Hello Canadensis!

I had one of those dreams last night that you think are so real only to wake up and you realize it was only a dream.  But, we were all back at camp on the amphitheater deck enjoying a Coffee House with campers and counselors performing.  Everyone was there!  When I woke up, I was kind of depressed that it wasn’t real.  Oh well.  Someone reminded me today that there are only 254 more days until camp.  Sounds like a long ways away, but I guess it is better than being 255 days away.

This week, I got to meet up with some Canadensis staff.  On Monday night, Brian Stern and I had dinner together at Pal’s Cabin in West Orange, NJ.  I always like getting together with Stern as he loves camp so much.  Next summer will be his 20th summer at Canadensis!  He shared with me some really good ideas that I think we can certainly but into effect next summer.  Brian is back at Montclair Kimberly Academy teaching middle school science and math.  He said his classes are going really well.  He also wanted to say hello to everyone in Canadensis cyberspace.

On Wednesday morning, I met Terri Konst for coffee and to talk about this summer’s evening activities and special events, a favorite topic of mine to talk about.  From the surveys, it looked like there were a number of favorites from the campers as well.  This information will certainly help us put together the events calendar for Summer 2010.  If you haven’t completed the survey yet, you can do so at:  http://tinyurl.com/canadensis.  Some campers and staff suggested that we do a Halloween day next summer.   I think that is a really good idea!  So, everyone should save their Halloween costumes this year so they can bring them to camp next year.  Let me know if you like that idea, too in the “Comments” section of this blog.  Terri also mentioned that her son and camper Sam is doing really well in the fourth grade, although he can’t wait to get back to camp.

When I was down in the Plymouth Meeting office on Tuesday, former Canadensis camper and now parent of a Canadensis camper Rob Novey stopped by the office.  Rob, whose daughter Jesse just finished her second summer, came in to say hello to myself and Terri.  It was great to see you, Rob, who let us know that Jesse has been busy with her dance classes.

Spoke with Senior Boys Head Counselor Ken Ricken last night.  Ken, Audrey, Dan and Greg are all doing well.  Ken was also at that Bruce Springsteen show last week.  The tickets were a birthday present for Greg and Dan surprised Greg by coming in from college to see the concert.  Very cool.  Ken said that all is well with him as he is back to teaching middle school social studies.  In fact, he mentioned that he has two Canadensis campers in his class…Bari Cohen and Caitlin Willner.  I thought that was very funny.  I guess they will have to call him Mr. Ricken until they get back to camp next summer.  Ha Ha!

We have been hearing from a lot of staff over the past few weeks, too.  Some have also let us know that they are already planning on returning next summer.  I will divulge some of these names in an upcoming blog.  After all, I need to create some suspense if you are going to come back and read this blog.

I will be back tomorrow for some more blogging.  For now, we can have a sing down to keep us all busy.  Since I used, “Dreams Be Dreams,” a Jack Johnson song for this blog subject, the topic is…How many songs can you think of that have the word “dream” in it.

Until then…Have a great day…Brian

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

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

Hello Canadensis!

Do any of you wake up to a clock radio anymore?  Well, I still do.  For those of you that still wake up to some sort of music (maybe a song on your cell phone), do you sometimes have that song in your head all day long.  Today is one of those days for me…call it My Morning Song.  Trivia Question:  What band has a song titled “My Morning Song”?  The first to answer wins Color War bands!  Anyway, my morning song today was Katy Perry’s “Hot ‘N Cold.”  Now, I am okay with the song, but it has been in my head all day long.  Over and over, I keep singing to myself, “You’re hot then you’re cold.  You’re yes then you’re no.”  Over and over!  It’s killing me!

Hope all is well on this beautiful Tuesday.  Sorry about not being able to blog yesterday, but the day got away from me.  A busy morning and early afternoon came and went.  I had to leave at around 2:30 to volunteer at a wonderful event that raised a ton of money.

The cause was for the Ryan Wolfe Kossar Foundation and the event was their Fifth Annual Million Dollar Golf Classic.  Ryan Kossar died five years ago of SIDS and now his family and friends raise money for research of this terrible affliction.  This golf outing is one of their biggest events and also includes a silent auction and auction.  The million dollar part comes into play in the morning.  Golfers pay for the chance to take one shot for a $1 million.  Apparently, one golfer missed the million by 18 inches!  Anyway, the event probably raised a little over $150,000, all which goes to SIDS research.

