Allow me to introduce you to some awesome new Canadensis campers!  First up is Alexa, a current 3rd grader that will be a Junior Girl this summer.  She lives in Gladwyne, PA and also goes by the nickname Lexi.  Here are some important things you need to know about this fun new camper…

• She has an adorable rescue puppy named Penny, because she is the color of a penny.
• She attends The Shipley School, and has the best teacher in the school, Mrs. Riley.
• Alexa loves Justin Bieber, and had more than 10 pictures of him in her room.  I left the house smelling like Justin Bieber perfume!
• She has a super fun bedroom now, but if she’s at camp for the full summer she gets to move into a new bigger room with her own bathroom!  Imagine the awesome camp friend sleepover parties she can throw!
• She is a big sister to Brooke, they are two years apart.  Brooke will be doing the Tour & More Weekend this summer!
• The best part about being a big sister is getting to stay up later!  Alexa is also an early riser.
• Alexa thinks she’s going to want to be in the camp show, and she suggested that we do Wicked.
• She will want to dance every day of the summer, and also will choose gymnastics as an elective.
• Currently, she takes dance classes three days a week and on Saturday she dances for four hours!  She’s definitely going to want to be on our inter-camp dance team.
• The name of her year round competition dance team is the “mini-pops”.   She dances with a lot of other Canadensis Girls at Liberty Me, including Kylie, Marissa, Skye, Brooke, Madison and Jenna.
• Shabbat is a big deal at her house, and a lot of fun!  They invite friends to celebrate each week.
• When Color War breaks,  she hopes she’ll be on the blue team!  Her mom was a blue team color war captain and did some cheers for us in the dining room!
• Her favorite color is purple and her favorite candy is “dots”.
• Her family went on an RV vacation to Niagara Falls, and along the way they jumped into a freezing cold gorge of water – so cool!!
• She has a super neat and clean room, her parents agreed that she is very organized.
• She had so many great questions about camp – how do phone calls home work, how do we celebrate stuffed animal birthday parties, and what kind of stuff do staff have to jump in the lake for?
• She’s already planned out what she wants to wear at crazy night (one of our wild evening activities!)
• She’s planning to try everything by the end of the summer!

• She has cut her hair three times for “Locks of Love”, a charity that provides hairpieces for disadvantaged children – so impressive!
• She loves piggies, and had too many in her room to count!  She taught me a fun song that shows you how a draw pigs really easily by making little circles and bigger circles…you can learn the song here.
• She has a snow globe collection, and has more than 20!
• Each week she takes more than seven hours of dance classes.  She can’t decide if hip-hop or modern dance is her favorite.  She knows Alexa (above) from dance, and does competition as well.
• Brooke is a great eater likes trying all different kinds of things.  Her dad is from my hometown (Hewlett, LI!) and her Grandparents still live there, so we have some of the same favorite restaurants, like Matteos.
• She’s got some awesome baking skills.  As you can see in the photo above, Brooke made an amazing cookie cake, that she decorated all by herself!!  It was SO awesome, and delicious!  We gobbled it up in the winter office the next day…thanks!!
• She is a really good big sister to her brother Aidan, but he’s impossible to share a bed with because he takes up the whole bed!
• She likes to ride her bike, even though she never has enough time.
• Brooke showed me tons of art project she’s made, like glass fusion trivets, ceramic projects, popsicle sticks bowls, hand soaps, and scented candles that smelled like hot chocolate!  She has an aunt who works at Make Meaning in NYC, and she gets to try tons of fun projects there.  If you are ever looking for something to do in NY, check it out!
• Brooke has an amazing memory.  She remembers so much about the Tour & More weekend, she already knows the locations of where everything is in camp!
• She is going to a Maroon5 concert before coming up to camp, and she is going to do a camping trip with her dad to get ready for the COALS overnight at camp this summer.
• Some of her electives choices will definitely be glass fusion and dance.  The 3rd elective will be a wildcard… maybe something at the lake?
• She might want to audition for the camp show – she has been in Glee and Grease in the past.
• Her mom is one of her dance teachers, and her dad is her soccer coach…some of the many activities she is involved with!  Her parents met at Ohio State University, and she has them winning in our Canadensis March Madness NCAA Bracket Challenge, and she’s been high up on the leader board the whole time!

Brooke wore a special Canadensis shirt for my home visit!

Jes is going to be returning to camp for her 2nd summer, she will be in the Lower Inter Girls division.  She lives in Maryland, and recently celebrated her 10th birthday.  She had a “color war” themed party, and the two teams were purple and pink!  In the photo above you can see Jes in the purple shirt in one of the competitions, she had to eat a donut off a dangling rope as fast as possible, just like the carnival game we play at camp.  Looks like tons of fun!

Hello Canadensis!

How are we on this Monday?!  Things here at camp are getting busier by the day.  We are now officially under 100 days until we get to Summer 2013 on June 22.  I just wished that it started at least to feel like Spring as Mother Nature still continues to drop the white stuff from the sky here in the Northeast.  I mean, enough with the snow already!

