Hello Everyone!  I really need your help!

I want to start a new blog segment that will run every Monday, and it’s based on my favorite memory from summer 2010.  One day before any of the campers arrived, I was working in the pre-camp office with Cara Corradetti, and when she picked up her guitar to entertain us during a break, pure genius came out.  She wrote a song for my dog Annie, and called it “Annie the Dog”.  Check it out…

BeckyJ was also working with us in the pre-camp office, and Jason “JCal” Calabretta came up every weekend, so we all started to add verses to the “Annie the Dog” song during the weeks before camp started, and now we want to bring YOU in on the fun! This summer we’ll be making an “Annie the Dog” music video, and we want your help!

It’s very easy to do…each Monday, I’ll post a cute photo of Annie and you can add your rhyming lines as a comment below. Here is the photo for this week…Annie on a hike in Arizona

From JCal: Annie the dog on the hiking trail…
Annie the dog opening the mail

From Cara: Annie the dog hiking a mountain,
Annie the dog sips from a fountain!

From Pam: Annie the dog, walking on the trail…
Annie the dog, just a-wagging her tail!

From BeckyJ: Annie the do walking on the trail
Annie the dog learning braille

With the Snyder Girls – Sabrina on the left and Sage on the right.

Let me start off by wishing a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sage Snyder!!  She is turning 9 years old today, and I got to spend some time with her yesterday – and I saw the birthday presents and cupcakes all stacked up!  Sage is currently in 3rd grade, and this will be her first summer at Camp Canadensis, in the Junior Girls division.  As soon as she gets off the bus at camp, she’d like to go by her nickname “Sagie”.  Her big sister Sabrina Snyder (who will be at camp for her 3rd summer in the Upper Inter Girls division) has been telling her a lot about camp and getting her excited!  Sage definitely plans on being in one of the camp shows, she is pumped to go on the zip line and high ropes course, she can’t wait for the trip to Dorney Park, and she thinks that the hypnosis show is going to be one of the best evening activities!  She does a ton of activities during the school year – including gymnastics, Hebrew School, hip-hop dance, soccer during the fall and basketball during the winter.  She’s even taken voice lessons!

Sabrina was so helpful on the home visit – it was almost like she works for camp!   The Snyder girls plan to do “sister time” during the summer – she and Sage plan to write some letters home together, and to spend time in each others bunks getting ready for the big dances.  I’m sure they will miss their adorable dogs Buster and Trixie while they are away, but they have so many fun things and friendships to look forward to!  Sabrina sees her Bunk 6 – 2010 friends a lot, and they have a big sleepover party coming up!

With the Segal kids – Haley and Sam

Recently, I also got to spend time with another new Junior Girl – Haley Segal!  She is currently in 1st grade, and she will be in Girls Bunk 2 this summer (NOT Boys Bunk 2!!)  It’s a funny ‘camp quirk’ that we have at Canadensis, we don’t have a Bunk 1, so most of our youngest campers start off in Bunk 2!  Haley reminded me that she had a birthday before camp, so she will be 7 years old when it starts, and she is totally ready to do all the activities we have at camp…especially art!  She takes art classes at Handworks, one of the projects she made was an incredible crochet snowflake – I told her that crochet was one of my favorite hobbies too!  Haley has two dogs named Hobie and Dexter, she likes to ice skate, she has been practicing writing good letters home and believe it or not…she loves to eat salad!  She is excited for the COALS camping overnight trip – especially the s’mores for dessert!  She is a good climber, so she’ll climb up our rockwall with no problem, and she’s great at gymnastics too – she can even do tricks on the high bar!

Haley is an alumni of camp, which means she has family members who have gone to Canadensis before her.  Last year, her big brother Sam Segal (currently in 3rd grade) was in Boys Bunk 3, and this year he will be back in the Junior Boys division. Their dad Alan Segal also went to camp, and showed me some of his alumni photos during the home visit.  Because so many Segals have gone to Canadensis, Haley has some awesome vintage Canadensis gear.  Check out the photo above where Haley and Sam are holding up t-shirts that are nearly 30 years old!