I had an awesome weekend.  The Bruce Springsteen show I went to was absolutely amazing!  I must say, for a guy in his 60’s, Bruce is still one of the best live acts today.  If you haven’t seen him yet, go!  He still plays for 3+ hours, gets the crowd singing and dancing.  It was terrific, even in our horrible seats in Section 315, Row 27.  My friends and I had a blast!  I can’t wait until I go again on…Friday!  Ha Ha!

And, the Big Blue kept on rolling with another win.  Now 4-0, the Giants will play the Raiders at home on Sunday.  The Raiders are the favorite team of Swimming Head Eric Rosenauer, who I got an e-mail from today.  The Giants have played three games on the road in a row, so it will finally be good to have a tailgate again.  Menu planning for our group always starts on Wednesday.  I don’t know what we are going to make this week.  Maybe chicken quesadillas?  I definitely think there will be French toast and bacon on the menu.  Mmmmm…

In my e-mail from Eric, by the way, he let me know that he was nominated for Teacher of the Year down in his school in Florida.  Way to go, Eric!  Eric said that he loved his first summer at Canadensis and can’t wait to get back for his second.  He has some really wonderful plans for the pools next year which we will let you in on as they become finalized.  I think our older campers in particular will be very excited.

Well, now to make everyone jealous.  I get to go to camp tomorrow!  That’s right.  I will be in the 18325 all day!  Eric, Terri and Neil are joining me up there as well as we begin to talk about projects for next summer.  Should be a great trip.  I will post pics of what camp looks like as I hope the leaves up at camp are turning all sorts of amazing colors!  Well, that’s all for today.  I will be back tomorrow after I get back from camp.

Until then…Have a great day…Brian

Hello Canadensis!

A busy Friday for me, but I couldn’t leave for the weekend without some blogging first!

I was on the phone for most of the day today.  Between speaking with parents and some of our vendors, I don’t know where the day went.  At around 2 pm today, I totally remembered that I needed to eat lunch!  Ha Ha!  Got to speak with Girls Head Counselor Rachel Bachman for a little bit, too, which was great!  Rachel is doing well in Dillsburg, PA and she says that teaching this year is just great and that her classes are really good.  Rachel is also taking two graduate courses in Education Administration so her schedule is really busy.  She says hello to everyone at Canadensis!

Congratulations to Danielle Faden for correctly guessing that there is a U2 album entitled “October.”  Danielle, be honest.  Did you know the answer or did you google it?  In any event, your color war bands are on the way.  Way to go D-Fade!  For those of you that don’t know, Danielle lives and breathes Canadensis 24/7!

Today’s rock-n-roll subject line is an obvious one.  Of course, it’s The Boss, Bruce Springsteen.  Had to use it as my subject as I will be seeing Springsteen tomorrow at Giants Stadium.  I am very excited!  Bruce will be the last musician to play a show at Giants Stadium and these are the last five shows there.  In fact, he wrote a song that he played to open the show the other night about the closing of Giants Stadium.  You can watch the video here:  http://www.backstreets.com/news.html.

Of course, there will also be a BarbeKrug going on tomorrow in the Giants Stadium lot.  I don’t know exactly where we will be parked, but if you are going to the show, be on the lookout for me and stop by and say hi.  On the menu:  steak tips, shrimp and hamburgers.  Should be fun even if it is supposed be raining tomorrow.  That’s why you bring a tent, right?!

On Sunday, I will be in front of the TV for the Giants-Chiefs game.  Another game on the road for the Big Blue.  I am nervous as the Chiefs are 0-3 and looking for their first win.  Hopefully, that won’t happen.  We are definitely the better team and I would like to think that on Monday, I can say we are 4-0.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, the End of Summer ’09 Newsletter has been posted with this year’s Memory Page.  In trying to come up with my favorite memory, I’d have to say Color War break this year tends to stand out.  I loved that we actually broke Color War without anyone realizing it.  That was pretty cool.  THAT’S NOT IT!  Ha Ha!  I still remember after the helicopter dropped the papers seeing Mara Bernstein and Meg Mucatel.  They were so upset at me!  Sorry girls.  I love ya!  I also thought the CIT Fake Break was really good, too.  They did a nice job organizing that this year.  Other memories for me:  Rak Dan was awesome!  The MTV Night Finals was great!  Going on the Summit for the first time was fun!  Man, there are so many memories!

Also, if you haven’t seen the blooper real from the Canadensis Today show, check it out this weekend.  It’s hysterical!  It’s great to see what actually never made it to the final cut (and rightfully so).  We will continue to try and put as much stuff on the website as possible.

Well, that’s all for now.  I’ll be back on Monday.  Until then…Have a great weekend…Brian.

Hello Canadensis!