Anyway, I wanted to get out a blog on this Monday afternoon as it has been a few weeks since my last post.  In the spirit of Jason “J.Cal” Calabretta playing Rebecca Black’s “Friday” each and every week at morning line-up, it doesn’t work to shout, “It’s Monday!  Monday!  Gonna Get Down on Monday!”  Although, it seems like many of our campers are off this week from school and just might be getting down on a Monday?!  Of course, when I think of Mondays, I always tend to think of a childhood favorite of mine by The Bangles…”Manic Monday.”  When I was a kid, I had a bit of a crush on lead singer Susanna Hoffs.  Ha Ha!  A good tune and definitely one of those songs that once it’s in your head, it will be there all day (music trivia fact:  the song was actually written by Prince)…

A few weeks ago, the Winter office made its annual trek down to Atlantic City for the Tri-State Camp Conference.  Over the course of 3-4 days, we have the wonderful opportunity to attend a number of speakers and workshops, covering a wide range of topics from better ways to work with campers, staff and families to programming to facility upgrades.  Each year, we always walk away with a few ideas that we incorporate in our Summer at Canadensis.  At the same time, it is great to network with camping professionals from all over the country, getting ideas on how other camps handle certain situations.   The conference is attended by more than 3000 people in the camping industry.  Finally, the conference provides an amazing exhibit hall, which gives us all the opportunity to “shop for camp.”  Our Winter team enjoys our travels through all of the different vendors.  Here are a few photos…

Me with my Davey Crockett hat and walking stick!

Cara poses with the pixie!

Pam gets medieval!

Matt takes some swings in the batting cage!

As I wrote in my last blog, I love the NCAA Basketball Tournament (a.k.a. March Madness)!  It was great to see so many campers and staff sign up for our annual bracket picks contest.  Of course, many of our brackets don’t look as good as they did on Thursday of last week.  Now that we are onto the Sweet 16, it looks like Lower Inter Girl Brooke Bednoff is in the lead with 480 points.  Way to, Brooke!  Keep it up!  As usual, my own personal bracket can now be used for recycling.  Ha Ha!  Although, my Syracuse Orange are still in the mix and will face a tough Indiana opponent on Thursday night!  Let’s Go Orange!

Speaking of college sports, Canadensis staff member Carli “CJ” Sukonik, who also plays on the Lehigh Women’s Lacrosse team had a big win this weekend over Bucknell University. In the game, CJ scored an amazing six goals.  To see CJ in action and her post game interview, click here.  CJ wanted to say hello to everyone at Canadensis and wanted to know just how excited she is for her 10th summer at camp!

Time to tell you about all of the camp families I have seen over the past few weeks…

In New York City, I got to see Max Dolgin, who is currently in 4th grade and will be joining us at camp for his second summer as a Lower Inter.  Max has been involved with a lot of music activities these days.  For starters, he plays the violin.  But, he also plays in a percussion troupe called the “Groove Cats.”  If that isn’t enough, he plays drums in a rock band called “Child’s Play,” and even told me about a recent gig they performed.  He event told me that I could share a tune of theirs right here on my blog.  Here is a performance of Child’s Play version of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama…

Max is excited for his upcoming baseball season and playing little league once again, where he usually plays 1B and Catcher.  He also told me that he has been keeping in touch with his bunkmates this Winter and wanted to say hi to all of the boys from 2012’s Bunk 4.  Max is very excited to see them all again this Summer.  Here is a photo…

Me with Lower Inter Boy Max Dolgin.

In Woodbury, NY, I met up with Marissa and Jeremy Levine.  Marissa is back for her 4th summer as an Upper Senior while Jeremy will be at Canadensis for his first summer as a Lower Inter.  Now in 8th grade, Marissa is playing shooting guard for the Thompson Middle School basketball team.  In the Fall, she played for the middle school’s tennis team and in the Spring, she will be trying out for the softball team.  Marissa told me that she has had opportunities to see her camp friends this year, including a get together in New York City and a sleepover after the Reunion.  She has plans to see them again very soon.  Of course, she wanted to give a shout out to the girls of Bunk 18 from 2012 and says she has memories of the song “Hit the Lights” by Jay Sean.  As for Jeremy, currently in 4th grade, he has been playing in the Syosset Basketball League.  In the Spring and Fall, he plays 2B, SS and Pitcher in a baseball league.  He also plays tennis all year round.  Jeremy is a big sports fan and he let me know that his favorite teams are the Giants, Knicks and Mets.  When he’s just chilling out at home, he enjoys playing the Wii and his favorite game in NBA 2K13.  This summer, he can’t wait to play all of the sports at camp and meeting new friends.  Here is a pic…

Me with Lower Inter Boy Jeremy Levine and Upper Senior Girl Marissa Levine.