Also, check out the photo below of Sam in front of his house.  He has the largest hill in front of his home, he can actually snowboard down it!  I call it the “Segal Ski Slope” and I would be way too scared to go down it, but Sam says it is super fun.

Sam traded his Phillies t-shirt that he liked to wear during the summer for a much warmer Phillies sweatshirt!

So, sticking to the blog topic of ‘birthdays’…I’m looking forward to the upcoming weekend!  I’ll actually be spending it in Manhattan to celebrate my favorite person’s birthday.  We’ll be going to a concert and out to some great restaurants.  On Saturday, we’ll be going to Max Vorcheimer’s Bar Mitzvah!!  His birthday isn’t until February, but the Bar Mitzvah celebration this weekend is similiar to a birthday – he is celebrating becoming a man!  Best of luck to Max, can’t wait to celerbate tomorrow!

Hi All,

Well I hope you enjoyed Round 1 of Where in the World is Eric Forti! If you missed out on the fun, I went all the way to Australia. I had a crazy itinerary to get there (Philadelphia – San Francisco – South Korea – Thailand – Melbourne, Australia) and a not so crazy trip back (Sydney – Los Angeles – Philadelphia)! As many of you know, I am an airline fanatic and so while I will admit the routing there was absolutely ridiculous, it was sort of fun as well. I met a few random people along the way, ate tons of food, saw tons of movies, and perhaps the best part was 12-hour flights with NO CELL PHONE AND NO BLACKBERRY ACCESS. In this always connected, always-on world, it’s sort of cool to be disconnected (for a limited time only). You see even at camp, I don’t carry a cellphone or blackberry, but people can always bother me (did I say bother, I mean call me!) via walkie talkie. So, airplanes are one of the only places to go. Actually, I don’t know if this is true, but a flight attendant (yes I spend lots of time in the galleys talking to the flight attendants) met a very senior executive at a large corporation who claims to take flights to Hawaii and back in the same day sometimes, just to force disconnection from devices. Now that’s a bit extreme, even I admit it!

Australia was absolutely amazing. I know I sound like a broken record every year, but it truly is such a great place. The people are so friendly and cool and will go out of your way to make sure you are comfortable and happy. Speaking of people, I got to see tons of staff:

Chad Raines- an outdoor adventure counselor (back when we hired staff for whitewater rafting trips- now we use an outside company) as well as groupleader from 2000 – 2002 (I think!) When he was at camp, I was a counselor for B-2!

Jim Price– lake director EXTRAODINAIRE who was with camp from 2002 until 2008 with a few years off in between. Him and his wife Tracy (who has worked pre and postcamp at Canadensis, but worked at her own camp in Maine during summers) have an adorable 1-year old baby Ben. Happy Birthday Ben and I hope you enjoy the Canadensis t-shirt. You may remember Jim as the person who TRIED to teach me how to surf last trip down under. This year, thankfully, there were NO attempts at surfing.

Lauren Berry– horseback riding counselor in 2009 and groupleader in 2010. She will be returning as a GL this summer and it was great to catch up with her. She of course knows all the chocolates and biscuits (cookies) that I like and so she brought me some amazing goodies

Justin Winch– 6 years at Canadensis as a counselor, groupleader, and now as programming director. He will most likely (fingers crossed) be returning for his 7^th summer in 2011.

Phoebe Gurrrrrrrrr– OK, a few less RRRR’s! Phoebe has been at camp for a LONG time and only skipped one year. She is doing awesome, says hello to everyone, and will be returning as groupleader for Summer 2011. She helped organize a FUN dinner outside overlooking the beach with tons of staff from the past (see below)! Thanks Phoebe for always being a gracious host!

