Hey Canadensis!  I am so excited to be blogging here and I want to say thanks to JCal and Eric for allowing me to do this!  While Eric is away on vacation this week (lucky!), I am sweltering in South Florida with the 92 degree heat!  We are supposed to have a cool down this weekend, though, to about 83 degrees– brrr!!

So, I left camp the day after the campers left, and started setting up my classroom the very next day!  In fact, my first graders and I have already been in school for 36 days!   Oy!  Julie, from the office, teaches Kindergarten at my school, so I’m lucky that I get to see her every day.  She also lives right down the street from me, so we get together outside of school too (dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, going to the movies, etc.)!  We also had a chance to see Eric R., from the pools, recently.  He’s doing great, teaching middle school Language Arts and keeping busy!  We all talked about how much we missed camp and how we can’t wait to see everyone next summer!

Some of my students have Hannah Montana backpacks and others have Jonas Brothers lunch boxes and these remind me of all of you at camp.  This morning, one of my students walked in singing the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling”.   I started singing along with her and she said, “Ms. Hasson, how do you know this song?”  I told her it was one of our favorite songs at camp this summer and that it was played at every dance!  Ah…reminders of camp every day!!

Well, that’s about it.  I’m picking Eric up from the Port of Miami on Sunday after his cruise and then sending him back to cold Philadelphia on Monday morning so he can work a little.  I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of people at various Bat Mitzvahs in Philly in November and then I’ll see everyone at the reunion in January – I’m so excited!  Be well and study hard (sorry, it’s the teacher in me!) and I’ll see you soon!

What’s up, Canadensis!

It’s starting to turn cold in St. Louis, and that definitely has me missing Camp!  I can’t believe that it’s been over two months since I left Canadensis.  I guess that means that we only have eight months to go!

My life is pretty simple back in Missouri, it’s basically all about teaching.  My school year started in mid-August, so I’ve already been in school for eight weeks.  I teach a history class called “Global Issues,” that’s required for every Senior in the school.  It’s a really fun class to teach.  I also teach AP Government, which I really like.  In addition to teaching, my school has a small international resident program and I live on campus in the dorms with about fifty students.  It’s a huge time committment, but it’s been good to save some money.

I’m actually planning a pretty interesting event at my school at the moment.  We have a house system, very similar to what you read about in Harry Potter, and each semester we have big house competitions.  Well, this year I suggested doing a large, five-team Apache Relay.  The administration bought the idea, so with some of the Senior leaders I’ve been busy planning an Apache for 850 students.  We’re calling it the “Red Devil Relay” (Our school mascot), but it’s essentially designed after the Apache at Canadensis.  Instead of burning a rope at the end, we’re burning a fuse that’s going to light fireworks and smoke bombs.  It should be great!  And it’ll be interesting to see how it works with five teams instead of two.  It was supposed to be last week, but had to be postponed due to rain.  (It’s amazing how even here in Missouri, it seems to want to rain during the Apache!)

That’s basically what’s going on with me.  I’ve gotten out for a lot of hikes in Missouri lately.  Missouri is great, but it makes me miss the Appalachian Mountains, especially the hike I took with the Upper Seniors this summer.  I visited Pennsylvania about a month ago, which was really nice, and I’ll be back in Jersey for the Reunion in January.

I hope that everyone is doing well.  I miss you all and I already can’t wait to start the Summer of 2010.

Take care, and don’t hesitate to be in touch,

-Will

WOOOOOO… WHATS GOING ON CANADENSIS!?!?!?!?  This is Pete Tarnoff, guest blogging while Forti is on vacation, and I’m so excited to be able to be a guest blogger.  Thanks to Forti and J-Cal for letting me do this.  I love the blogs, and I read them almost daily so this is pretty cool.

So… you want to know what all us guest bloggers have in common?  We are all OBSESSED with Camp.  Yes that’s right… obsessed.  Seriously though, 90 percent of my shirts that I wear are Canadensis shirts, I never take off my Color War Wristbands (Tropical Gold 08 BABY!!!), and I think I’ve  annoyed my roommates a whole lot by how much I talk about my time in 18325.

Unfortunately though, I’m not at Camp (insert sad face here).  Right now I’m at the University of Kutztown studying Elementary Education.  Yes that’s right, Pete Tarnoff is going to be a teacher.  Weird, right?  Can you imagine how crazy my classroom would be? Can you imagine anyone calling me “Mr. Tarnoff,” or even “Mr. T?” (I PITY THE FOOL), HAHAHA.  I’m not going to lie though, school is starting to drain me.  I transferred from Ithaca College in New York, where I was studying Television and Radio, to Kutztown last year.  Considering that TV/Radio has almost nothing in common with Elementary Ed, I practically had to start my college career over again, so I’ll be in school for a little while longer.