In Larchmont, NY, it was great to see Stella and Luca Giobbio.  Stella, who is in 5th grade, will be back for her second summer as an Upper Inter and Luca, now in 2nd grade, will be joining us for his first summer as a Lower Junior.  Stella filled me in about her recent sleepover with her camp friends, letting me know that they ended up going to bed at around 2 am!  Stella also told me that her basketball team just recently made the playoffs and that her soccer season is just about to get underway with two tournaments.  On top of all that, she has been rehearsing for her role as Rosie in “Bye Bye Birdie” for her elementary school’s performance.  At camp this year, she cannot wait to be with all of her camp friends again, canteen, reveille, all of the activities at the lake, including the summit and triple dare.  Luca also plays a lot of sports as he just finished up his basketball season, but in a few weeks will move onto playing baseball.  In the Fall, he plays soccer.  Luca is also a Legoholic and he truly impressed me with all of the completed Lego projects he has created.  It was truly amazing!  When not busy with all of these things, Luca likes to play on the Wii and his favorite games are Lego Batman 2 and Lego Superheroes.  In Summer 2013, Luca is looking forward to the ropes course, the summit and the triple dare.  Here is a picture…

Me with Lower Junior Boy Luca Giobbio and Upper Inter Girl Stella Giobbio.

In Plainsboro, NJ, I hung out with Jillian Wexler, who is currently in 4th grade and will in our Lower Inter division in 2013 for her first summer at Canadensis.  Jillian loves ice hockey and plays left wing on her team, the Vikings, that just recently played in the championship game.  Next year, she will be playing for a travel team.  In the Fall and Spring, Jillian plays goalie for the Cranbury Revolution soccer team.  In a few weeks, she will also be starting baseball season.  Jillian has a twin sister Hailey.  When she is at home and not busy with other things, she plays video games, with her favorite game being NHL Hockey.  When she gets to Canadensis in a few months, she is excited to play hockey, archery, gaga and waterskiing.  Here is a photo…

Me with Lower Inter Girl Jillian Wexler.

In Roslyn, NY, I spent some time with Jaymie and Avery Gilady.  Jaymie is back for her five-year honor jacket summer as a Lower Senior and Avery returns for his third summer as a Lower Inter.  Now in 7th grade, Jaymie has been to a lot of bat mitzvahs of camp friends this year and even celebrated her own big day back in November.  She is also getting set to sing in two different vocal performances.  First, she will be singing “Break Away” in a chorus concert.  Then, she will be singing the music of Les Miserables in Chorale.  This summer, she is really looking forward to the trip to Lake Placid.  As for Avery, now in 4th grade, he has been taking tennis lessons and a hip hop class throughout the year.  He will also be getting up on stage as a Wikasham monkey in a performance of “Seussical the Musical.”  When at home, Avery can be found rooting for his New Jersey Devils hockey team.  At camp, he is once again ready for all of the sports at camp and all of the lake activities.  Here is a picture…

Me with Lower Inter Boy Avery Gilady and Lower Senior Girl Jaymie Gilady.

In Woodbury, NY, I saw Alexandra Pollak, who joins the Canadensis Family for her first summer in 2013 as a Lower Inter.  Currently in 4th grade, Alexandra is rehearsing for her dance recital at the North Shore Performing Arts Center where she has been preparing for a jazz, tap and ballet routine.  Alexandra told me that her basketball team just recently won their league championship.  In the Spring, she will be playing on a softball team.  Some of Alexandra’s favorites include purple as her favorite color, “Dance Moms” as her favorite TV show and Justin Bieber as her favorite performer.  She is also a big Yankees fan.  When she comes to camp, she is going to be all about the lake activities, dance, rock wall and art shack.  Here is a pic…

Me with Lower Inter Girl Alexandra Pollak.

In Syosset, NY, I had fun getting to know Jack Cohen, who is in the 3rd grade and will be in our Upper Junior division for his first summer.  Jack plays flag football in the Fall and Spring and plays in the Syosset Basketball League in the winter.  He also takes tennis lessons and karate, where he is a yellow belt and participates in grappling and kickboxing.  Jack also likes magic, has a dog named Brody, likes climbing and is a New York Giants fan.  At camp this Summer, he is excited to try the water slides, morning line-up, the summit, waterskiing, glass fusion and wrestling.  Here is a picture…

Me with Upper Junior Boy Jack Cohen.

In Short Hills, NJ, I got to see Nick Lu, who is currently in 3rd grade and will be in our Upper Junior division for his first Summer at camp.  Nick told me that he likes playing on the computer, with his favorite game being Mindcraft.  When its nice outside, he likes to red board and go rollerblading and hanging out with friends.  He has a dog named Ginger.  Nick also told me that he will be going on a trip to Cancun, Mexico for his Spring break.  In looking at all of the activities at camp, Nick is excited for all of the lake activities on Lake Lenape and fishing.  Here is a photo…

Me with Upper Junior Boy Nick Lu.