Dale Jamieson– Dale only worked one summer, but will hopefully be coming back in 2012 for another round. He worked at the lake as was co-counselor with our very own Jcal. Dale lives on the water and every year has arranged to take me out on his boat (you all know by now I love all transportation methods).We actually took his boat into the city of Melbourne and got “stuck” there due to high seas. Always an adventure! We had so much fun and I can’t wait to see him next year.

Jye Freer– Jye was a lake staff member last year and will be returning again. Really excited for his second summer and it was great to catch up with him. He will be arriving in May for precamp!!

Steph Jenkins– Steph worked at camp as a GL a few years ago (I forget the exact years) and a few years ago introduced me to the Tim Tam Slam at Maccas (McDonalds!) with a cookie dipped in hot chocolate and “slammed” into your mouth…yummy!

Nicola & Edwina Harvey– They worked at camp Summer 2008 and I call them the “twins”! I wonder why. I was introduced to them by Phoebe and we met at Boost Juice. I think that’s where I discovered Boost…amazing fruit smoothies and they know I am obsessed with Boost! They have done tons of traveling sine their summer at camp, but are back home in Melbourne now working retail. It was awesome to catch up with them.

Allie Hassenger– Allie spent her last 2 summers at camp working at the pool and is now studying abroad in Adelaide (small country city type place in the Southern middle of Australia). I am VERY jealous that she gets to live there until August.

Eddie Lewis– Eddie worked at Hondas for us the past 2 summers and ironically enough was hired in JUNE when we moved a staff member from Hondas to the lakefront. Eddie is awesome at what he does and although he wont be back at camp this summer, I have a feeling he is going to miss it a lot!

Jackie Page– Jackie was an awesome gymnastics counselor last summer and worked with the Junior Girls. She will be returning this coming summer as Gymnastics program director!

James Richardson– James worked in the woodshop the last 2 summers and has helped develop our woodshop program. He has come up with a lot of the projects you all made last summer and is very talented at what he does!

Todd James– Last, but certainly not least, Todd worked summer 2007 at our lakefront and did an awesome job. I am hoping he returns Summer 2012, which is a possibility! He has done tons of traveling since camp as well, including Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and now is in Japan! Very jealous Todd, I love to travel.

I think I got everyone (I certainly hope so). Well, there is one more guy I should mention because this is an awesome story, at least I think it is. Joel Wiseman. Joel is a record at Camp Canadensis, in that he is the only camper we have ever had at Camp Canadensis! You see his brother, Luke, worked at camp in the late 90’s as Lake Director and one summer brought his younger brother Joel and his mum (spelled the Aussie way) Gay to camp. Gay was an OUTSTANDING, compassionate, and friendly nurse who worked in our health center in Summer 1998, while Joel was a camper in Boys Bunk 2. When we met, he told me that he had the best counselor ever. Well maybe he didn’t say that, but I am, because I WAS HIS COUNSELOR! Hard to believe that I was a counselor? Well, I was for 5-years and lived in Boys Bunk 2 (our youngest campers). I distinctly remember tons of Joel stories, and at breakfast we discussed one where HIS NASTY, SMELLY socks were underneath my pillow. Boy was I angry with him and brought him to the camp director (it wasn’t me or Brian Krug in 1998!). He was crying and still to this day insist it wasn’t him, but deep down I know it was him. Oh well Joel, I put my nasty socks in your omelet at the hotel last weekend….haha.

So, overall Australia was a huge success. Because of the severe flooding in Brisbane, the fair was a little smaller than I would have hoped, but I (along with some staff above) interviewed tons of staff and only hired the best…we let the ones who were just under the best go to other camps! It looks like we will have somewhere between 15-20 Aussies/Kiwis this summer, which will enhance the Canadensis experience as it always does. Aussies are known to be fun and crazy at the same time.