However, not all is doom and gloom.  During the month of October, I have several chances to see a ton of Camp people when I attend the bar mitzvahs of some of my former campers.  Austin Pollack’s bar mitzvah was yesterday (I’m writing this post on the 4^th of October).  Austin was fantastic and his party was sick… especially after we got the DJ to play the crazy frog song.  Canadensis Freshman 2009 took over the dance floor at that point.  By the time this blog is posted the Weiss boys, James, Eric, and Eddie will have had their bar mitzvah as well, and I’m sure they’re going to do just great.  Congrats to all of them, and to everyone who has a bar or bat mitzvah this year.

Of course there is the reunion in January as well, and I’m even more excited for this year’s reunion because it takes place on January 10^th… MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!   Best birthday present ever: CAMP REUNION!!!  HAHAHA, that news made my day when I saw it.

A couple of shout outs before I stop writing (I could go on forever).   First and foremost, to the Freshman Boys Division of 2009, Campers and Counselors.  Thank you for one of, if not the best, summers of my life.  I thought it was going to be impossible to beat the summer of 2008, but because I lived with you all for 7 weeks, Summer 2009 may have done that.  Special props to Jay Trumbower (spelling is definitely incorrect) for creating an awesome sign for Freshman Hill.

Thanks again to Forti and J-Cal for allowing me to be a guest blogger

Lastly, a shout out to a young man who I know reads these blogs: Noah Rubin.  Noah attends the same middle school that my mother works at as a social worker, so I wanted to say “hi” to Noah, and thank him for stopping by my mother’s office to say “hi” to her.  It makes her day.

Be safe and have fun Canadensis family.  We’ll be home sooner then we think… Is it June yet???

Hello Canadensis!
Its Mike Lindquist from the Great Pacific Northwest.  I am up at school at the University of Oregon finishing my last few classes before I graduate and have to find a real job.  I spend most of my time up here working on school work, hangin’ with the fiancé, or going to Duck sporting events. Speaking of Duck sports, they are the most underrated football team in the nation… that is just a side note.

Since the end of camp, I went home for about a month.  Home for me is 15 minutes north of San Francisco in a city called San Rafael.  It literally takes me 10 minutes to drive to the Golden Gate Bridge when going into the city.   At home I spent some quality time with my parents, helping my mom with house stuff and playing golf with my dad.  Then Alyssa came out in mid-September, in which we had an engagement BBQ in honor of our engagement.  It was great to see my family and friends, and helped the healing process of not being at camp.

Its funny that being 3000 miles away from camp, I’m still connected to camp almost every day.  Seeing Alyssa doesn’t count because I see her every day!  But for example, FRESHMAN GROUP LEADER KENZIE GAUTHIER lives in a house across the street from me!  It is easy for us to hang out when it takes 15 seconds to walk to each other’s homes.  Yesterday we took our monthly TCBY Canadensis run.  Alyssa, Kenzie, and I go to TCBY, having yummy treats, and talk about life… which normally means camp.  We would be talking and almost always, an old couple will look at us like we are crazy, which we are of course.

The TCBY runs aren’t the only camp connection in Eugene.  I text MARSHALL WIENSTIEN every other day, just to talk camp, text my old roommate Handsome Rob, ROB McRAE, and I’ll see KELLY PRICE or NORA DRUTZ around campus.  I even saw Nora at a Duck home football game.  It instantly reminds me of all those camp memories.  Also in late September, Oregon was blessed with a visit from LEVI SMATHERS, LUKE HOLTEN, and SAM LITTLE.  They were on a cross country road trip.  It was nice to see them and I enjoyed sharing those great memories.

Alyssa and I are doing great and I would like to announce that we have set a date!  October 15, 2011.  It is a long ways away, but we want to get settled, find “real” jobs before we get tie the knot.  We both say hi to everyone in Canadensis blogging land.  This site is definitely my favorite Homework distracter by far.  Thanks Forti and J-Cal for letting me say hi.  What up CIT’s 09 and future CIT’s 2010!  And too all the 5 years in 2010!!! I don’t know how, but the summer of 2010 will be even greater than 2009!

Hello Canadensis!

Happy Columbus Day!  I’m sure all those that have the day off are making good use of it.

