Hello Canadensis…

I hope all of our campers and camp families as well as our camp staff are having a wonderful holiday break.  It’s been a few days since my last blog and I, too, like to use this time of the year to recharge my batteries, see friends and family and get set for the new year and new decade that lies ahead.

Last night, my college buddy Jon and I went to the Rock (aka The Prudential Center) in Newark, NJ to see our Syracuse Orange take on the Seton Hall Pirates.  It was a really good game.  In fact, at one point, Syracuse, who is ranked #5 in the nation, was losing by 12 points.  At halftime, the game was tied at 43.  In the end, the Orange prevailed and won 80-73.  Jon and I both think that this team has some really good potential and might go far in the college basketball tournament in March.

Then again, my beloved New York Giants started the season 5-0 and have now been eliminated from the playoff race after last week’s abysmal performance, which was also the last game the Giants were to play at Giants Stadium.  I was definitely a bit depressed until the next day after that game.  We got crushed!  Anyway, I know I’m going to get a lot of well deserved trash talk this summer from all those Eagles fans.  All I have to say is…bring it on!  Ha Ha!

Of course, as always, our final tailgate at Giants Stadium was off the charts.  The menu kept us full into the next morning and included bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches, french toast, hash browns, filet on garlic bread, swedish and asian meatballs, corned beef, steaks, burgers, hot dogs and grilled pineapple.  It was also great that 2010 Freshman Max Vorcheimer and his dad Stu came by to say hello.  Max and Stu actually had a great opportunity to go on the field at Giants Stadium one last time!  With the closing of the stadium, our tailgate crew took our season end group shot.  It is amazing how close we have gotten after doing this together for twelve years now.  Here is the photo…

Yesterday morning, I had the great opportunity of getting together with some of the boys from last summer’s Bunk 3.  I drove to Tenafly, NJ to meet up with Ben Borrok, Ben Rubin, Max Rapoport, Evan Wabnik and Joey Rush and met them at the Classic Diner for brunch.  It was also Joey’s Birthday!  After lunch, the boys went over to the Tenafly JCC for some additional activities.  Here are some pics…

Over the break, I also heard that 2010 CIT Girls Melissa Liebman, Amanda Mirsky and Melissa got together.  And that 2010 Lower Inter Girl Rachel Green had bunkmates Alexa Dersovitz and Allison Levitt sleep over.  I also know that 2010 Upper Inter Nicole Zibelman had a weekend visit with bunkmate Emily Kilman.  I am sure that there were more camp friends that got to see each other, too!  As always, if you have pictures of your reunions and get-togethers, e-mail them to me at brian@canadensis.com and I’ll put them on this blog!

On Monday, our new Assistant Director Pam and I drove to Bala Cynwyd, PA to meet with Canadensis Alumni Martin Goldman as he will be sending his two children, Evan and Tes, to camp this summer.  Evan, who is in the 6th grade, will be in the Freshman Boys division while sister Tes is in the 2nd grade and will be in Girls Bunk 2 this summer in our Junior division.  Evan plays soccer most of the year for the FC Delio Travel Soccer Club, which is one of the top club’s in the country.  He is just starting up basketball season in the next few weeks as well.  Evan is also in a rock band called JACE where he plays both guitar and bass guitar.  The band covers everything from The Who to the Beatles to Tom Petty.  Younger sister Tes just recently finished up her dance performance of “The Nutcracker.”  She just recently finished up her soccer season, in which she played goalie on her team, and is now beginning basketball season soon.  She has also been having some sleepovers with friends.  Martin is thrilled that his children will be going to camp where he once attended.  Martin reminisced about morning line-ups at camp as well as the skidoodle that used to be on the lake.  Here is a picture of us…

So, as I write this, we are a little more than a day a way from ringing in 2010 and saying goodbye to 2009.  I love all the magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs and television shows that wrap up the past year, and in this year, wrap up the past decade from best movies of the year/decade to the best songs and tv shows to the best sports teams and on and on.  I love the conversations and debates that always seem to follow when I read and see all of it.

It is also a time for new year’s resolutions for those that do it.  Anyone have any good ones?  Please share.

So, with that, I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Until 2010…Have a great 2009…Brian

Hello Canadensis…

Technically, the Camp Canadensis Winter Office is closed for the Holiday Season. However, since I predominantly work out of my home office in New Jersey, it is “technically” hard to actually close your office. So, I guess you could call today a day when I just did an office pop in. There were a few calls I needed to make and e-mails I had to return as well as some items I just wanted to take care of before the break. Plus, I wanted to say hello to all of you in Canadensis Cyberspace!

