After 7-weeks of amazing summer fun, we all have to board buses and head home for a year full of homework, tests and snow!  Of course, there are some great things to look forward to – hugging out family, eating sushi and hopefully having reunions with our camp friends!  At the camp office, we love to hear when our campers are getting together for sleepovers and birthday parties, and we try to get in on the fun as much as we can!

We plan programs that bring out families together several times during the winter, it allows you to feel the Canadensis spirit all year long!  In November we will be doing “Canteen on the Fly” for the second time.  We’ll be visiting ice cream shops in 7 areas around the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York area.  These events are a chance for all campers and staff to join us for a scoop of ice cream – and new friends and people considering camp for the future and welcome to join the fun!  The dates are coming up next month, so look at the flier below and mark your calendar now to come and see us!  We hope to see over 200 people at the Canteen on the Fly events!

In December and January…we will be having our annual reunion for campers that attended Canadensis in the 2010 season – and we  also hope to bring groups to NBA games at the Philadelphia 76-er’s and New York Knicks.

On Sunday, March 13, 2011…we will be volunteering at the Jewish Relief Agency which was a really special event last year (see my prior blog post to learn more about JRA).  We are also looking for more volunteer opportunities in the New Jersey/New York area, so please let us know about your favorite way to give back in your area, and we might organize a Canadensis group to join you next time!

In April…we have events for our first time campers to meet each other and start building friendships.

In May…we invite the incoming Counselors-In-Training (CIT’s) to spend a weekend at camp bonding and preparing for a summer filled with highlights.

In June…everyone is welcomed to join us at camp for an Open House afternoon – and we strongly encourage all new families to make the trip.

If you can’t wait for all these great upcoming events, I suggest planning your own camp reunion!  If you need help getting started, here’s what I suggest…

1. Ask your parents for permission to have camp friends over!
2. Make a “daily schedule” before your guests arrive.  If you want it to feel like a day at Canadensis, make sure you are doing a mixture of Sports, Arts & Adventure.  I’d suggest…a basketball game of knockout, a t-shirt decorating project, and although you probably don’t have as many as camp – maybe you have enough bikes for all your friends to take a ride around your neighborhood!
3. To give your meals a “campy” feel, go for grilled food like hamburgers and hotdogs, and maybe you can even set up a small salad bar with your favorite veggies we offer at camp!  Make sure s’mores are on your menu for dessert!
4. Make sure to record what happens during your “camp reunion”!  If you make your own “Today Show” or take photos like Groundhog…send them to pam@canadensis.com and I’ll make sure they go up on our website!

Coming Next week….the Canadensis Winter Staff in their annual Halloween Jib Jab!

Counselor Rebecca”Becky J” Jacobson arrives on her first day of camp, summer 2001.

If I had to make a list of my top ten favorite things in the whole wide world “Seeing Camp Friends in the Off Season” would definitely make the cut. Which is why my Monday Blues are quickly wiped away when I remember that I will be spending the weekend hosting the one and only Lauren Berry!

While she is currently making her way across the glorious USA, Miss Berry will be arriving in my hometown on Thursday night, and staying for a long weekend of fun and friends! After work on Friday we’ll head into the city and meet up with some of my friends for dinner, and then head home to hang out with the two cutest dogs in the universe, Leo and Bella. The rest of the weekend will be free for us to do whatever we feel like, so all of our Philly area campers and counselors should get in touch if you want to see Lauren while she’s in town!

In other fun camp related news, Becky J saw this flyer hanging on a bulletin board for other students in the Camp Management department (Yes, Becky J’s major is Camp Management!):

Hello Canadensis Nation!

I’m excited to be blogging for the very first time – there are so many possibilities for where this blog will go!  I am the kind of girl who loves to learn about new things and I’m always picking up new hobbies.  I’m also ready to play a game at all times – that is why I love being a camp so much – there are always people around to play cards, jack’s or make art projects with!

I want this blog to be a creative outlet for you to build, learn and play along with me – I’ll be posting links to games, art projects, and showing you some of my latest endeavors and hobbies.

To get started, let me show you the most recent project I’ve been working on at the Camp Canadensis winter office…it’s a banner for the Jewish Relief Agency.  The JRA is a non-profit, volunteer driven organization that packages and delivers food to less fortunate families in Philadelphia.  I have personally been involved with JRA for 3 years, and since 2009, Camp Canadensis has been sending our Counselors-In-Training (CIT’s) to volunteer during the summer – and we did an event for all our families at JRA this past winter.  Camp Canadensis plans to do more with JRA years ahead, and we are starting by helping them celebrate their 10 year anniversary by making a banner to show our support.

This banner will be hung at the JRA@10…Still Hungry, anniversary celebration at the Please Touch Museum on November 17, 2010.  After the event, the banner will be moved to the JRA warehouse, and our Camp Canadensis families will be able to see it each time they go to volunteer.  I made the banner out of felt, and here’s what you would need to make your own Canadensis banner at home.

1. One yard of gray felt (or whatever color you choose to do the background in)
2. 1/4 yard each of gold, blue and white felt
3. Fabri-Tac permanent adhesive glue
4. Good scissors for cutting felt

The supplies should cost you less than $20 – (if you already have scissors, the glue will be the most expensive item, but you only need a small bottle).  Get creative and design your own banner – this one had to say Camp Canadensis and JRA@10…Still Hungry – but I had fun putting on a border and making a Camp Canadensis Indian Head.