The weekend was once again a really fun one for me.  Got to see Bruce Springsteen (yes, again) at Giants Stadium.  This was the absolute last concert ever to be played at Giants Stadium.  Coming into the show, there were many rumors of special guests and even word that the curfew of the show had been extended.  However, in the end, it just ended being a regular show, not that it was a bad thing, just that I was expecting more for the last concert at Giants Stadium.  We had a great time anyway.

On Saturday, I ended up watching a whole lot of college football.  There were a lot of great games on and I found myself being a remote control maven throughout the day flipping from one game to the next.  Every Saturday, when I look at the scores scrolling across the bottom of the screen, I always think of the counselors who attend each of these schools.  I find myself saying, “Oh good.  Mike Lindquist and Alyssa Thibodeau got a win today with the University of Oregon.”  Or, “Sorry, Sara Goodison, it wasn’t Northwestern’s day today.”  It’s kind of funny.  Usually for my school (Syracuse University), it’s been pretty bleak the past few years as our football team is not very good.  Getting better, but still pretty bad.  Speaking of Syracuse, I got a great e-mail from Rachel Dender, who let me know she is loving her freshman year there!

Sunday was, of course, GAMEDAY!  After three weeks on the road, the Giants had a game at home.  Of course, that means a huge tailgate!  This week, the menu was terrific.  To start, we had cinnamon and raisin French toast with bacon.  There was also bagels, lox and cream cheese.  Then, we moved onto the next courses, which included lobster in a butter, rum and lemon sauce (absolutely delicious), chili and lamb chops.  Then, we also had beef and turkey sliders which were really good.  There was the grilled pineapple, a tradition of our tailgate, as well.  For dessert, we had a Giants victory over the Raiders, annihilating them 44-7.  Ha Ha!  During the tailgate, camper Max Vorcheimer and his dad Stu stopped by to see what everything was about.  Thanks for stopping by guys.  It was great to see you!

I am having dinner with Brian Stern tonight.  Should be fun.  I’ll let you know all about it tomorrow.  I am heading down to the Plymouth Meeting office as well.  I’ll blog about that tomorrow.

Until then…have a Happy Columbus Day…Brian

Hey everyone! If you don’t already know me, my name is Alex Ehrenthal . Last summer  was my 4^th summer at Canadensis and I was a Super Senior in girls bunk 20! FIRST OFF, I miss camp SO much! It’s sad looking back on the summer, and seeing how each and every day flew by! Summer 2009 left me with more than enough memories to get through the year! It was definitely the best summer yet and I’ve already started counting down the days until Summer 2010 (Shout out to all my CITS 2010!)

I’ve been in school for about a month now, and not one day passes by where I don’t miss being at camp! Sophomore year is a challenge and has hit me with lots of work L ! I’m playing tennis for my high school team and I love it! This past weekend, the girls from my bunk (G20) slept over! It was great catching up with my best friends in the entire world, and reminiscing on summer 2009. I think it’s safe to say, we all had an incredible summer!

In summer 2010, I am looking forward to all the great evening activities, special events like carnival, the amazing race, and especially COLOR WAR!

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion in January and next summer! Feel free to email me anytime at Alexx6124@aim.com.

As you can probably assume from the title, I am headed to the Caribbean! On Sunday I will be boarding the Carnival Valor for 7 days of fun in the sun. In what has become an annual tradition with some of my friends, I will be enjoying a week of R&R and a lot of good food!

So this week was a busy one. At the beginning of the week, I was busy getting caught up from being away the week before.  Lots of mail to go through, bills to pay, messages to return! I spoke to alot of camp families and staff members, including none other than Will and Sam, my buddies. It was great to catch up with them and hopefully I will get to see Sam soon and Will at the winter reunion!

Wednesday I went to camp and it was a great trip. It started out as a rainy day, but on our drive up Route 33 it started clearing up and by the time we got to camp, it was blue skies. However, the winds were howling. As you can see from the pictures in my last post (scroll down), the lake looked like white water rapids! Terri, Brian, Neil, and I met with our paving company and we gave them the green light to continue repaving many of the roads throughout camp.

Last year we repaved the entrance and lower boys. This year we will be repaving around the main office/grove area, most of girls camp, and a section of Senior Boys camp. The paver will also be filling a few potholes that we developed from all the rain last summer! While it may not be as interesting as the new canteen was, trust me, girls camp, you will notice it walking to the dining hall and all around camp!

The main office renovations are coming along nicely and the top soil/dirt for the grove and office landscaping should be dropped off on Monday. Did I mention that on Monday I will be on a cruise? haha! I guess I have the vacation fever and that’s what’s on my mind- nothing wrong with that, or so I am told.