I am sitting here in my office with our Camp Dog, Millie. For those that don’t know, Millie is the dog of our new Senior Boys Head Counselor Brian Stern. Brian is away on a trip to the Galapagos with Webmaster Jared “Groundhog” Katzman. Brian asked if I could watch Millie for a bit and I, of course, couldn’t refuse being with Millie. In fact, we just got back from a walk, which I think tuckered her out. She is now sleeping on my floor. Here is a pic…

By the way, I can’t stop talking about the movie Avatar, which I saw last night.  I loved it!  First, you have to see it in the Digital 3-D format because that was definitely half of what made it so amazing!  The new 3-D technology that was developed for this film is awesome!  There are definitely times when you truly feel like you are in the movie!  The story is a real good one, too.  When I left the theater, I was already thinking about when I might be able to see it again.  If you haven’t seen it yet, try to get to a theater over the holiday break as you will not be disappointed.

For all those that celebrate Christmas, I want to wish you and your families a wonderful holidays.  I also hope that Santa delivers all you had hoped for this year!  As for me, Christmas Day has always meant the same thing each year.  On this day, my friends and I see three movies and eat Chinese Food and Diner food.  That’s right, three movies!  On our movie agenda so far is The Blind Side and Up In The Air.  From what I have heard and read about so far, both movies should be really good.

What was good was getting to see more of our camp families this week.  On Tuesday, I got to meet new camper and 2010 Junior Girl Amanda Burger at their home in Fanwood, NJ.  Amanda is really excited for her upcoming summer at Canadensis and making a whole bunch of new friends and also can’t wait for all the activities in our Art Center like Glass Fusion, Ceramics and Art Shack.  She is also pumped for Gymnastics.  When at home, Amanda is involved in Musical Theater classes and she really likes to sing.  In fact, she even recently performed a song from Hairspray at the resort she was staying at while on a recent vacation.  She is also involved with ballet classes, piano lessons and soccer.  Here is a picture…

On Wednesday, I drove to Westchester County, NY to see some more campers.  First, I went to Scarsdale to see new camper and 2010 Lower Inter Girl Jordana Kaller.  These days, Jordana is busy with a number of different activities.  First, she is a flyer on her town’s cheerleading team which competes in several competitions each year.  In the next few weeks, she will begin rehearsals for her school play, The Sound of Music.  On top of that, her basketball season just recently got underway.  She also takes tennis lessons and goes ice skating.  In the spring, she will be playing baseball.  This summer, she can’t wait for all the stuff there is to do on Lake Lenape like the Banana Boat, Triple Dare and the Summit as well as activities such as Color War and Carnival Day!

While hanging out at Jordana’s house, we got a visit from 2010 Lower Inter Girl Sydney Goldman, who will be returning to camp for her second summer.  Sydney and Jordana live near each other and are even in the same class at school together.  Sydney told me all the stuff that she has been up to as well.  She is also a flyer on the cheerleading team and she, too, will be in the school production of The Sound of Music.  Sydney devotes a lot of her time to singing, acting and dancing as well as basketball and ice skating.  She recently got together with some of her bunkmates over the Thanksgiving break.  Me, Jordana and Sydney spent a lot of time talking about camp and even watched the 2009 Video Yearbook together.  Here is a shot of the three of us…

After that, I made my way to Briarcliff Manor to see 2010 Upper Inter Girl Emily Kilman and her sister Samantha.  Emily, who will be joining us at camp for her second year, had a lot of great things to report in my visit.  In November, she starred as Willy Wonka in the local theater’s production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  In fact, Emily showed me a clip of the performance and I must say how impressed I was at how good she was up there on stage!  Way to go, Emily!  Currently, she is playing basketball and her team is off to a 4-0 start.  She was also really excited to tell me that her bunkmate Nicole Zibelman will be coming up this weekend to visit.  At the same time, she was excited that in a few weeks, she will see all her bunkmates at the upcoming reunion.  In the spring, Emily will be busy with Softball and Lacrosse.  In 2010, she was also thrilled to tell me that she will be seeing the show Wicked on Broadway twice!  This summer, she really can’t wait for the trip to Dorney Park and riding the Thunder Hawk rollercoaster as well as reuniting with the girls from 2009’s Bunk 5.  As for sister Samantha, who will be a future Canadensis camper in 2011, she has been busy, too.  She was also in Willy Wonka as a Sophie, a squirrel and an Oompa Loompa.  Samantha is also involved in a number of sports including soccer, lacrosse, basketball and baseball.  Here is a picture…

Well, that’s all for now.  I hope everyone will have at least a few days off to enjoy time with family and friends.  As for me, I am really looking forward to Sunday and the final Giants game being played at Giants Stadium.  Having had season tickets for the past 12 years and even going to many games before that, I have had a lot of memorable afternoon and evenings in that stadium and a lot of great times with friends at our amazing tailgate.  As always, if you are at the game on Sunday, be sure to stop by Lot 5F for some good food and saying farewell to what my friends and I have appropriately called “The Mecca.”  Hopefully, the G-Men can also pull out a victory in their last game at the stadium, too, and keep their season alive.