After seeing my blog yesterday, J.Cal thought it would be cool if everyone of my subjects for my blogs for the whole month was a song lyric or song title.  I told him I would take him up on that challenge.  So, welcome to Rocktober!  For the whole month, my subjects will all be related to music.  Of course, this will start tomorrow.  However, there is a band that named an entire album of theirs “October.”  Do you know who it is?  First answer gets a 2009 Color War band.

A good day today as I got to have lunch with Camp Mom, Stephanie Vorcheimer.  Steph and I always love talking about camp.  We met at the Cheesecake Factory in Wayne, NJ.  I haven’t eaten at a Cheesecake Factory in a long, long time.  Their portions are huge!  Steph says hello to everyone in Canadensis Blogging World!

I also found out that Steven Scott’s new band “The Spelling Tree,” which I mentioned yesterday has a my space page with two of their songs on the site.  The address is:  http://www.myspace.com/thespellingtree .  The song “Fourth of July” has good potential in my opinion.

Well, that’s all for now.  Will have an XL Blog on Friday.

Until then…Have a Great Day…Brian

Hello Canadensis!

Last day of September.  What does that mean?  I have no idea.  But, I do love that Green Day song…Wake Me Up When September Ends.

So, I hope everyone that observed Yom Kippur had a very easy fast.  Breaking the fast happens to be one of my favorite meals of the year.  Bagels, lox, whitefish, pickled herring…yum!

The Bruce Hornsby concert I saw on Saturday that I mentioned in last week’s post was awesome.  He played a mix of hits and fan favorites.  One thing I love about him is that he continually takes requests from the audience and changes up his setlists “on the fly.”  I don’t even really know if he comes out with a setlist.  His band must always be alert for what song he wants to play next.

On Sunday, the Big Blue once again came out victorious, crushing Tampa Bay 24-0.  It was the Giants first road shutout since 1983.  The Giants played really well, but I think the Bucs are also a really bad team, too.

Got an e-mail from counselor Chris Parno, saying how much he misses camp.  Always good to hear from our staff.  As mentioned in Cara’s blog, too, Chris joined Steven Scott and Ethan Cohen to record an LP for Steven’s band The Spelling Tree.  Pretty cool.  Can’t wait to hear it.  I heard from nurse Mandy Renzulli, who is doing well and also misses camp.

Also been e-mailing with campers Rachel Cebula, who is doing well in her new school in Pennsylvania, and Julia Rosenau, who incorporated Canadensis in several of her school projects so far.  Awesome!

That’s all for now.  More tomorrow.

Until then…Have a great day…Brian

Hello Canadensis!

Billy Joel has a song on his Streelife Serenade album called “Weekend Song.”  Basically, it’s about a guy sitting in his office on a Friday afternoon, waiting for the weekend to come.  Coincidentally, the song popped up on my i-tunes shuffle just about an hour ago and it’s been in my head.  Does my i-tunes know it’s Friday afternoon?  Kind of freaky I’d tell ya.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to the upcoming weekend.  Tomorrow night, I’m going to see Bruce Hornsby at the Town Hall in New York City.  For those who don’t know Bruce Hornsby, he’s an extremely accomplished piano player (as is his entire band for the matter).  His biggest hits that you might have heard are “Mandolin Rain” and “The Way It Is.”  Good tunes, but if you really want a good album to check out, get Hot House.  Really good stuff.  I’ve seen Bruce Hornsby about 5 or 6 times and he never disappoints.  He actually is one of the only artists I know that takes requests during the show from the audience.  Plus, the Town Hall is a great place to see a show.  For all those that have seen “A Might Wind,” that is the venue that their concert takes place at the end.  The acoustics are some of the best of any music venue I have gone to.  I will give a review of the show on my blog next week.

Of course, Sunday brings us another Giants game.  This week’s match-up vs. the Buccaneers is supposed to be one of those “easy” wins, but I never think of such a thing in today’s NFL.  And, the game is on the road and it’s never “easy” to win on the road.  The Giants also have a number of players on defense hurt for this game.  I’m going to be watching the game at my buddy Mark’s house.  I like watching games there with his two sons, Mitchell and Scott.  They come to camp every year, so many of you might have seen them.  Mitchell is four years old and is starting to grasp the game really well.  He sits and watches with us.  It’s very funny.  In fact, his first words as a baby a few years ago was “TOUCHDOWN” while we were watching a game.