Back in the office on Thursday and Friday, I hashed out my travel plans for recruiting this winter. While I can’t tell you specifics, I will be taking 3 recruiting trips overseas this year and on one of them I will be bringing along a special guest, who you all know:) The reason I can’t give you specifics is because Jaycal and I talked last night about the contests we will be featuring on the blog this year during my trips. We came up with some great ideas and some even better prizes so stay tuned to the blog so you can have your chance to win!

Anyway, time for me to hit the gym (something that I can’t believe is in my vocabulary). Make sure you keep reading my blog as Jaycal has a lineup of special guest bloggers all week long for you to enjoy. Be sure to check Brian and Cara’s blogs as well as they will both be in the office all next week providing camp updates.

Have a great week and I will see you right back here tomorrow on today (oops, I mean see you right back here next week on the blog!)

GUEST BLOGGING RETURNS MONDAY!

Everyone loves a Friday!

Even with the rain, today has already been a fun, campy, day! I woke up a little late this morning and rushed out of my house to make it to the office on time! While I was on my way here I got a call from Liz Tarnoff and we talked until I arrived at the office. Liz and I have a way of making each other laugh, either with our crazy stories or inside jokes, that never fails to make my day.  I can’t wait for her to come home for Winter Break!

I also got to talk to Rebecca “Becky J” Jacobson last night. My blog entry is a stolen line from her facebook status today! I agree Becky J, Friday is the best day!

Hello Canadensis!

Well, our trip up to camp yesterday was very successful.  Me, Eric, Terri and Neil met with a few contractors to discuss some different projects we will be putting into motion for future summers.  It was very exciting and we will unleash our plans as soon as everything is finalized.  However, one area that is already underway is our main office.  It is getting a face lift with a new roof and new front.  Here are some pics of what it looks like so far…

I love how camp looks this time of year.  The trees at the far end of Lake Lenape are all changing colors.  It is just magnificent.  Fall is a big time up in Canadensis.  In fact, Halloween is a very big deal.  In fact, Canadensis, for the day of Halloween, has it’s name changed to “Scarecroweville.”  Seriously.  Here are some pics of the trees across the lake…

It was also so windy yesterday at camp.  Lake Lenape looked like an ocean with mini waves.  It was really intense!  Here is a pic of me and Eric.  You can see my hair and Eric’s jacket whipping in the wind!

With all of the wind, all of the pine needles have come off the trees.  A lot of the roads at camp are completely covered in them.  Here is a pic of my house.  You can see all of  pine needles everywhere.

After leaving camp, I had to stop off at Callie’s Candy Kitchen for some treats!  In fact, a few years ago, Aunt Terri introduced me to one of her favorite items there…pretzel balls.  They are awesome!  They are exactly what they sound like.  Little balls of pretzel.  They are so crunchy and delicious.  Anyway, a few years ago, I bought some bags to bring home with me.  One day, I had a few friends over and I put out a bowl of pretzel balls for everyone to snack on.  And, what do you know?  My friends are like, “Where did you get these?”  So, I tell them.  Now, everytime I go up to camp, I have to buy everyone pretzel balls.  Let’s just say I left Callie’s with two large shopping bags of pretzel balls.  But, they are so good!

Camp Mom Steph also sent me some great photos the other day.  Every few weeks or so, Steph, her husband Stu and their friends have a gourmet club evening in which one couple hosts others for a night of themed dining.  Well, this time it was Steph’s turn.  What was her theme?  COLOR WAR!  Awesome!  Well, her teams were the Hippies vs. the Preppies (sound familiar).  Events included a cake decorating competition and even a rope burn in the backyard!  In the end, the Hippies were victorious.  Here are the pics…

Awesome job, Steph!  Way to keep the camp spirit alive even while you are at home!

So, a lot of good pictures in today’s blog.  Hence, the subject of today’s blog.  Anyone know who sings it?  First one to comment gets Color War bands!  By the way, congratulations to Ellen Kilman (mother of Girls Bunk 5’s Emily Kilman) who answered  my last question correctly.  “My Morning Song” is a song of The Black Crowes.  Ellen and Emily, the bands are on the way.

Well, that’s all for today.  More tomorrow.

Until then…have a great day…Brian

Hey Guys,

Yesterday I had to chance to go up to camp and check up on things. Here are some pictures of what camps look like! I promise a new blog post soon! Also be on the look out for more guest bloggers next week.