Have a great remainder to your holiday weekend everyone!  Oh, Millie just woke up!  Say hello, Millie…

Until next blog…Happy Holidays…Brian

Good Morning Everybody and it’s a great morning because today is the last day that the office is open until the New Year! On Friday, I am headed down to FL to spend some time with Robin and her family. While I am down there, I will be interviewing a nurse for our health center, meeting with new camper Leah Otner and her family, having dinner with Roy, Lisa, Danielle, and Matt Faden, seeing Harold our camp baker and his wife Phyllis, and also meeting with a few prospective families who are interested in Canadensis! So, it’s half vacation, half work but the work part is all fun work! Robin and I also have lots to do in terms of wedding planning, so my guess is we will have a busy week. But, the busy week is in FLORIDA in hopefully sunny, warm weather, so I have no complaints there!

We are really busy in the office planning all of these Canadensis get-togethers. From the Summer 2009 Reunion on Sunday, Jan 10 to the Sixers game on Wednesday, Jan 13 to the Knicks Game on Tuesday, Feb 9, plus our Canadensis Canteens on the Fly (dates to be announced soon!) we truly are everywhere and can’t wait to see all of our camp families at some or all of these events! If you are unsure of what I am talking about, email me for more info on these community events.

Otherwise, Aunt Terri took a trip up to camp to check on a few things and so I wanted to paste the pictures here. Hope you all have a great break from school and enjoy your vacations if you do go away! Please email in pictures as usual of you/your family in Canadensis shirts so that we can post them on the blog and include them in future Canadensis Couriers.

Hello Canadensis!

So, I’m down here at the Plymouth Meeting office today, looking out my window and I see a whole lotta snow! What a weekend it was with a blanket of the white stuff pouring down on many of us!

For me, I got a chance to beat the storm, drive up north to Cheshire, CT and visit my camp friend Rick. Rick and I met at camp in 1983 and have been close friends ever since! Because we live so far away from each other, it is always great to see each other and reminisce about the many wonderful summers we spent together. That’s the wonderful thing about camp and your camp friends! It doesn’t matter how much time passes, it’s like you have never left those summer memories with them.

Speaking of summer memories, I got a chance to visit more of our camp families last week on Thursday and Friday in Long Island, New York. First, I got to see 2010 Freshman Dani Sussman and her brother Scott Sussman, who will be in the Junior Division next summer. Scott is in the third grade. Recently, he is playing a lot of Roller Hockey on a local team and plays travel Soccer. He is also on a Basketball team with fellow Canadensis camper Ben Borrok. This summer, he is looking forward to the CHL (Canadensis Hockey League), making new friends and Color War! Sister Dani, who is returning for her third summer in 2010, is in the 6th grade now. Currently, she is involved with Hip Hop Dance with fellow Canadensis camper Alex Leib, travel Soccer and video chatting with camp friends online. In 2010, she can’t wait for her Hershey Park trip, water skiing and seeing all of her camp friends. Here is a picture…

Next, I got a chance to see 2010 Freshman Ross Talarico and 2010 Lower Inter Paige Talarico.  Paige, who is in the 4th grade, has been heavily involved with her Dance classes these days which includes Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Ballet and Lyrical.  Her dance competitions begin on March 1st and she has been practicing a lot.  Her dance school, the Dorothy School of Dance, is known for graduate Trent Kowalik, who is playing Billy Eliot on Broadway.  She recently just got together with camp friends, too.  Brother Ross Talarico, now in the 6th grade, i s busy with basketball and a lot of homework at school.  He is soon going skiing at Jiminy Peak.  He, too, recently had a get-together with camp friends.  Here is a shot of us…

A few blocks away, I got together with 2010 Junior Boy Isaac Grama, who is coming to camp for his first summer.  Isaac has been hearing for years how great camp is from older sister Lauren, who will be a Lower Senior in 2010.  Unfortunately, Lauren wasn’t home when I came over.  But, I got a chance to get to know Isaac, who is busy with a number of different activities.  His baseball team just won the Fall Ball World Series.  On top of that, he is involved with Soccer, Flag Football, Kickball, Ice Skating and Bike Riding.  He is also a big fan of the WWE and Legos.  In fact, I was amazed by a few of the lego models that Isaac put together.  This summer, he is excited to try the ropes course and climbing wall and all the rooms at the Art Center.  Here is a shot of me and Isaac…