STEP 1: Find a font you like, and print out the letters you’ll need on paper at the size you want the letters to be.  For “Camp Canadensis” I needed multiple “C’s” and “A’s” but only print each letter once – these are just a stencil.  I suggest finding a bold that isn’t too curvy or hard to cut out.

STEP 2: Take your paper letters (or designs) and hold them against the felt BACKWARDS.  Use a sharpie marker to trace them onto the felt so you can cut them out.  You want to trace them backwards so that you will not see the marks from the sharpie on the front. Once everything is all traced, start cutting using a good pair of fabric scissors!

STEP 3: When you have all the letters and designs you want cut out from felt, start playing around with your design – do not glue anything yet.  Now is the chance to make sure it all fits and is laid out the way you want.

STEP 4: When it’s time to start gluing, I think it’s best to get on the floor (maybe even kick your shoes off like me!)  The Fabri-Tac glue dries very quickly, so I work one letter at a time.  It’s important to make sure the glue is getting all the way to the edges of your letters and designs, otherwise the felt might start to curl!  To learn more about the glue I used, click here.  Warning – this glue also removes nail polish!

STEP 5: After gluing, it’s important to make sure the letters are lined up straight because once you place them down, they are not moving anywhere!  I am using a long sheet of paper right under where I’m gluing to make sure everything is lined up.  After placing the letter down, I make sure to smooth out the air bubbles and secure it in place.

Now the banner is done, and ready to hang at the JRA warehouse.  Make sure to look for it the next time you are volunteering!

Hey camp world, I hope everyone is enjoying the cool fall weather! As much as I absolutely LOVE summer (need I explain?) I think Fall is my favorite. As someone who went to school in chilly Vermont, fall reminds me of some of my favorite things: apple cider, pumpkin coffee, fluffy scarves, and my 3rd favorite holiday, HALLOWEEN!

Yes, I’m aware that it’s a bit early to start thinking about Halloween but, when you love it as much as I do, the perfect costume and party can take weeks of good planning. I wholeheartedly believe that the best costumes are the ones we make ourselves, and it’s always good to add a little bit of camp flavor to every big event. In 2007, Becky J and Danielle Faden did just that when they dressed up as color war:

Go Blue! Go Gold!

Band Call!

My other favorite fall event is the annual Thanksgiving Eve party that my family has been hosting for the last two years. It’s been a long standing tradition at my high school that every season, after the North Penn Concert Choir sings at our town’s Thanksgiving eve service, all the members of the choir, and the alumni, get together for a festive reunion. Famous North Penn kids include 2010 Counselors Dani Corradetti, Alexis Vardakas, and Jen Romberg.

Jen and I at last year's party.

I’ll need to start preparing my design scheme now for the vast array of confections we serve that evening. This will be our last year hosting the party, so Dani and I have already begun preparations to go all out and make it the best one yet. Those of you who know me well know that I have a serious love for all things decorating, and cake/cookie decorating is included in that love. You’ve all seen the themed cakes we decorate for Brian’s birthday every summer, but I’ll leave you with one of my most beloved creations, the cake we presented to Jessica Cook on her 16th birthday, during summer 2008:

Happy Sweet 16 at Camp, Jess!

Well, this entry has been a mishmosh of crazy… here I am talking about Halloween and Thanksgiving while it’s only October 7th, but the truth is- it’s all going to be here and gone before we know it! And that’s alright with me, because as these holidays fly by, camp gets closer, and closer, and closer…

Happy Birthday Eric Forti

It’s that time of the year again! The dreaded return of homework and crazy school schedules is upon us, and for me it means moving from my desk in Canadensis to a desk in Plymouth Meeting. As soon as I finished setting up my computer on my first day back in the winter office I immediately found myself missing the hustle and bustle of the summer office, specifically Sara, Tara, and Emily, who made every single day so much fun! Post camp was so eerily quiet without the sounds of campers, but it’s only 247 more days until the buses pull in and bring everyone back to our favorite summer destination.

So, as I did last year, here are some of my favorite summer memories:

A Ninja Battle by the Office Courts

Nora REALLY Loves Camp!

Enjoying Fruit on the Fly with my Forever Campers

Prom Committee: I Loved Canadensis University!

Hot Dogs with Waxman on the 4th of July

Finally putting on that FIVE YEAR JACKET!

The Senior Camp Girls and our 10 Minute Dog, LEAP-C.

Charley hits a lib in our iCan Stunting session!

Just hanging out by a Lenape sunset...

Having a Toga Party...

Fighting virtual pirates at Disney Quest.

Two of my favorite friends 🙂

Having a Dance Party in Hollywood Studios

Loving the Rainforest Cafe with some Canadensis Guys

Remembering Blue Greased Lightnin', the best team ever.

Well, that’s it for now! The summer was full of so many wonderful moments which will make for the greatest memories. I’m so excited to begin making plans for summer 2011, and with Camper and Staff surveys rolling in, we’ve got so many great new ideas to implement. I’ve also been playing a whole lot of Mah Jong, so the CIT Girls of 2011 better be ready for some intense games!!!