In Chappaqua, NY, I saw Zoe Gellert, who is now in the 3rd grade and will be back for her second summer as part of our Upper Junior division.  Zoe had just had her birthday party the day before I came over, in which she planned the whole event with a fashion show theme.  All of her guests had the opportunity to dress up and walk down the runway, which was created in her basement.  Looking at the pictures from the day, it looked like all of the girls had an unbelievable time.  Zoe also let me know that she has been competing on a gymnastics team all year long.  On top of that, she has been involved with jiu jitsu classes.  Zoe let me know just how excited she is for another summer at camp and to see all of her camp friends once again.  Here is a picture…

Me with Upper Junior Girl Zoe Gellert (and dog, Bailey, who Zoe is dog sitting for a friend).

It’s always great to get to work in the morning and find pictures of “camp reunions” and get-togethers waiting in my e-mail inbox.  This month, I have a few to share.  As they try to do every year, the Girls of Bunk 16 from Summer 2012 got together a few weeks ago and catch up with each other with everything that has been going on in their lives.  Check it out!

Upper Seniors in 2013! Top row (from left to right): Bria Donohue, Rachel Bresalier, Emily Kilman, Alex Newman, Madelyn Levine, Taylor Schwartz, Ali Beyda and Nicole Zibelman. Bottom row (from left to right): Julia Cohen, Rachael Newman, Zoe Hiller and Ashley Shogan.

At the same event, some of our 2013 Freshman girls got a chance to see each other as well.  Here is a picture of that group…

2013 Freshman Girls! Top row (from left to right): Miranda Cohen, Samantha Kilman, Julia Solomon, Brianna Marburg, Abby Newman and Daniella Schreiber. Bottom row (from left to right): Jenna Bresalier, Emma Rosenau and Lauren Greene.

For this mini reunion, I was also sent a great picture that I wanted to post because our camp families, and in this case, our camp moms are so awesome for making events like this happen!  Between all of the scheduling and transportation demands to pull something like this off, I wanted to thank this group for keeping the Canadensis spirit alive and being committed to doing things like this.  Here is a photo of our amazing moms!

Our magnificent moms of Canadensis! From left to right: Felice Farber, Stefanie Newman, Gabrielle Shogan, Randi Bresalier, June Levine, Debbie Zibelman, Audrey Cohen, Ellen Kilman, Amy Schwartz, Lori Newman and Nancy Hiller.

While in Jamaica on a trip, we got this picture of Canadensis campers enjoying their time off from school…

Ya, mon! Campers in Jamaica (top row, from left to right): Sage Snyder and Jason Green. Bottom row, from left to right, Sabrina Snyder, Rachel Green and Carly Koutcher.

We hope that you keep reading our blogs!  In addition, be sure to check us out on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.  And, of course, be sure to go to our Facebook page as well.

That’s all of the blogging for now.  Have a great day!

-Brian

I must take a break from my regularly scheduled CIT Intro postings to tell you all about the amazing fun had with camp friends over the weekend!!!

For those of you who are new to my blog or have yet to meet me, you should know now that I loooove theatre – musical theatre and plays, from Broadway to community, I love it all. I spent my entire childhood and high school career performing in shows and now as a semi-grown-up, I try to see as much theatre as possible, as often as possible, with as many friends as possible. Loyal readers may have noticed that every few blog entries involves me being in New York with camp friends seeing a play or grabbing rush tickets to a musical. It’s just one of my favorite things…cue: Julie Andrews singing My Favorite Things from the Sound of Music…

My very first job at Canadensis was “Theatre Specialist” and it was here that [Junior Boy/now CIT] Brett Levine and I starred in the Camp Canadensis Production of “Once on this Island”.

Here we are in 2006, belting out a tune!

8 years later we still talk about how much fun we had doing Canadensis theatre, and I have always wanted to go see Brett perform in a show in the off season – kid has some serious talent! The planets aligned and this year I made it my goal to get to his musical, and in the spirit of this upcoming summer, I got some of the other CITs involved in the fun! Brett had no idea we were bringing along some of his camp friends, and the result was an amazing evening of friends, fun, and musical theatre!

Rachel, Carly, Mallie, Bari, Maddie, Melissa, Grama, and JRo pose after dinner!

JCal made an appearance to help get everyone to the show!

Grama shows off her Brett tee shirt!

Dani and Alex representing the Super Seniors!

Brett Fan Club with Brett after the show!

Dani and I are so proud of this talented kid!

Backstage tour for camp friends!

After the show the Levine family (who, if you haven’t heard, are AMAZING!) invited everyone back for snacks and silliness at their home. We talked about camp and our summer ideas and just had the most wonderful time being together. Camp friends may be miles apart, but when we all get together it’s as if camp was only yesterday!

And of course, no time with camp friends is ever complete without trying to take a selfie with their dog:

Tori, Kobe, and Dani for the Selfie Win.

Lauren Grama, just hangin around at the Rock Wall!

Name: Lauren Hannah Grama

Years at camp: This is going to be my 8^th summer (8 year jackets wooo!)

Hobbies when you’re at home: Cheerleading, I am the mazkirah (secretary) of my chapter board in BBYO (B’nai Brith Youth Organization), and of course thinking about camp!!!!

Secret Talent: I am probably the best acapella singer there is out there. I can sing but I am also good at modern dance, olden dance, and mermaid dancing which is a little different. I look forward to being the lead singer of Canacapella this summer so I can showcase these skills to such a large audience.

