than camp friends and sweet treats?

Fun Philadelphia Visits!

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Pam Levi

I recently got to spend some time with a new camper that felt like an old friend! Nikki is a current 5th grader who will be a new Upper Inter Girl at camp this summer. She lives in Lafayette Hill, PA – and she and I know a lot of the same people (including her close friend Sage that told her about Canadensis!), and maybe we even look a little bit alike? Would you nominate us for unnatural siblings this summer?? Here’s what you need to know about this fun & silly new camper:

She is already an overnight camp veteran – she went to a 4-week sleepaway camp last year, and it wasn’t long enough for her! She wanted the full camp experience, and she’s excited for 7 weeks at Canadensis this summer!
She loves to dance! She recently started dancing and attends classes in lyrical, hip hop and ballet for 4 hours a week.
Her favorite TV show is dance moms, and she recently got to meet some of the cast of the show!
She is very good at impersonating accents, and she gave me a sample of her British accent.
Although she doesn’t like being up on stage in front of a crowd, she likes recording really funny videos with friends with acting and dancing.
During the summer she might go by the nickname of “Laz”.
Nikki has two older sisters, two huge dogs (Polo and Kona) and she has a cat that acts like a dog.
The family rotates who gets to name their pets, and it was her chance to name the cat. The first name she gave him was “Sonic”, and the middle name is “Boom” – he’s really fast!
She plays soccer and has been on teams in the past. She’s also pretty aggressive on the basketball court, so watch out!

Nikki just spent a great day in New Hope with some returning Canadensis girls! Pictured above are Upper Inters Lily, Nikki N. & Sydney, who will all be at camp for their third summer! Darien is a current 2nd grader coming to camp for her first summer as a Lower Junior, she got to join in the camp fun with her sister Sydney.
Nikki loves sushi and wants to have it for her last meal before camp and also on visiting day!
She’s looking forward to so many of the activities at camp, especially cooking! We talked about the camping program too, and she can’t wait for s’mores!
For electives this summer, she’ll definitely be picking dance and quads! She’s had the chance to ride 4-wheelers on vacation in Mexico, and she can’t wait to try it again at camp!
She’s a bit of a dare-devil. She taught herself how to do a flip on her trampoline at home. She’s also excited for the camp water slides, horseback riding and waterskiing.
We spent time looking at the blogs and virtual tour online, and she is totally pumped for the summer!

In nearby Plymouth Meeting, PA, I spent some time with a fun group of Canadensis siblings! This year we will have all three of them up at camp (well…at least for the one day Matthew comes up to do the Tour & More Play Day!). While I was there I took the really simple, and life saving step of getting swabbed to join the Bone Marrow Donor Program. Their mom was organizing an event associated with Smiles for Shira and all it took was a few seconds. Adults (over age 18) can click the links above and request a kit and see if you can be a match for someone in need. It was so much fun to catch up with them, and here’s what they’ve been up to:

Marissa is returning for her 2nd summer, and will be an Upper Junior Girl. 3rd grade has been SUPER busy! She’s been spending lots of time dancing, and is on the “mini pop” competition team – she practices around the house all the time, so she’ll be ready for her recital! She is also taking piano lessons, playing on a softball team, going to Hebrew school, and the list goes on! Her bedroom recently had a design overhaul, and it’s awesome now with purple walls, cool shag carpeting and a huge mustache above her bathroom door! Her school had just gone on a field trip and drove past Dorney Park, which brought back fun memories of the camp trip there! She’s been seeing camp friends, and she showed me some funny videos they had made. She can’t wait for summer!