So where am I now? Well, I returned home late Monday night (thanks Robin for picking me up at the airport!) and went to bed a few hours later. As an aside, Monday was the longest day ever…I left my hotel at 9:30AM Australia time, the flight left at 12:30PM Monday and arrived in LA at 7AM Monday. So, I traveled backwards in time. I still don’t get how that happens (the dateline has to do with it- not the NBC show!) Anyway, I went to work on Tuesday until 8pm (don’t feel bad for me…Robin cooked a nice dinner when I got home…my only request was no airline, microwaveable meal!). Wed AM I woke up to tons of snow and with a flight at 6PM to Florida, I was nervous about it being canceled. Luckily I switched to a noon flight (and yes my original 6PM was canceled) and flew to Fort Myers, FL to see Aunt Terri and do some work down here. I had a few meetings discussing the summer plans for our dining hall/kitchen and even better planned the menus for the coming summer. We met with a pro at camp food service and added tons of cool things to the menu. How about Whipped Cream at breakfast? (No, not every day!). Or, those cheese sticks that you all went NUTSO over last summer with dinner one night…should we have them more often? How about some sweet potato fries? And one more small thing….MORE FRESH FRUIT! We know you want more alternatives and more options and we will be doing just that. So, we have tons more ideas…I just mentioned the small ones to get you excited! The surveys you filled out were very happy with the food quality, but we heard some of your ideas and are excited to implement them this summer.

Right now, I am at 33,000 feet (I think it’s my second home)…camp is my first home clearly, 33,000 feet in a metal tube is my second, my car is my 3^rd home, and my house in Ambler, PA is my 4^th…I may or may not be kidding! Unfortunately, this aircraft doesn’t have wifi so jcal will post this for me when I connect to the internet next- thanks Jcal!

Over the next 2 weeks I have tons of home visits both in the Philly area and in NJ, so I hope to see many of you on the road. Then, in 2 weeks I head out on Round 2 of Where in the World is Eric Forti, this time with a special guest visitor. One who has a passport (which is required for our trip), but has NEVER left the country! Should be an awesome trip, seeing many of our staff members once again, oh and doing some work as wellJ For now, I think it’s time to put my seat in the upright, locked, and most UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION EVER!

Hello Canadensis…

As I sit here at my desk at the end of a work day, I have my i-Tunes playing in the background on shuffle mode.  All of sudden, in consecutive order, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” came on followed by The Black Eyed Peas “Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night.”  Since these tunes have prevailed summer’s past, I took it as a sign to hop onto my blog and begin to post.

I hope everyone out there has had a great beginning to their new year.  Things here at Canadensis are better than ever!  I loved seeing everyone at our annual winter reunion at Jeepers.  What a cool new place we found!  I think it was great that we were able to have the place all to ourselves.  Plus, it was fairly obvious that all of the campers and staff loved all the games and rides available.  When all was said and done, it looks like we had a little over 300 campers and staff  in attendance!  Just awesome!

For us in the winter office (me, Eric, Pam, Cara and Matt), the day before the reunion was a lot of fun as well because we had the opportunity to talk camp with all of camp’s leadership staff, including Head Counselor Robin Forti, Assistant Head Counselors Karen Sharir, Alyssa Thibodeau and Mike Lindquist and Camp Mom Steph Vorcheimer.  It was great as we talked about a wide range of topics, including everyone’s favorite top secret discussion of Color War.  And yes, we have a good idea of the team names as of now.  The next step is to design the shirts and finalize the break!

A few days after the reunion, we had a great special guest come and visit the winter office.  Lauren “L-Mac” McGuire came by to say hello.  L-Mac wanted to give a big shout out to everyone at camp.  These days, she is coaching college track as well as working in a photography studio.  According to L-Mac, she thinks about camp everyday.  Of course, L-Mac’s hard work is evident in the 2010 Video Yearbook that was sent out a few weeks ago.  She did an amazing job capturing all of the action and fun we had last summer.  We hope you have had a chance to watch it.  If not, what are you waiting for?!?!  Here’s a photo…

Me and L-Mac! She stopped by our winter office a few weeks ago to say hello.