Favorite Camp Activity: Definitely tech booth doing the spotlight with J-Ro. But a close second is COALS!!!

Funny Camp Memory: My junior summer I was in mountain biking elective with Mindy Rosenthal. It was one of our first days at camp so we did not really know each other too well yet. As we were biking around the lake we had to cross over the dam that is right near the summit that had water running over it. I was the last one to cross and I of course was the only one to ride my bike into the lake.

Advice for a first time camper: I am sure you will hear this 100 times, but it is so important to really take it to heart. Literally don’t waste one second of camp fighting or disagreeing over the little things. You want to make memories in the few precious weeks you have at camp filled with only incredible things. So don’t sweat the small stuff! Also, don’t be afraid of what anyone thinks of you. Camp is one place where you can be yourself and no judgments will be passed. You don’t want to look back on your summers saying that you wish you did something; you want to look back on your summers being thankful that you did something. Savor every moment you have, because before you know it, you will be a CIT wishing that you could just relive it all again.

Something you learned at camp (that you couldn’t learn anywhere else): That your camp friends are the greatest people you will ever meet.  You wait all year to spend two crazy months with your best friends in the world.  You learn how to live cohesively with your sisters and to respect all kinds of people. It’s one of those lessons that you continue to expand upon each year at camp as long as you allow yourself to open up to new people and new experiences.

I never leave for camp without my: sleeping masks. I can’t sleep without them!!

If I could have any job in the world it would be: The owner of camp. I would be Aunt Grama and Aunt Terri and I would hang out ALL day. Also, Alex Feigin would be there.

My favorite place that I’ve traveled is: Camp. No vacation is better than camp!!!

One thing my campers will learn about me is: When I am in camp, I find that if someone calls me Lauren, I get very uncomfortable. My name is Grama in camp.

One fun fact about me is: My home friends yell at me whenever I talk about camp because that is probably the only thing I ever talk about!

Hello Canadensis!

When I go to the camp website, it tells me that there are more than 100 days days until camp!  Still in triple digits, I know, but the month of March for us here in the Winter Office can definitely be described as March Madness for a number of reasons.  First off, we are really in the heart of our staff recruitment season, getting the chance to go out on the road to meet so many people that are interested in working at the best camp on the planet!  A few weeks ago, Cara and I headed to the Midwest for a week’s worth of recruiting in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  While there, we met somewhere between 80 and 100 applicants.  In addition to getting to meet all of these new candidates, we got to see some of our amazing former and current staff members.  While on the road, we saw Paige Rottschafer, Chris Lotz, Tim, Ben Krogmeier, Emily Doher, Chelsea Culter and Ricky Hohn in Michigan.  We then saw Mike Millinger, Mike Morrisette, Laura Bryan, Briana Stewart, Dan Ricken and Andi Riemersma in Ohio.  We also had dinner with Middle Camp Girls Head Counselor Sandy Fritsch and family (including camper Noah Fritsch) in Pittsburgh.  Here are some pics from our trip…

Chippewas in the House! Current and former staff members from Central Michigan joined Cara and I for dinner. From left to right (top row): me, Chelsea Culter, Ben Krogmeier, Chris Lotz, Paige Rottschafer and Emily Doher. In front are Tim and Cara.

Me and Cara with Mike Morrisette and Mike Millinger out to dinner on the Bowling Green State University campus.

In addition to our trip, Pam went to Arizona and England to interview counselors.  She was also in France to meet some prospective international camp families.  Eric hopped on a plane to Australia for a counselor search, too.  It is definitely safe to say that we travel to the four corners of the map for some of the best counselors around!  Of course, there are many returning counselors in the mix all ready and set to return for Summer 2013!  On top of that, be sure to check out Cara’s blog for profiles on our amazing crop of CITs for this year!

After meeting so many people and knowing which staff as of now are returning, we are in the process of putting the whole staff “puzzle” together.  It’s a long, but very enjoyable process as we know a great counselor can make such an impact in the summer for our campers.

The madness continued in the best possible way a few weeks ago, when Summer 2013 unofficially started with our annual Leadership Weekend held in Plymouth Meeting, PA.  This is where all of our head staff, including Head Counselors, Programming and others, join for two days to talk all things camp, from the daily schedule to special activities to brainstorming different ideas, including events like trips, evening activities and Color War!  As usual, the weekend was a complete success, a whole lot of fun and really got us all excited for the upcoming summer.

Also to get you excited for the upcoming summer if you haven’t seen it yet is the NEW VIRTUAL TOUR online, which can be found directly on our updated homepage which now will work on tablet and phone devices.  Go to www.canadensis.com and check it out!  It will definitely make you think summer is just around the corner as you move from each 360-degree photo of camp.

Our new homepage now features an online tour with 360-degree photos of many of camp’s facilities. The Virtual Tour can be found right under the “12” picture.  Check it out!