Does anyone watch “Survivor” anymore?  I am a die hard fan and still think the show is as good as ever.  This year’s castaways seem like an interesting bunch, especially that guy Russell.  I can’t believe he found the immunity idol without any clues.  I also checked out that new show “Flash Forward” and thought it was intriguing.  The premise?  On a regular day, the entire planet blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds.  While blacking out, everyone sees their future six months ahead.  Kind of a cool premise, but some of the acting was a bit rough.  I will check out the second episode next weekend to see if I like it.  I believe my other favorite show is coming back on Sunday, too…The Amazing Race.  This year, one of the teams is a pair of Harlem Globetrotters.  I always love the race.

So, that will be my weekend.  Looking forward to it.  Our office will be closed on Monday for Yom Kippur.  Wishing everyone that observes an easy fast.

I’ll blog again on Tuesday.

Until then…Have a great weekend…Brian

Hello Canadensis!

Love this blogging thing!  I don’t know how many of you know this, but I work most days from my home in Montclair, NJ.  Yeah Jersey!  But, once or twice a week, I make my way down to Pennsylvania and work out of our official winter office. 

On Monday, our winter office changed locations from Wyncote, PA to Plymouth Meeting, PA.  I drove down to our new winter office this morning and WOW!  It’s great!  The building is just a down from the Plymouth Meeting Mall on Germantown Pike and convenient to a lot of different places, including a ton of new places to have lunch.  Maybe in the upcoming months, Cara will give a video tour of the office like she did for the old office.  

I spent some time last night re-watching some of the Canadensis Today Show videos from the summer.  They sure were terrific!  Forti and Will did an amazing job hosting the show.  As always, so much credit also goes to Jason “JayCal” Calabretta for his production work shooting and editing the videos. I know I had a blast the few times I got a chance to guest host on the show.  From what I’ve heard, JayCal is already thinking of ways to make the show even better next summer.  There will also be a Canadensis Today Show “Looking Back” episode coming out very, very soon.  Be on the lookout for that. 

More blogging tomorrow!

Until then…Have a great day…Brian

Hello Canadensis!

So, here it is.  My first blog.  I saw how much fun Eric and Cara were having with their blogs that I decided to jump in and have a little fun, too.  And yes, that picture of me is with the Giants Super Bowl Ring from the 2007-08 Season.  Thanks again to Canadensis Alumni and Giants Team Nutritionist Heidi Skolnick for bringing her ring to camp this summer and letting me wear it around camp.

Today is the first day of fall, marking the official end of summer.  Booooo!  I know that we all wish we could go back and do the summer all over again after such an amazing 2009 season!  But, before you know it, we will be in the 18325 for camp’s 70th Anniversary Summer.  Pretty cool.

It’s actually been a few weeks since my last day living up at camp as I am now back in New Jersey for the fall, winter and spring months.  As is always the case, my body was completely exhausted and I spent the first two days back sleeping very late each day.  It was also good catching up with friends and family.

My first week back also included my other home away from home…Giants Stadium…for Opening Day vs. the Redskins.  What a beautiful day that was from good weather to great food to a Big Blue win to kick off the season.  During our tailgate, I broke out my Zoogle stick and taught a few of my friends how to play.  So many people were watching us with a confused but intrigued look.  It was really funny.  I even ran into Canadensis parent Kevin Sandler and former camper Scott Sandler in the parking lot.  As is always the case, if you are ever in the stadium lot on game day, please stop by our tailgate in Lot 5F to say hello.  Here’s a pic from Opening Day!

Last week, I actually got away for a bit and make a mini road trip up north to Rhode Island, Vermont and upstate New York to see my favorite band, The Black Crowes.  It was a really fun trip and the shows were great!

I now know why Cara loves Burlington and the University of Vermont so much.  It is beautiful.  Of course, Cara provided me with one of her colorful, hand-drawn maps of what to do and see while there.  Cara recommended that we cruise around on Church Street, the college’s main strip of stores, and do some shopping / eating there.  We ended up buying a lot of stuff with maple in it.  Have you ever tried maple cotton candy.  Delicious!

Our final stop on the trip was to Kingston / Woodstock, NY.  I actually used to live in Kingston from 1996-98, so it was a walk down memory lane for me.  I actually drove by my old apartment and office while I was there.  The day in Woodstock was gorgeous and the town was hopping with shoppers, flea markets and music.

Finally, my vacation ended with another Big Blue Victory from my beloved Giants, beating those hated Cowboys (sorry Dan Block).  By the way, that Cowboy Stadium is pretty cool.

So, now it’s back to work.  I will once again be hitting the road, trying to meet as many camp families as possible through the winter.  In fact, I got to see Kelsey and Jordan Rosen the other day.  They are doing really good, although both also really wish to be back at camp.

Looking forward to blogging each day to keep in touch with everyone!

Until then…Have a Great Day…Brian.