As always, it has been great to get out and visit all of our camp families and see so many campers.  In Cherry Hill, NJ, I got to catch up with 5th Grader and Upper Inter Boy Sammy Miller who will be joined at camp this summer by sister Paige Miller, who is in the 2nd Grade and will be in Girls Bunk 2.  Sammy, who will begin his third summer at camp, told me that he is currently playing on two basketball teams this winter.  He was also busy with soccer and hockey and in the spring will once again be playing baseball.  This summer, he is really looking forward to super leagues such as the CHL and CBL as well as the new Inter Courts and Color War.  As for Paige, she has been active with dance rehearsals for her recital in June.  She also has a talent show coming up at her school, which she will be performing in.  On top of that, she also plays soccer and basketball.  This summer, she can’t wait for soccer, swimming, dance, gymnastics, gaga, the plays, Crazy Night, the camp plays and Carnival Day.  Here is a pic from my visit…

Me with Upper Inter Boy Sammy Miller and Junior Girl Paige Miller.

In Short Hills, NJ, I was excited to see 5th Grade Boy and Upper Inter Boy Sam Hunn who will welcome to camp younger sister Lexi Hunn, who is in the 3rd Grade and will be in our Junior Division.  Sam told me about this great program he has been involved with called “Odyssey,” where he and a team of students have to create an 8-minute skit using specific guidelines that will be judged with the winning team moving onto a regional and then possibly a worldwide round.  Right now, Sam is busy finishing the sets for the skit.  He is also playing saxophone and guitar.  In what will be his second summer at Canadensis, Sam is looking forward to the Hondas, the Foam Pit and Color War.  He also informed us about a great game to play at our morning line-up called “Counselors and Buckets.”  He said it is going to be great and I can’t wait to see it in action.  As for Lexi, she has been involved with acting classes as well as a fashion class where she has made T-Shirts and clothes.  She also told me that she is a fan of “old school TV” and loves shows like Full House and The Simpsons.  Finally, she loves just hanging out with her friends at home.  This summer, she is enthusiastic to try ceramics, woodworking, gymnastics, the ropes course and zipline.  Here is a photo…

Me with Junior Girl Lexi Hunn and Upper Inter Boy Sam Hunn.

In Livingston, NJ, I saw the Dersovitz Family and campers Alexa and Matt.  Alexa is returning for her third summer as part of our Upper Inter Girls Division and Matt is coming for his first summer in our Junior Boys Division.  Now in 5th Grade, Alexa plays travel soccer, basketball and lacrosse.  In the upcoming months, she is looking to plan a sleepover for the Girls of last summer’s Bunk 6, who she wanted to give a shout out to!  Matt is very active with soccer, basketball and baseball.  Both Alexa and Matt mentioned a great family trip to the Cayman Islands where they went snorkeling and banana boating.  As for Matt, he can’t wait for his first summer and try waterskiing as well as play soccer, hockey and tennis.  He is also excited for Color War.  Here is a photo from us hanging out…

Me with Junior Boy Matt Dersovitz and Upper Inter Girl Alexa Dersovitz.

Just moments before that picture, I got completely licked by their dog Jackson.

In Merrick, NY, I saw Upper Inter Girl Julia Rosenberg, who will be joined at camp this year by twin brothers and Junior Boys Alex and Josh Rosenberg, who are in the 3rd Grade.  Currently, Julia is playing on a basketball team.  In fact, the night I was there, she was getting ready to play a team that included fellow Canadensis camper Alix Negrin.  Now in 5th Grade, Julia said that she is always hanging out with friends from home but also saves time to chat online with camp friends on the computer.  She wanted to give a shout out to the Girls of Bunk 7 from 2010!  In 2011, which will be her third summer, she anxiously awaits Color War and the annual trip to Dorney Park.  As for Josh, he plays soccer, basketball and flag football as well as playing the guitar.  This summer, he really wants to get involved with glass fusion, cooking (and eating), soccer, basketball, swimming and all the activities on Lake Lenape.  As for Alex, he plays baseball, soccer, flag football, basketball and plays the drums.  This summer, he is looking forward to baskeball, basketball, flag football and hockey.  Here is a pic from our get-together…

From left to right: Junior Boys Alex and Josh Rosenberg, me and Upper Inter Girl Julia Rosenberg.