Of course, there is the actual March Madness, otherwise known as the NCAA college basketball tournament, which also happens to be one of my favorite events of the year.  When the bracket gets announced, we will e-mail our camp families and staff, letting them know how to enter their picks for this year’s competition.  Who will win this year and what strategy will they use?  Maybe we should get some insight from former winner, Cara Corradetti?  Hey Cara, “How did you win this thing a few years ago?!”

For our camp families, March Madness might mean starting to think about preparations for camp!  For our new families, have you scheduled an appointment with The Camp Spot to get your Canadensis clothes?  Also, all families should check their account on our website as many new camper forms have been put up there for you to complete.  With all of this, give our winter office a call if you are having any difficulty logging in.

As is usually the case this time of year, so many home visits to tell you about.  So, here we go!

In Syosset, NY, I got to hang out with Ashley Shogan and Jesse “Shogee” Shogan.  For Ashley, this is her five year honor jacket summer as she will be joining us as an Upper Senior Girl while she welcomes Jesse to camp for his first summer as part of our Upper Junior Boys division.  Currently in 3rd grade, Jesse spends most of his year playing left wing and center on his traveling ice hockey team, the Long Island Gulls.  He also plays in a basketball league in the winter and a baseball league in the summer.  Jesse is a huge WWE fan and has been reading the WWE Encyclopedia.  On top of that, he plays bass in the school orchestra, likes to read and his favorite subject is math.  This summer, he is very excited for hockey, hondas and the rock wall.  Ashley, now in 8th grade, takes a hip hop dance class with an upcoming recital in the Spring and she also enjoys softball and basketball.  Recently, she had a get-together, an annual thing, for the girls in her bunk, last year’s Girls Bunk 16.  She always loves seeing camp friends and wanted to send a secret message to her camp sisters, saying, “I’m wide awake!”  Here is a picture…

Me with Upper Senior Girl Ashley Shogan and Upper Junior Boy Jesse “Shogee” Shogan.

In Cherry Hill, it was great seeing the Herskowitz Family, who will now have three campers at Canadensis…Alexa (9th grade; Super Senior Girl; 7th summer), Jake (5th grade; Upper Inter Boy; 4th summer) and Justin (2nd grade; Lower Junior Boy; 1st summer).  Now in high school, Alexa is busy with soccer, squash and track school teams at Penn Charter and has also had a few camp get-togethers throughout the year.  She wanted to also give a shout out to the Girls of Bunk 20 from Summer 2012 as well as Dani Corradetti, Alex Feigin and Jessie Thick.  When she gets to camp (which she told me she never stops thinking about), Alexa can’t wait for her overnight, the college tour and just being a Super Senior!  Jake has been busy with a number of sports as well.  He plays linebacker for the Cherry Hill Knights in the fall, plays on the Phantoms Roller Hockey team in the winter and will be playing lacrosse in the Spring.  He also has had a few sleepovers with camp friends this year.  Jake wanted to say hello to his camp friends of Boys Bunk 10 from Summer 2012.  This year, he is excited for the CHL, the Summit, the new water slides, tennis, cooking and fishing.  Both Alexa and Jake are excited that their youngest brother Justin will be joining the fun, too.  Justin plays goalie on his ice hockey team, the Voorhees Gladiators.  He also plays roller hockey for the Phantoms.  On top of that, he plays football in the fall, baseball and basketball.  When he comes to Canadensis, he is ready to play in the CHL, go fishing, the ATVs, Color War, tennis and cooking.  Here is a pic…

Me with the Herskowitz Gang (from Left to Right): Upper Inter Boy Jake Herskowitz, Lower Junior Boy Justin Herskowitz and Super Senior Girl Alexa Herskowitz.

In Short Hills, NJ, I spent some time with Justin Green and Samara Green.  Justin returns to camp for his 3rd summer as part of our Lower Inter Boys division while Samara will be at camp for her first year in our Lower Junior Girls group.  In 4th grade, Justin is very busy with his traveling soccer team, the Millburn Blast, where he plays both left midfield and defense.  He also works out with his trainer during the week.  He loves hanging out with friends, watching movies and playing video games.  He wanted to give a shout out to Boys Bunk 5 from Summer 2012 and had a secret message for them as he told me to mention “Joey the Kangaroo” in my blog.  Justin is looking forward to hondas and Color War this summer.  As for Samara, currently in the 2nd grade, she is taking a hip hop dance class and will be having a recital in the Spring.  She is also in the mouse chorus for an upcoming performance of “Cinderella.”  Samara takes a fashion class where she has made all kinds of projects from pajamas to shirts to bags.  She loves art!  When she gets to Canadensis, Samara is ready to try gymnastics, cooking, fabric arts, jewelry, cheerleading, pottery and yoga.  Both Justin and Samara told me about their recent amazing trip to Turks and Caicos and all about their wonderful two dogs, Rafa and Roger.  Here is a photo…

Me with Lower Inter Boy Justin Green and Lower Junior Girl Samara Green (and family dog, Roger).

