Kadimah or Broadway?
Camp Kadimah summer 2009 is quickly coming to a close. We have been very fortunate to spend the last few days in the sun. With the end of the summer drawing near, we at camp had the pleasure of the CIT section play “Mean Girls”. It was amazing to see that twenty-nine 16 year-olds put together their own section play complete with technical set up, sets and costumes. Everyone in camp had a good laugh and the kids did great!
Tonight it’s Machar’s turn to entertain us with their musical “The Prince of Egypt”, a Disney classic that has a dazzling musical score thus lending itself naturally to be a top pick for the Machar play 2009. I’ve been told personally by the director and musical director that the musical numbers are “chilling and extravagant” nine out of 10 Machar staff agree that this play will be the play to beat! Machar post is giving it four stars stating, “Moses will lift the crowd to its feet and deliver them an amazing performance”. One night only! Taking place in the majestic R.C.C. theatre! Get a sitter for the kids, don’t bother making your bed, and allow your bread the time to rise! Admission is free and it’s sold out! Not a soul in camp will miss this play!
As we wind our way down to the end of the summer, the senior staff are preparing for banquet. Those campers winning awards are being settled and the trophy order is going in, the banquet theme itself has been finalized and our amazing C.I.T.s are tirelessly painting away to adorn the Chaddar come August 10th. I myself have been busily working on this year’s Iton and, though I may be biased, I believe it to be an incredible piece of work! The slide show is coming together with the help of some of our senior specialists… Before we know it, those pictures will be flashing before our eyes almost as quickly as this summer has flown by. It has certainly been a summer of trials and tribulations, however we have put that behind us and have managed to have a great time as we spend the last days at the shores of Lake William.
Stay tuned for updates from Lake William!
- Jenna Conter
It’s Machar Day!!!
An old school program has been dusted off and brought back to Kadimah! It’s Machar Day! Camp Machar has taken over camp! The general and senior staff have handed over your children to 14 and 15 year olds… But no need to worry, they are being closely monitored by senior and head staff throughout the entire day! In fact, I myself have a Macharnik running the office with me!
And now a word from Aja Zylberberg:
Shalom Camp Kadimah parents! Today, the whole Machar section has taken over camp as senior staff, general staff, and even nurse helpers! I got assigned “office” which is a job that involves updating the blog, sorting mail and much more interesting stuff! This morning campers were woken up by macharniks running up their cabin steps, into the cabins saying, “It’s machar day!”. Last night macharniks met with their section heads and senior specialists to prepare for this fine day. So far it is going very smoothly, and the kids are very excited for what’s ahead! The senior specialists positions are:
Joanna Wexler: Zoe Faulkner
Carlie Fox: Devon Silverberg
Orlee-Rose Strauss: Ethan Stern
Ezra Wexler: Danny Shneer
Alex Frank: Bailee Edgecombe
Jenna Conter: Aja Zylberberg
Jonah Epstein: Sam Mayer
Gibborim Section Heads: Jessica Rovet and Robyn Budovitch
Goshrim Section Heads: Hannah Alpern and Ali Goldsmith
Kochot Section Heads: Adi Rittenberg and Jake Shuckett
Heads of Melyad: Peri Fenwick and Erin Joffe
Heads of Tzofiut: Zach Gordon and Yona Strauss
Heads of Sports: Robbie Cohen and Jon Goldfarb
Heads of Ski/Sail: Aaron Rabinovitch and Jake Kaplan
Heads of Shirkud: Dayna Goldhar and Michaela Sadinsky
Heads of Canoe: Danny Norris and Adina Lewis
Heads of Bama: Tamar Simms and Maxwell Gelkopf
Heads of Swim: Noah Walters and Amanda Griesman
The rest of the macharniks were assigned sections and are taking over the general staff position.
Aja Zylberberg and Devon Silverberg take over the office during Machar Day!
We’re so privileged to have this opportunity given to us this year and we hope it lasts for many more years to come!
Stay Tuned for more updates from Lake William!
Israel Day…. And an Update from Camp Machar!
The sun is shining and the campers are happy as Kadimah embraces Israel Day 2009! Thanks to our amazing Judaic Programmers, the campers have been busy all morning participating in a camp wide scavenger hunt and now, as lunch approaches, the Junior camp enjoys the Israel Day Carnival on the ABC field! While they snack on their lunch they will be entertained by live music thanks to our amazing Shirkud staff!
A lot has been happening around camp to report!
The Machar section has had some amazing programming! During the TamiFlu days, the Macharniks went on their traditional day off! They started the day with a celebrity treatment with a private screening of Harry Potter in Bridgewater! They then ventured into Halifax for a relaxing day with their section!
Last night, Machar staff broke the play to their section! (It’s the Prince of Egypt but Shhhh! The rest of camp doesn’t know that yet!) The campers watched the movie version to learn the story and auditions for roles will begin soon!
An old favorite to the Machar programming line up will soon be returning to camp this summer! Can’t wait to tell you all about it!