Also in Merrick, I got to get to know 3rd Grader and Junior Boy Josh Michals, who will be coming to camp for his first summer.  Josh told me all about the sports he plays, including baseball, hockey, soccer and basketball.  He also let me know that he is a big fan of WWE Wrestling, with his favorite wrestler being Rey Mysterio Jr.   This summer, we will be sure to see him on the baseball and soccer fields and the hockey and basketball courts.  But, he is also looking to play golf and try the wrestling elective.  He also remembers how fun the water trampoline and log were when he came to camp for our Tour and More Sleepover Weekend and looks forward to doing it again.  Here is a picture…

Me and Junior Boy Josh Michals.

Certainly, I look forward to the weeks ahead when I get to meet even more campers, new and returning.  If you are a new family and haven’t scheduled a visit yet, please call our office at your earliest convenience and we’ll set something up.  For all of our new campers and families, you will also be receiving an e-mail shortly, informing you of our New Camper Bowling Event, which will be held on Sunday, April 3 at the Brunswick Zone in North Brunswick, NJ.  This is always a great event for all of our first time campers.  We hope you can make it!

A few weeks ago, we got a great picture from Upper Inter Girl Mallory Kanterman and Junior Boy Sam Kanterman, entitled, “If Canadensis Had a Cruise Line.”  Check it out…

Mallory and Sam Kanterman on Camp Canadensis Cruise Lines. Actually, it's Costa Cruise Lines.

In discussing one of my favorite topics outside of camp, I am really looking forward to this weekend’s football games and I’m sure all of camp’s Jets fans are really excited for the possibility of Gang Green to be in their first Super Bowl since 1969.  Right now, I can picture Jets fans like Justin Zak, Scott Sussman, Mara Bernstein and Max Hecht all proudly wearing their Green and White all week long, highly anticipating this weekend’s game.  Good luck!  However, as a die hard Giants fan, I can’t bring myself to rooting for the Jets and will be looking for a Steelers vs. Packers Super Bowl.

More blogging to come…Brian

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear Robin

Happy Birthday to you!

Since I am intrigued about eating on flights and not having a clue about what time/timezone/appropriate meal it is, let’s see what I ate in the past 48 hours:

A. Eggs/potatoes/croissant

B. Salad and Asian Salmon w/ green tea rice (yuck). Then they ruined dessert with coffee flavored ice cream with a hard chocolate shell. I will admit to chipping away at the hard chocolate shell, hahha.

C. Popchips snack

D. Peanuts snack

E. Chicken stir-fry with lo-mein (YUMMY!)

F. Tortilla chips and salsa

G. Salad, Chicken with Thai curry, and apple cheesecake for dessert (just a few bites)

H. A roll

So, since Friday morning (it’s now Sunday morning in Bangkok) that’s what I ate. A nutritionist would yell at me, and it’s weird not eating breakfasts and only having alot of dinners. Trust me, I didn’t go hungry, but my mom and Robin’s cooking is WAYYY better!

Hello All from my usual stopover point of SOUTH KOREA! Trip 1 of Where in the World began 3:15 Friday morning with a van shuttle pickup at my house. Of course I felt bad that Robin woke up from my final packing and preparations, but when I called her at 6AM, she certainly fell back asleep!

I arrived at Philly Airport way too early, but its an international itinerary so they say you need to be there like 18 hours early. Checked in and said goodbye to my one, 53.5LB suitcase (it’s heavy because A. my clothes are heavy and B. I have the new tabletop Canadensis display that many of you saw at the reunion). Hopefully I will see my bag in Melbourne, Australia, my final destination, but I am nervous. Rewind 6 months ago when I thought it would be “fun” to travel to Australia the longest possible way. I thought I did that the last 2 years, but I one upped it and this year my routing is:

Philadelphia – San Francisco – Incheon, South Korea – Bangkok, Thailand – Melbourne, Australia

Getting back to the bag issue, they could only fit 3 cities on a bag tag, so my bag got 2 tags…a first for me! So the first tag said San Francisco and then the other “full” tag says Melbourne by way of Korea/Thailand. My concern is my bag made it to San Fran and is now going round and round on the carousel waiting for me to pick it up…hopefully I am wrong!