In Tenafly, NJ, I got to chill with Max Selver, who is currently in the 3rd grade and will be in our Upper Junior Boys division for his first summer.  Max spends a good part of his year playing defense for his travel ice hockey team, the EFC Eagles.  Max also plays tennis, likes to bike ride and loves to ski in the winter.  He just recently went on a ski trip in Utah.  Recently, he took up taking the piano and takes lessons.  Max filled me in that he loves to read fiction and sci-fi books and recommends any book in the “39 clues” series, “Chomp,” and “Wonder.”  Max also let me know that he just finished up a very cool lesson on the solar system in his school and did a report on the planet Mars.  In Summer 2013, Max is really looking forward to making a whole new bunch of friends, trying new activities like waterskiing, playing in the CHL, woodworking, archery, rocketry, canoeing and Color War.  Here is a picture…

Me with Upper Junior Boy Max Selver.

In Merrick, NY, I got to see Julie Pulewitz, who will be back for her second summer in the Lower Inter Girls division.  Now in 4th grade, Julie plays defense for her soccer team, the Dynamite.  She also just finished up her second back-to-back season of being undefeated in her North Merrick-North Bellmore basketball league.  Julie also let me know that she recently won an award for the Reflections Program in Literature for her school.  Julie wrote an essay in which she had to describe the “Magic of a Moment,” in which she chose to write about a event that happened during Hurricane Sandy.  She also presented the essay at her school.  Julie has had a few sleepovers with camp friends this year, one in which she told me she stayed up until 4:30 am!  She also wanted to say hello to the Girls of Bunk 5 from Summer 2012.  This year, she is excited for activities such as swim team, glass fusion and woodworking.  Here is a photo…

Me with Lower Inter Girl Julie Pulewitz.

In Bellmore, NY, I got to see first time camper Alyssa Feig, who is in the 2nd grade and will be in our Lower Junior Girls division.  Alyssa spends a lot of her time rehearsing and performing in a number of different musicals.  She has been in plays such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “Schoolhouse Rock.”  In the Spring, she will trying out for “Once on this Island.”  Alyssa also takes a dance class and will be performing at a recital in the Spring.  She also loves art, making string bracelets, painting nails and braiding hair.  Her favorite TV Show is “Shake It Up” and she is even entering a dance competition for that show where the winner gets to be on the program.  This Summer when she comes to camp, Alyssa is ready for all of the great programs in the Art Center, the camp musicals and making a whole new bunch of friends.  Here is a picture…

Me with Lower Junior Girl Alyssa Feig.

In Merrick, NY, I saw Brett Wolin, who is currently in the 4th grade and will be in our Lower Inter Boys division for his first summer at Canadensis.   Brett plays on both a basketball and flag football team.  He likes to play X-Box and games on his computer, too.  Brett told me that he is a big fan of the New York Giants and New York Yankees.  He let me know all about a recent trip to Aruba in which he got to go snorkeling.  Brett also likes to play with the family dog, Jake.  When he gets to camp in June, he is ready to try all of the activities on the lake, basketball, gaga, woodworking and going on his division’s camping trip and making S’mores.  Here is a pic…

Me with Lower Inter Boy Brett Wolin.

In Yorktown Heights, NY, I met up with Jayme “Jamz” Lerman and her family.  Jayme is currently in the playoff season on her basketball team and also keeping up with her tennis lessons.  She has met up with her camp friends a few times since camp ended and can’t wait to get back to the 18325 to hang with them for another great summer, which will be her sixth summer as part of the Upper Senior Girls division.  Jayme and I spent a lot of time reminiscing and telling great stories from all of her summers at Canadensis.  Coming up, she will be going on a vacation to Puerto Rico.  Here is a picture…

Me with Upper Senior Girl Jayme “Jamz” Lerman.

As always, we love getting pictures from our camp families, letting us know what is going on with them throughout the Fall, Winter and Spring months as well as hearing about any bunk reunions or camp get-togethers.  In this blog, there are a few to share with you.

In February, Andrew Wagner celebrated his 11th birthday up at the Great Wolf Lodge near camp.  For the occasion, several of his bunkmates joined in on the fun for a weekend of water slides, mini golf and good food.  Here is a photo that was sent to us…

Happy Birthday Andrew! 2013 Upper Inters (from left to right): Eli Levi, Andrew Wagner, Reid Wollock and Max Wittenberg take a break from the water slides at Great Wolf Lodge.

In Syosset, NY, Devin Lefkowitz invited some camp friends to his house for a sleepover.  I was fortunate enough to even stop by and see all those in attendance.  While there, the boys played outside, played video games and ping pong.  A few hours later, they went out bowling and apparently ate an abundance of food.  Here are some pictures…

Me with 2013 Lower Inter Boys (from Left to Right): Devin Lefkowitz, Joey Feldman, Drew Talarico, Idan Jaffe, Ozzie Pearlman, Avery Gilady and Sam Kanterman.

The boys having a good time!