David is returning for summer number 4, and he will be a Freshman Boy. He’s loving 6th grade, and has been busy playing tennis, tennis, and…more tennis! He’s also been taking golf lessons. David has been up on the Camp Canadensis stage in the past (his first summer he was “Oliver”, in Oliver) and at home he was just in the show Oklahoma as “Farmer Mike”. In his room he had some Canadensis art projects, the same states map that I have in my camp house, and a painting he had made at Marissa’s birthday party – it was an adorable Penguin in Phillies Hat! Now that he’s a Freshman that will be going on extra trips (including overnight to Cooperstown, NY) and getting schedule changes like extra electives, I thought he might have some questions…but David already knows soooo much about camp, it’s so impressive!

Youngest brother, Matthew is currently in Kindergarten, and will be coming up for a day of camp fun! On July 28th we’ll be having out first ever Tour & More Play Day from 10am-4pm. Just like his older siblings he loves to eat healthy foods (the kids were munching on clementines, mangoes, kale and lots of different fruits and vegetables!) and he is really good at building a Lego sets!

It was an unbelievably beautiful Spring weekend in Philly! I spent most of the time outside running, gardening and enjoying a really fun street carnival on Broad Street downtown. There were rides, street performers, dinosaurs (really, there were dinosaurs!)…but the best attraction of all was running into new Junior Girl camper, Lindsay! She had just played in a soccer game, and came into the city with a friend for the day. She was waiting in line for the Ferris Wheel, and I hope she had a great time!

Dave, Annie and I had fun at the PIFA (Philadelphia International Festival of Arts) street fair!

Up at Camp!

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Canadensis

I am “burning the midnight oil” sitting in my office at camp. Matt Unger is in the Operations Office as well. It’s dark out (the area lights aren’t all on yet) and there are no basketballs banging into my office wall. I also don’t hear the CIT’s making phone calls home, the health center isn’t calling my desk to remind campers of bedtime meds, and the Upper Seniors aren’t outside walking back from the Senior Canteen! Can you tell I am feeling nostalgic and miss all of you? Head Chef David arrived at camp today and we just spent several hours talking about _____ (CAMP of course)! Additional kitchen staff arrive tomorrow and our first wave of precamp staff arrive Wednesday! Wow, where did the time go?

Camp itself looks great! We have been very busy with all of our winter projects and can’t wait to show them off to all of you. The paving project has been completed and the roads have never looked better! Might sound a little silly, but it’s definitely noticeable in front of the HQ and Dining Hall areas. Bob is putting the finishing touches on new landscaping to the right of the dining hall, leading down towards the amphitheater. Jimmy is finishing up the cabins in girls camp and they look awesome. Down by the lake, I just ordered 2 trucks full of sand! At the pool, the waterslides are in the process of being installed. Both blue and yellow tubes are up and we are just waiting for the stairs to get attached. Really, really impressive. A lot of our athletic courts and fields have been getting a facelift and we can’t wait for you to see it!

This weekend Carli turns 1! Can you believe it? Last summer she was carried all around camp…this summer she will be crawling through camp! It’s impossible to “baby proof” the amphitheatre steps, so we are going to rely on all of you to help Carli up and down the stairs this summer. Robin and I are so excited to reintroduce her to all of her brothers and sisters up here at camp.

Carli says hi!

Hope everyone is doing well and counting the days until camp…I know I am!

Home Visits: PA

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Pam Levi

On a recent sunny day, Eric and I got to visit a great new family in Dresher, PA with two siblings heading to Camp Canadensis for the first time this summer! We had so much to learn about this awesome brother/sister duo, it took two of us! Here’s what you need to know about these new campers:

Landon is a current 3rd grader, who will be an Upper Junior Boy this summer. He’s a big fan of the Philly sports teams, so expect to hear him cheering loudly at Morning Line Up if the Phillies are winning! He not only likes to watch sports, but he likes to play them too. He’s on a travel baseball team, plays hockey, and pretty much likes every sport there is! He knows how to roller blade, so maybe he’ll join our CHL Roller Hockey league this summer! We talked a bit about food, and he was excited to know we serve lox & bagels every Sunday morning. We can’t wait for him to try our Canadensis hamburgers, and let us know if they are even better than his favorite one from Texas Roadhouse! He’s already thinking about which sweet treats he’ll want from the canteen, and he can’t wait for Hershey’s bars! He plans to write lots of letters home, and to friends at other camps – and he will definitely be excited for the inter-camp games this summer! His favorite color is blue, so hopefully he is on the blue team when Color War breaks this year!