So, my flight from Philly to San Fran went off without a hitch. I couldn’t really sleep well, I don’t know why, so I talked to the 2 flight attendants for about 1.5 hours about travel, camp, etc. Had a 1-hour layover in San Fran and boarded a United 747 for Korea. The 747 has two decks and I was lucky enough to be seated on the top deck. For the first time ever, I actually sat in a BACKWARDS facing seat. I know you all think this is dorky, but it was awesome to experience takeoff facing backwards! The seat was amazing and I took a few pics, which maybe JCAL will post here, or else you need to hop on over to my facebook page (see: Camp Canadensis: Where in the World is Eric Forti). It was about a 12 hour flight and I only slept about 4 hours. So, tons of TV watching and tons of eating, but what else is new.

On the plane, I also met 2 ladies in their early 60’s whom are traveling around Bangkok, Vietnam, and Cambodia. We got started talking about camps and they went to a camp in Maine I have heard of and recently just spoke to the owner of! Such a small world. I was telling them how great Canadensis is and one of them has grandchildren in Virginia whom she wants to send to camp, but the grandchildren’s mother is not ready yet. So, maybe one day!

Now I am in Seoul, South Korea sitting in the airport lounge and it’s 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but in the lounge it’s like 120 degrees. No exaggeration, it’s so hot in here. I don’t understand why they need to pump the heat in Asia and keep these lounges so darn warm. I just took a shower and changed into a….Canadensis t-shirt of course with a Canadensis long sleeve shirt over it, HAHA. Too funny! Lauren Berry (GL from 2010) and I are skype IMMING or whatever it’s called because all of you are sound asleep.

I will check in again soon, but remember to check in at twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/WHEREISFORTI and  “like” my facebook page by searching Camp Canadensis: Where in the World is Eric Forti.

For now, goodnight!

And so it has begun! Follow Eric on twitter.

www.twitter.com/WhereIsForti

Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing winter break, and I REALLY hope everyone found some time to catch up with Camp Friends! As always, I’ll be telling the story of my Winter thus far through pictures…

Dinner Party for Dani's Birthday!

The first big event of Winter Break was the exciting 18th Birthday of Lower Inter Counselor (and my sister!) Dani Corradetti! Because Dani’s birthday falls between Christmas and New Year’s Eve I knew I had to start planning early if I was going to make it an amazing night! I started by calling some camp friends and trying to find a date that worked for most of us. From there I was texting non-stop to try to organize a Birthday Sleepover SURPRISE Party! I think I had Dani completely unknowing until the morning of the party itself. She overheard us ordering dinner for 11 people and knew something was up… this might not have been the first surprise party I’ve attempted to throw her (although last year she was TOTALLY SURPRISED!). Once she knew about the party I told her that I was about to leave to go get Mara from the train. After she jumped and cheered around the house as if Color War was breaking, we ran to my car just in time to drive off to pick up Mara Bernstein. On the way home we took Mara to Virago, a bakery in our town that specializes in Gluten Free baked goods. Mara picked out a delicious cupcake to enjoy later in the evening when it was time for dessert. Seeing Mara pick from all the beautiful cupcake options reminded me of being in Disney with her, and meeting the Chef at Planet Hollywood, one of my top 10 Camp Memories of All Time… but that’s a story for another blog post…

Mara Shows off her Cupcake!