In administration news, the Iton is in its early stages! The campers have been writing articles in an effort to make this years Iton the best one yet!
Stay tuned for more updates from Lake William!
A Day of Remembrance… A Day of Hope
It’s been a busy few days here at Camp Kadimah! We have now entered the home stretch here at Kadimah. With the sun finally sticking around for more than a few hours, the swim docks, along with the ski, sail and canoe docks, have been lively with campers and staff looking for a way to enjoy the weather and their last couple weeks at Kadimah. It’s truly been a trying summer for everyone but now we can all come together and realize that the worst is truly behind us and through all the moving around, quarentine cabins and calls home, we’ve made it through the other side where the grass is truly greener.
We look forward to using these next couple weeks to remind everyone what camp is suppose to be like – laughing with your friends, making memories, getting some sun and not believing how fast the time flies… Before we know it, we will find ourselves standing on the main sports field watching as the 2009 sign burns, teary-eyed as we count down the days before we are re-united with our friends at our second home.
In the meantime, packages full of love have been coming into the office literally by the truck-load… Some small, some average and some that could house a small family… It’s given me a great opportunity to brush up on my knowledge of the Alphabet and I think I am well versed in the sectional location of every child in camp.
A typical Monday of me sorting mail and packages...
Today, however, the camp is observing Tisha B’Av. A day of reflection and mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, The Spanish Inquisition and other tragedies in our past that occurred on this day, the ninth day of the month Av in the Hebrew calendar.
Last night, the entire camp watched the Tisha B’Av opening ceremonies where general staff and senior staff performed songs, dances and emotional skits in an effort to portray the somber tone of the day. This morning, all sections participated in their camper choice activities that have been re-focused to reflect the lessons of this tragic day. Tonight, the camp will be privy to Tisha B’Av closing ceremonies – a program that will instill the mood of the day but will also celebrate how far we have come despite the many efforts of others.
Tomorrow will lift our spirits as we celebrate Israel Day! (Shhhh… the campers don’t know yet!)
The campers will wake up to lively Israeli music and a plethora of Israeli flags dispersed around camp! There will be a carnival complete with booths run by our very own senior specialists! Everything from smoothie making to a marriage booth – it promises to be yet another amazing day – all thanks to our incredible Judaic Programmers Rebecca Silverhart and Nufar Levy. They’ve worked tirelessly to make sure these two days of intense programming are both informative and fun!
Well, we shall see what the next few days bring!
Stay tuned for more updates from Lake William!
It’s Hockey Marathon!
Last night we had the camp-wide talent show! It was really nice to see campers from every section display their talents! We had some great dancers, amazing singers and even some incredible sketch comedy artists from Machar!
At the end of the talent show, the senior staff delighted the audience with a little treate and broke Hockey Marathon! This is an entire day filled with hockey – Kochotniks and Macharniks are divided up into the Red team and the Blue team and battle it out for bragging rights! They start before wake up and play hockey all day long! It’s a great tradition at camp and a wonderful way to take a break from the regular daily schedule. While Camp Machar and the Kochotniks are busy playing hockey all the live-long-day, gibbies and goshies participate in regular day puelot! Hopefully, the impending rain will hold off long enough for us to have yet another action-packed day at Kadimah!
Stay tuned for more updates from Lake William!
Who Needs Visitors When You Have Pirates!!
I know all the parents, grandparents, friends and other family members may not be so pleased that Visitor’s Day has come and gone and no one saw their kids, but I am thrilled to tell you that today’s program has been incredible! This morning all of the senior specialists dressed as Pirates and began their search for Kadimah’s buried treasure! Led by Captain Black Beard, Ezra Wexler, we kid-napped the section heads and began our quest to win the treasure… It all ended with an epic duel on the waterfront where pirates were pitted against section heads… Inevitably, the section heads were able to triumph over the pirates and Kadimah’s treasure will remain safe and sound!
The campers then we able to bid on their favorite pirate to enjoy a picnic lunch with any where in camp before starting this afternoon’s main event – Splash Bash at Kadimah! While listening to live music, the campers ran onto the ABC field in bathing suits and has a colossal paint party! We even managed to set up a Jello wrestling wring… for those of us on staff whom attended camp in the early 1990s, it truly brought back found memories!
The campers will be entertained all afternoon with live music and a will wash themselves off during a hose-water fight! Then off to the showers in time for a dinner of pizza and ice cream!
Tonight we will witness the talent of some of the campers here at camp during the Kadimah 2009 Talent show! There’s singing and dancing and comedy! A night filled with entertainment and maybe… just maybe… a few surprises!
Stay Tuned for more updates from Lake William!
Shabbat Shalom!
It’s amazing how time flies when no one has H1N1. I am happy to report that the Village, the area of quarentine, has been cleared. All campers have returned to their cabins in time for another Shabbat at Kadimah. It has been an odd summer. Why, just yesterday, upon welcoming back those returning from the Village, we had a camp wide chant of “Tami Flu! Tami Flu!”… Truly, in all my years, never has the entire camp come together to chant the name of a medication. It’s nice to see that even though we went through a trying several days that we can all appreciate our health a little more and see the humor. This summer will go down in history… 1986 had the flood, 1995 had the flies and 2009 will forever be the year of the Swine.