Finally, it was great to see the Negrins on my visits.  When I got there, 2010 Upper Inter Girl Alix Negrin was even video chatting with bunkmate Sophy Feldman online.  This summer, Alix is thrilled that she will be joined at camp by younger brother and 2010 Junior Boy Ben Negrin.  Ben, who is in the 2nd grade, is busy with baseball,  basketball, football and go-karts.  He is also a very skilled rock-n-roll drummer.  This summer, he can’t wait for Rock Band, the activities at the Lake, Glass Fusion, Swimming, Woodworking, Color War and Dorney Park.  Sister Alix, who is now in 5th grade and returning for her 3rd summer at camp, has been active with Softball, Volleyball and Basketball.  She recently had a get-together with camp friends Ali Goldstein, Sage Linsky, Sophy Feldman and Ali Beyda.  This summer, she is excited for Gymnastics, Basketball, Color War and seeing all her bunkmates from 2009’s Bunk 7!  Here is a picture…

As you can see, I love getting to see as many camp families as possible.  I know that the upcoming weeks and months will bring more and more visits which I am really looking forward to!  This really helps my winter go by even faster.

What also helps my winter go by faster is visiting the Canadensis web site and Media Room.  If you haven’t seen it yet, we just recently put up new videos, including a very special Holiday Season’s Greetings from camp.  Also posted is a new Canadensis Today Show, which features an interview with new Assistant Director Pam Levi as well as a tour of the new winter office.  Check it out!

Also, camp families should have received an e-mail about the 76ers game on Wednesday, July 13.  We hope many families can attend.  For our families in Northern New Jersey, Westchester County and Long Island, we will be announcing a similiar event in New York City and a New York Knicks game.  These will be other great opportunities to see our camp families!

Well, that’s all for today.  More blogging later this week.

Until then…Have a great day…Brian

Well unlike usual storms, Philly got slammed with 23 inches of snow, while Canadensis got a measly 4 inches! But, I am not complaining, as the less snow at camp the better, as more work will get done without all the snow to contend with. For all of you that enjoyed the weekend snowstorm, please see the post below. If you played in the snow, had a snowball fight, made a snowman, etc. please email editor@canadensis.com with your picture of the fun in the snow! We will feature your pictures right here in future blogs as well as in the Canadensis Courier.

Sorry I didn’t blog for a few days. Between the holiday card being posted on the website as well as the latest edition of the Today Show, things have been busy! If you haven’t seen it already, please login to the Canadensis Media Room on www.canadensis.com and view the Today Show as well as the Holiday Card. The Holiday video features all of the administrative staff and a special surprise at the end…(OK, I will tell you…it’s Robin and me at the end in front of a bazillion menorahs at my mom’s house!) So, Happy Holidays to everyone and enjoy the videos.

This past Thursday was exciting in the office as staff member Peter Tarnoff stopped by before headed to Steamboat Springs, CO for a ski trip with his sister Liz (from ceramics) and friend Hannah Race (girl’s general counselor). I have spoken with Pete since arriving in Steamboat and he is having an amazing time snowboarding the slopes!! Pete dropped off his contract in our office, which means he will be back for yet another Summer!!

After his visit, I headed to Long Island to continue visiting camper homes. It took me over 3 hours and 45 minutes to drive there. Along the way, I passed 2 separate tractor trailers flipped over as well as a few accidents. The drive should have taken me 2 hours or so, it was horrible! I was over 1.5 hours late to my first appointment and I felt so bad. Fortunately, the families completely understood and took it in stride. My first stop was camper Logan Katz and her brother Brent Katz who will be a new camper this summer! Brent is really excited for camp, obviously. We watched a new promotional DVD that Jaycal had created for us and it is about 7 minutes of nonstop fun. From activities to evening activities to special event days to friendships, the video captures all that Canadensis has to offer. Brent is excited for pretty much all of the activities that Canadensis has to offer and is looking forward to a great summer at camp. Logan is doing well and is also excited to return to Canadensis for her third summer of fun. They are both doing well in school. While I was there, I also got to meet her younger brother, who is so cute and was wearing those little footie pajamas, which I wish they made for adults. But, that’s a story for another day.