Once we had some baked goods secured, it was time to get back to the house and start to greet the friends who had traveled from all over for the party. No one knew Dani was in on the surprise, so it was like a little mini-surprise each time someone new walked in the door! When we got home Danielle Faden and Becky J were already waiting for us to arrive. They didn’t know Mara was coming in to town- another set of surprises! Shortly after that we were joined by Rebecca Waxman, Jess Cook, Rachel Dender, Jen Romberg, Alexis Vardakas, and Elana Sharir. The house was SO loud as we laughed and told stories… there might have even been a short musical singalong to a medley of song from The Sound of Music, with the Upper Inter counselors reprising their famous MTV night dance. We were then interrupted by my mother returning from our favorite Italian Restaurant, arms full of takeout pans, which we devoured in the dining room, continuing to tell wild camp stories in between bites of pasta and salad.

Ready to Nom Nom Nom!

Once we were stuffed it was time to play our favorite table game- “Most Likely To…”. Most Likely To, or MLT as we say at camp, is a really easy game to play when you need something fun to do. I learned how to play at a Sorority retreat in college, and taught the CITs and Staff in summer 2008. Ever since then, it’s been a staple in our nights in the HQ. Everyone rips up a piece of paper into nice even strips. Then the group picks a number (usually it’s 5, but we went for 10!) and writes that many “MLT”s on the strips of paper. Good examples are “Most Likely To own a camp someday” or “Most Likely To become President” or “Most Likely To jump in lake lenape in their pajamas”. The possibilities are endless.

Working on our MLTs...

Once each strip of paper has an MLT on it, we fold them all up and toss them in a basket, mix them up, and distribute them. Everyone reads the MLTs that they were given, and then decides which person at the table is most likely to do what’s on the paper. Then you fold it back up, and place it in front of the person you chose. This part gets crazy, with everyone putting papers in front of everyone else; you have to be careful not to give away the ones given to you! Once that’s done, each person takes a turn reading the ones they got, and the hilarity ensues!

Becky J reads her MLTs to the group...

After MLT it was time for CAKE… and coffee; Rebecca Waxman is a huge fan of the Keurig coffee maker, we spent most of our days off making individual coffees and lounging around the kitchen. After we couldn’t eat or drink any more we retired back to the den, where we all continued to catch up after being apart for so long!

Camp Friends Snuggled on a Chair!

We spent the rest of the night doing what all of you do at your camp sleepovers – talking about camp! It was so good to be together, and even though we were missing the camp friends who couldn’t make it, or live too far away to make the trip, it was nice to get to be together and pick up right where we left off in August.

After a fun and relaxing winter break, it was time to get back to the winter office… only to pack up and take off for the winter meeting! On Friday night Dani and I met Eric, Robin, Matt, Alyssa, Mike, and Karen for dinner at a Mexican restaurant! Seeing Mike, Alyssa, and Karen after being apart for so long was the best feeling ever… almost as good as the first day of camp!!! We had a yummy dinner, and then Dani and I took Karen back with us so we could get some sleep before the big Winter Meeting! While we were sitting around, Karen took the time Leopold to dress in her favorite hat:

Leo Rocks his Hipster Style...

After Leo modeled a few selections from his hoodie collection, it was time to get some sleep! We woke up bright and early and drove off to the Forti’s house, hoping to miss the impending snow storm. We all piled in to the camp minivan and drove off to Newark.

The winter meeting was a great success! We talked about so many great ideas for Summer 2011 and even got to play a new game, taught by the ever fabulous Pam! We had a great day, and then rushed off to our rooms to get ready to go out for a Hibachi dinner! Everything was delicious… Eric Forti even took this photo express just how full we all felt:

The next morning we all drove off to Jeepers, where we got to spend time playing games and having full with our summer 2010 campers and staff! It was a great day, and I’ll post some more pictures from the reunion soon!

I hope everyone enjoyed a snow day this week, and that you’re getting even more excited for camp now that we’re officially into 2011! Next month Pam and I will head off on our Staff Hiring Road Trip, and soon it will be time for New Camper Bowling, followed by Pre-Camp… camp is basically tomorrow!