Hi Everyone,

It’s December which means it’s the holiday season, but it’s also the time we get busy doing home visits. At Canadensis, we continue a tradition which began decades ago in which we visit all new campers who are enrolled for the upcoming summer in their homes! These home visits give us a chance to get to know our future campers in their own environment and we prepare them for the upcoming new camper events, including bowling, etc.

So myself, Pam, and Brian have been visiting with campers throughout the months of November/December and will continue to do so all winter long. We have also been traveling to colleges and universities to find the best staff for Summer 2012 and of course the International “Where in the World” trips will begin in January.

Robin and I had a chance to also see campers Ryan & Jake Garfinkle with our now annual dinner over there! I also had dinner with camper David Brucker. Everyone is doing well and really excited for the summer!

Jake and Ryan Garfinkle

David Brucker at Benihana

Here in the winter office, Jcal came to visit! Of course he brought us snacks, including our favorite Crumbs cupcakes! We are busy filming a new episode of Canadensis Today, our annual holiday card, and a few other surprises for all of you.

Hope everyone has a great week and check back soon!

Checkout the photo above…I’m on a home visit with Jordyn, a current 4th grader who will be attending Canadensis for the first time this summer as a Lower Inter!  I love going to visit new campers and getting to know them better, and on my home visit with Jordyn, she gave me a gracious tour of their home…just like I gave her a tour of camp when she came to visit this summer!

She has been going to West Hills Day Camp for 7 years, and she is super excited for overnight camp.  She loves to dance during the year, and is very dedicated – on the weekends her practices last for nearly 5 hours!  She is excited for all the activities at camp, especially gymnastics, glass fusion, ceramics, archery, swimming and water-skiing.  She is already a good snow-skier, so I’m sure she’ll have no trouble skiing around Lake Lenape this summer.  She is a big sister to her brother Darren, and she plans to write him (along with her parents!) many letters this summer.  She just had a birthday, and she got to celebrate it three times with different friends and family members…how cool?

Jordyn got an extra special ride in Aunt Terri’s Pink Golf Cart when she came up this summer, and she’s hoping to get a few more this summer!  She said that her friends would describe her as “funny, caring and a good friend” – and I think her bunk mates this summer will be lucky to have her!

My next stop was at Frankie’s house.  Frankie is a current 3rd grader that recently moved from NYC to the Northshore of LI.  I got to know Frankie when she came up to Canadensis last summer for the Tour & More Weekend.  She was at camp for one night, and if she could have stayed for the full summer, she would have been ready to move in!  Frankie will be a Junior this summer, and she already knows a ton about camp because her cousins Scott, Rebecca, Rachel & Jessica are part of the Canadensis family too.

Frankie was at Hebrew School when I got to her house, and she said it was “good”, so clearly she has more fun at Hebrew School than I used to!  We looked through the camp photo album, and she is so excited about the activities at camp this summer.   She can’t wait for woodworking, and she is excited to have a chance to climb on “The Summit” this summer.  The Summit is a huge inflatable toy on our lake that has a climbing wall on one side, and a slide on the other side – Frankie got to go Banana Boating during the Tour & More lake party, but she’s looking forward to being able to do even more.  As we were saying good night, she grabbed her bag FULL of books, which is her own personal traveling “library” – she loves to read.

When Frankie lived in Manhattan, she shared a bedroom with little sister Ruby, which is great preparation for when she shares a bunk with 8-10 other girls this summer!

This is a picture of little sister Ruby, who is currently in Kindergarten – but has tons of energy and excitement for camp!

A few nights prior, I also got to spend some time with Ally, a current 4th grader who will be a new Lower Inter this summer.   She has attended the Tour & More Weekend at camp in 2010, and she is so excited for overnight camp!  I’ve never met a more active girl in my life…she will play everything and try anything!  Some of her favorites include soccer, sports and biking…when I was at her house she was even asking her mom if she could play football!  Her biggest complaint about day camp was that there wasn’t much to do when she got home, so we’ll be keeping her super busy with the fun Evening Activities at Canadensis!  Everyone at camp has a lot of people that are looking out for them, but in Ally’s case she will also have a whole bunk of “big sisters”.  These girls are friends with her big sister, and they will be helping to make sure she has the best summer ever!

It was a fun night of home visits on Long Island, and on Sunday I gave a tour of camp to new campers Lauren & Morgan from Connecticut!  Next week I’ll be heading to Maryland & West Chester NY, and many more locations in the months ahead – looking forward to it!

Don’t these pictures just make you want to be at camp right now???

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!

Matt Wiener's Bar Mitzvah!

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:

Forti and JCal are besties!

JCal is loving the breakfast options...

Brooke stopped by to visit!!!

Pam shows off her camp tee!

Showing off the camp gear!

Long Island Canteen on the Fly!

My new best camp friends flashing our rings!

So cute!