After leaving the Katz house, I went to visit the Portnoy boys! Ben, Jacob, and Matthew Portnoy are all campers at Canadensis. I remember when Ben was coming for his first summer, with his younger brothers in tow at the Open House and how excited he was to join the Canadensis Family! Now he is in his fifth year and moving to Senior side. His younger brothers are both at camp, and they are a FUN family. For Chanukah, they received a number of Wii games, which they showed me, including Tony Hawk (no I didn’t attempt to skateboard), High School Musical Sing Along (no I didn’t sing HSM, but I was secretly wanting to – JUST KIDDING!), and many more! Matthew is going to be Danny in Grease (the main lead character) and practiced some of his lines with me! He knows all of the choreography as well, and I am sure he will do an amazing job…just don’t break a leg literally Matthew as that wouldn’t be fun at camp!

After showing me the Wii games and Matthew singing his lines, I checked out their rooms, which are awesome. Of course they are great rooms, but what makes them awesome is that they have Canadensis stuff all over each of them!

Friday was a pretty normal day in the office! Counselor Erica Carey stopped by for lunch and to discuss the COALS Program. COALS is the Canadensis Outdoor Adventure Living Skills Program at Canadensis. Erica will be once again returning as a COALS staff member and has great improvements for this already successful program, including new and fun activities to offer during the COALS period and awesome enhancements to the overnight program! It was great to see her and then head out around 6PM for a weekend of SNOW! Just before leaving, this email was sent out. If anyone wants to join in the fun at the Sixers Game/Matisyahu concert, please email me at eric@canadensis.com. We have had an overwhelming response between 6PM Friday night and today, Sunday. Tickets are limited, so be sure to email me if you want to join Canadensis for this exciting event.

Come join us at a Philadelphia 76ers game vs. the New York Knicks and a postgame concert featuring Matisyahu on January 13, 2010 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia! The Sixers will be celebrating Jewish Heritage Night and are offering discounted tickets of $25.00 per person. Our directors and winter office staff will be there cheering on the Sixers or the Knicks (some of us are from Philly and some from NJ/NY!). We would love for our camp families to come join us, see your camp friends, and enjoy a basketball game/concert. Be sure to wear your Canadensis shirts and show off your Canadensis pride!

We have reserved a section at Center Court in the Mezzanine for Camp Canadensis so that we can all sit together. After the game, we will all go down to the Lower Level and enjoy a postgame concert featuring Grammy nominated recording artist Matisyahu. There will be special booths and food stands setup on the concourse and it is sure to be a fun event! In addition to the game and concert, with this special $25 ticket deal you will receive a Sixers t-shirt in Hebrew! For more details, see the attached PDF flyer.

If you are interested in attending, please email eric@canadensis.com with the number of tickets you would like for your family and we will reserve seats for you. Seating is limited, so please respond ASAP.

We hope to see as many camp families as possible!

And finally, if you made it this far in the post, KUDOS TO YOU! This afternoon, a few of us camp staff people (11 to be exact!) got together for lunch at CHAMPPS in King of Prussia. It’s always fun seeing camp people and today was an absolute blast. Thanks to all who came out for lunch. Afterward, I stopped by the Waxman/Cook family home for a quick impromptu visit with campers Matt Cook and Rachel Hannah Cook! See the picture below!

That’s all for now. Hope to see alot of you in the coming weeks at the Summer 2009 Reunion and the Sixers Game/Matisyahu Concert!!!

Hey Canadensis,

I hope everyone is enjoying the SNOW STORM we are getting right now! Send in your snow pictures to editor@canadensis.com and we’ll post them on the blog! If anybody wants to make a Canadensis Snowman take a picture and send it!!! Be creative, have fun and stay warm!!

The office has been WILD this week. I think the holiday spirit has made everyone a bit more excited than usual. Earlier this week I went out to dinner with Karen Sharir, Matt Unger, Eric Forti, and Dani Corradetti in Philly. We had a delicious Italian dinner, and I don’t think I need to tell you what we talked about the whole time… CAMP!

Today was an especially wonderful Friday because we got a visit from one of my very best buddies, Erica Carey! Erica and I go way back, for those of you who don’t know, we were co-counselors in 2007 (Shout out to our girls, Charley, Olivia, Dani, and Carly!), and in 2006 Erica was Lieutenant and I was Counselor Captain of BLUE GREASED LIGHTNIN’ (Karen, Feigin, and Pete – love you guys!). We all went out to lunch together and got to hear all about Erica’s fabulous semester abroad, traveling from country to country, and meeting so many influential scholars. We did lots and lots of laughing (Unger and Forti are ALWAYS making me giggle) and it was SO good to spend time with her!

I hope everyone’s ready for a snowy weekend! Stay inside, keep warm, and have fun!!!