Rayla is a current 1st grader, and she will be a Lower Junior Girl this summer. She’s full of energy and ready for the nonstop action at camp! While we were over she showed off her gymnastics skills with tumbles and splits – we’ll make sure she keeps practicing in our gymnastics facility this summer. She is really silly, and fun! She sang us a pig song, and did a dance she learned from her Kindergarten play…maybe she’ll try out for our camp show this summer? She’s very comfortable on stage, and even did a gymnastics performance in her school talent show. She loves yogurt and was happy to hear we have it on our breakfast bar every morning – and she loves cookies & cream ice cream so she’ll try to be the cleanest bunk this summer and win ice cream parties! She is really excited for the new waterslides at camp (they are being put up right now, and they are HUGE!). Before we left, she showed off her t-shirt folding skills, and did a great job!

I also spent some time with Jordyn, a current 4th grader who will be a Lower Inter Girl, returning to camp for summer #2! She lives in Lafayette Hill, PA and she’s about the happiest person you will ever meet! Here’s what Jordyn’s been up to this year:

She’s been super busy on the weekends. In just one weekend she played in a soccer game, a softball game, went to a swim party, AND a party at Benihana -she also went to Hebrew School a few dozen other things! She is a super picky eater, but tried and liked new things at camp last year, like strawberries and grapes. She is also one of our Gluten Free campers, and if you were lucky enough to stop by her bunk of Visiting Day last summer, you would have been able to enjoy the amazingly yummy GF cookie cake her mom made, it was huge! She showed me how to play a new game called “stack the states”, which was super cool because I love geography! (Really…I really love US geography!)

Jordyn has awesome collages on her wall of camp pictures, and I was really flattered to see that my blog post from the first time we met last year was printed out and hanging on her closet door! She loves to dance, and told me about a square dancing lesson they had at school, she also came up with a new dance for cotton eyed Joe – sounds like a great gym class! She’s been busy taking the PSSA (Pennsylvania school testing) and practicing for her “wax museum” project. Each student has to research a famous Pennsylvanian, and dress up like them – she is going to be Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinsky!

Jordyn could not pick her favorite activity from last summer, she loves them all. She hopes this year they will have a spa night evening activity and she is already thinking about how to dress for crazy night!

CITs 2013: Steven Shoemaker

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Cara

Name: Steven Shoemaker

Years at Camp: 4

Hobbies When You’re at Home: Knitting, Reading, and playing Go Fish!

Secret Talent: It’s a Mystery!

Favorite Camp Activity: Hiking!

Funny Camp Memory: Too many to say but I guess Upper Senior summer when I “ accidentally” pushed Geo and Jesse in the lake!

Advice for a First Time Camper: Be yourself that’s all there it to it!

Something You Learned at Camp: How to sing Canacapella!

I never leave for camp without my… Binky!?

If I could have any job in the world it would be… Ha, me getting a job, good one!

My favorite place I’ve traveled is… Israel.

One thing my campers will learn about me is… I will always make them laugh!

CITS 2013: Matt Siegel

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Cara

Name: Matthew Siegel
Years at Camp: 4
Hobbies When You’re at Home: Camp and hanging with friends
Secret Talent: I can fly
Favorite Camp Activity: Everything
Advice for a First Time Camper: Try all activities at camp
Something You Learned at Camp: How to sleep without air conditioning
I never leave for camp without my… Phone
If I could have any job in the world it would be… Soccer player
My favorite place I’ve traveled is… Haiti
One thing my campers will learn about me is… I like to play sports
One fun fact about me is… I dragged my brother to sleep away camp with me when I was 8 and my brother was 12

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