The only irregular hurdle we must now face is the cancellation of Visitor’s Day. In an effort to make up for the loss of a day of fun and family times, our program director has been working hard to program an amazing day full of hilarious themes and exciting games… It should be an incredible day that will outshine any Visitor’s Day!
…just a note about campers calling home: The campers have been lining up at the pay phones making calls home. There is no set schedule but every child WILL make contact with their parents or guardian within the next few days!
Enjoy your day of rest and stay tuned for more updates from Lake William!
A word on packages…
At this point we are hopeful that all parents have been reached concerning the cancellation of Visitor’s Day 2009. Since I am stationed in the office this summer, I have been in contact with numerous parents and have had one question in particular that I’d like to address to ensure parents all receive the same answer…
Due to the cancellation of Visitor’s Day we are readjusting our rules in reference to sending and receiving of packages. We all know seeing your family and friends on Visitor’s Day is a blanket excuse to get a lot of great food! I have had a lot of parents concerned that they will not be able to show their love to their children through yummy candy so Kadimah has decided to mend this problem from our end…
Parents are now permitted to send packages containing food. Please keep in mind your children will only be permitted to consume the food the night of the day they receive the package, as we are remaining strong on our policy of no food stored in the cabins to refrain from attracting ants and other larger critters…
In addition, we ask you to please NOT SEND ANYTHING CONTAINING PEANUTS OR OTHER NUT PRODUCTS! We have several severely allergic campers and staff here at camp and we do not want to put them in harms way! (It wouldn’t hurt to send up a cabin care package so campers can share with the whole cabin and have a candy party). Also, for those parents wishing to send up additional clothing as requested by campers, feel free to send a care package – we just ask you not to send a piano box full of food…
I hope this post calms some concern and makes the cancellation a little easier in some lights…
Stay tuned for more updates from Lake William!
Salutations from Barss Corner!
With the news of the Visitor’s Day cancellation behind us we look toward the future and focus on how to maintain the chevrah that Kadimah is known for. For example, we have narrowed our focus back on special programming. Just last night Kochot enjoyed a special night swim for their evening program! It was a great way to unwind after a long day and I think the campers really had a great time!
The Kochot Section enjoys a night swim!
Camp was also very fortunate yesterday with the sun shining down and the temperature nearing 30 degrees the campers enjoyed a full day of programming. Even machar choice was back up and running after Maccabia. Those participating in Machar Post, a small paper written by Machar campers, delivered its first issue yesterday to those around camp. It was a great chance for a few Machar campers to flex their writing muscles and produce some pretty funny articles.
All in all a great way to get back to regular day programming!
All smiles during the Kochot night swim!
Kochot Girls have a ball during their night swim!
Stay tuned for more updates from Lake William!
Forging ahead at Kadimah
Camp has hit some road bumps a long the way this week. For the past couple of days, Kadimah, along with many other camps across the country, has been dealing with the H1N1 virus. We are very lucky that we only have 4 confirmed cases here at camp while other YJ camps in Canada have sent campers home by the busload. We have been keeping on top of it steadily, moving those who have possible symptoms in separate rest cabins to allow them to wait out their flu in a calm environment and return to programming after a few days. I would like to clarify that we have very mild cases here at camp and have started taking the appropriate measures to remain on top of the spread of this virus. Some of our friendly senior staff have been helping us contact Kadimah parents to make sure we have permission to administer Tami flu, an anti-Viral medication
that combats the multiplication of the virus within the body making it less contagious.
This medication has been on the market for a very long time and though it has side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, they are very rare.
It is important for everyone back at home to realize that our cases of H1N1 are very mild!
Due to the fact that the pandemic H1N1 has made its way into Kadimah, we have been forced to cancel our Visitor’s Day this summer. We are aware of the frustration and disappointment however we must all keep in mind what is best for the campers here at camp. If we proceed with Visitor’s Day, we run the risk of having a camper contract a different strain of this virus and re-infecting the camp. This could lead to yet another round of Tami flu and the possibility of placing more campers in quarantine. Our concern is that some campers may find themselves in quarantine and they would not be able to board a plane to come home – that would truly be the worst-case scenario.
Unfortunately this situation is beyond our control. Kadimah has been very fortunate as our few cases of H1N1 are, again, very mild and we have the ability to place those in quarantine in a separate area of camp for them to rest and get better while still participating in their own activities.
We trust that those who know Kadimah, are aware this is not what we would deem a typical summer. We are trying out best to keep ahead of this virus and maintain normalcy as much as possible.
We are asking for your support during this hectic time and trust in our Board, head staff and senior staff to make the best decisions in our attempts to guarantee the best environment for your children here at camp and when they return home.
Stay tuned for more updates from Lake William!