I got a photo sent to me, informing me of a great sleepover for the Girls of Bunk 9 from Summer 2012 that was held at Stella Scheier’s house.  I didn’t get many details, but from the look of this picture, the girls were stylin’ and profilin’…

The Girls of Bunk 9 from Summer 2012 had a sleepover. From left to right: Madison Wolfgang, Sage Snyder, Elizabeth Wachtel, Lexi Hunn, Stella Giobbio, Stella Scheier, Molly Phillips, Lily Ernst and Jenna Nurick.

While on vacation in West Palm Beach, FL, campers Haley Greenspan and Marshall Greenspan ran into former hockey counselor and group leader Andrew “Geo” Giannone.  Marshall happened to be wearing his Canadensis T-Shirt and was spotted by Geo, who said, “I used to work there!”  Small world.  Here is a photo that was sent to us…

Upper Inter Girl Haley Greenspan and Lower Inter Boy Marshall Greenspan were spotted by former Canadensis staff member Andrew “Geo” Giannone, who now works as a manager at one of the resorts down there.

Finally, we hope to see many of you this weekend at our Long Island Canteen on the Fly, which had been rescheduled from the Fall.  Here are the details…

Well, that’s all of the blogging for now.  Next week, our winter team will be in Atlantic City, NJ for the Annual American Camp Association Tri-State Camping Conference.  There, we always come away with good things that we incorporate into our summer.  We’ll post some pics on our next blogs.

Have a great day!

-Brian

Casey, Hannah, and Mallie are loving Color War!

Name: Hannah Schepps

Hobbies When You’re at Home: Cheerleading

Favorite Camp Activity: Archery

Funny Camp Memory: When I slid down the side of the bunk bed and ripped Carly Lieberman’s shirt!

Advice for a First Time Camper: Enjoy every moment of the summer because the friends and memories you make here last a life time!

Something You Learned at Camp: Color War Songs

I never leave for camp without my… Pillow Pet.

If I could have any job in the world it would be… Lion Tamer.

My favorite place I’ve traveled is… Dominican Republic

One thing my campers will learn about me is…  I am very funny.

One fun fact about me is… I used to live in Las Vegas

Let me tell you, I’m lucky to have 200 amazing coworkers each summer at camp, but our tiny team that works all winter is pretty fabulous too!  As the two full time office females, Cara Corradetti and I wind up getting into all sorts of fun together.  She’s unbelievable, and exactly the kind of camp friend you want to have…every day she’ll make you laugh, encourage you to join in a sing along, teach you a new craft project and tell you about some fabulous game/product/website you had no idea existed.  She’s up for anything (like decorating the Matt & Melissa engagement bus ride with tablecloths and balloons) and she’ll help you with whatever is on your plate.  She is an amazing Head Counselor and the CIT Program has really grown under her leadership.  She is also a fantastic trip leader who takes our kids out of camp for around 12 days each summer, and you’ve probably grown to love her as co-host on the Canadensis Today Show.  I’m so lucky to work with her all year, and I thought I’d share just a few of our recent adventures…

We do LOVE Bingo!!  Our first Bingo outing was in Canadensis during post camp 2012 with Sam Ginsburg and Robin Forti, and we were instantly hooked.  There were awesome prizes (like a whole watermelon!) and Cara won the biggest cash prize of the night.  Since then, we’ve been actively seeking out Bingo playing opportunities – we’ve played with Robin at Temple Beth Or where one of our camp moms, Stacey Frezel, organized a huge Bingo fundraiser!    We’ve also played in Philadelphia at an 80’s themed Bingo night where Lower Girls Head Counselor Melissa Torban joined us in crazy costumes as well…Robin was a big winner that night!

We want to bring our love of BINGO to camp this summer…we’ve learned a lot of exciting ways to play, fun games and contests to go along with the number calling.

The pictures above are a BIG REVEAL!  Cara and I recently spent a day painting plaques that represent the amazing theatrical productions that the Canadensis campers put on each summer.  We’ve gone back in time to create plaques for some recent years, and they will be hanging in the Rec Hall this summer – each year new plaques will be added and it will be a fantastic reminder of the hard work our actors, actresses, tech crew and staff put in!

Cara has introduced me to many new crafts, including paper embossing and stationery – but our most adventurous crafting by far was the glass blowing class we recently took!  We were instructed by Julia Eckenrode (our returning glass fusion director at camp) and it was an incredible experience!  It was amazing to watch Julia work, and we very quickly got our turn to learn how to make paper weights, cups, flowers and bowls…unbelievable!

Name:Mallie Feldman

Years at Camp: 9 Years

Hobbies When You’re at Home: Tennis

Secret Talent: I can talk with my mouth closed

Favorite Camp Activity: Cooking and Ropes Course

Funny Camp Memory: That time my bunk had a huge shaving cream fight.

Advice for a First Time Camper: Camp goes by so fast so make every moment count.

Something You Learned at Camp: Camp friends are your best friends

I never leave for camp without my… Nutella

If I could have any job in the world it would be… A journalist

My favorite place I’ve traveled is… Paris

One thing my campers will learn about me is… I’m weird and fun

One fun fact about me is… I can touch my tongue to my nose

Mallie, Casey, and Lauren by the lake!