Hi camp world! I’m really excited to be able to share my first post-camp reunion story! My sister [aka, Upper Senior counselor] Dani and I, along with my two best friends, spent last Saturday in beautiful NYC! We went in to town to see a play and ended up getting to meet Jake Gyllenhaal – talk about a crazy morning!

After some shopping we decided to meet up with my other favorite celebrity, [Upper Senior group leader] Alex Feigin, for dinner that night!

Alex and Dani put that photo on instagram and within minutes their Upper Senior girls were going crazy! Alex said that her parents we ALSO in town seeing the new Paul Rudd play – now, anyone who knows us knows that we LOVE Paul Rudd, specifically in his famous camp movie, so hearing that he was in town meant we HAD to get tickets. As it always is when we’re together, the man at the box office was able to give us rush tickets in 2 private boxes, we thought that was a pretty sweet setup!

After dinner we had some time before the show so we trekked uptown to one of my favorite places – Bendels! We were having the time of our lives in the headband room and Alex posed for this picture with her favorite accessory…

After lots of laughs and crazy hair pieces we went back downtown to see our show! My friends and I sat in one box, while Alex and Dani sat in the “Upper Senior Box”:

The actors in the play were absolutely amazing – we were all on the edge of our seats the whole time! After the show we waited outside for a chance to see Paul Rudd… we were NOT dissapointed:

I love NYC, I love seeing shows, and I LOVE my camp friends, so this was pretty much the perfect day! Dani and I are already planning our next trek for November, so hopefully we’ll have some more camp friend sightings to report! I hope you’re all making time to keep in touch with your camp friends throughout the winter, it definitely keeps the campsick-ness away!

I love this picture above – it is of Rachel & JMitch, the Presidential Gold Color War Captains, sitting with the rest of our amazing CITs of 2012 on the Amphitheater stage the last night of the summer while the whole camp sang the Color War Alma Maters one more time.  As the weather has dropped 20 degrees overnight, and I’ve been back in the winter office for nearly a month, it’s officially time to say goodbye summer, and start focusing on 2013!

Hopefully, a lot of you have been able to see camp friends (either in person or through Skype) and that you are keeping the memories alive!  I’m lucky to have this job where I get to “ThinkCamp!” all the time, but I got to see some camp friends who live a bit father away just a few days ago.  We mostly ate and enjoyed each others company, but we also did an arts & crafts project!  See below…

I hope by now that you’ve been introduced to the adorable Carli Forti…

Since Carli’s been living up in Canadensis with her parents Eric & Robin since she was less than a month old, she never really got her “crib” setup at home in the Philly suburbs.  (“Crib”…get it?)

Anyway, the furniture and bedding were great, but she was lacking some inspiring artwork – so the Camp Canadensis crew came to the rescue to ensure that her walls would make her room feel like a home.  We divided up tasks…Matt Unger, Sam Ginsburg, Dave Malter and friends worked mostly on hanging frames and a quilt.  I worked on some vinyl art work (similar to the kind we put up in the Camp Canadensis Welcome Center), which includes the tree below.  Once I got the branches up on the wall, everyone started adding flowers…including our Today Show Producer, Jason “JCal” Calabretta, and our Lower Juniors Group Leader, Melissa Torban.

We hope Carli enjoys her new room for a few months, but she’ll be back at her summer home before she knows it!

Happy October everybody! It was a chilly morning as I made my way into the office – I guess this means summer really is over! Now that we’re back in full swing in the office I’m really excited to get back to my blog – I’ve got so much exciting camp-themed fun lined up for this fall and I can’t wait to share it all with you!

Looking back over the summer, I can definitely say this was the BEST SUMMER EVER! So, as is usually my “first-blog-back” tradition, here are some of my favorite moments of the summer, captured on film for you all to see. The best part, I’m proud to say, is that I took all of these snapshots myself! I’m getting super proud of my photography skills and I loved toting my camera around with me, from Ithaca to Orlando, to capture the most amazing summer of our lives…

Credit to LMac for this one:

There are literally hundreds of photos I could post and still never show you what a fabulous summer we had. A picture is worth a thousand memories and this was a summer we’ll never forget 🙂

Hello Canadensis…

It’s been five days since the campers and counselors left.  I’m sad.  Here are some of the things I miss already…

* Dance Parties on the Amphitheater Stage before Morning Line-Up begins!

* Strawberry Shortcakes at Canteen!

* Girls divisions cheering and yelling to be called next in the Dining Hall!

* Junior and Lower Inter Boys playing their CBL games, especially the ones under the lights!

* Being continually asked by campers, “When is Color War going to break?!”  or “What are the teams this year for Color War?”!

* Hearing the score Giants 21, Patriots 17 at Morning Line-Up!  (Sorry Eagles fans.  Had to do it one last time!  I promise.)

* The sound of campers riding hondas and quads!  (Those new ATVs were so cool!)

* Camper siblings that happen to see each other and give a hug or high five!

* Tie Dye T-Shirts made in the Art Shack!  They were awesome this summer!

* Campers telling me they got up on water skis for the first time!

* Campers and counselors dressing up for Crazy Night!

* Seeing who got TAC Awards!

* Taco Tuesdays!

* Senior and CIT Boys playing in NBA games during 6th Period!

* GaGa games at Free Play!

* Surfboard Games at the Lake!

* Watching campers go down the zip line!

* Hearing J.Cal sing “Call Me Maybe”!  Could possibly be his favorite song of all time?!

* Seeing campers practice, then perform their MTV Night routines!

* The 2012 CITS!  They were awesome!  Thanks for a great summer!

Much more to be missed.  Already counting down the days until Summer 2013!  How many is it?

Have a great day!

-Brian

After months of planning and waiting, the first day of camp is about to begin!!  Campers have loaded onto buses, and we are just waiting for them to arrive at Canadensis so the summer can begin!

We cannot wait!!

We’ve been having a lot of fun at pre-camp!  As we are waiting for our full staff to arrive for orientation, BeckyJ has been up here doing all sorts of odd jobs, and getting crafty!  She made some super fun photo props that we’ll be using at the photo stations at dances this year, and we couldn’t help but try them out!

She’s also been using the Accucut to create posters for our TAC (Tagged At Canadensis) Program.  It recognizes campers that go above and beyond in making Canadensis a warm and caring place.  When a camper gets a TAC, they get a Camp Canadensis dogtag, and their name goes up in the Dining Hall.  BeckyJ made these cute posters to display the names!

You’ll see them in 15 days!

If you come to camp from PA or South Jersey, you’ve probably driven by the Stonewall Garden Center at the bottom of our camp hill a hundred times.  I stopped in there for the first time a few days ago with Aunt Terri & Cara, and I fell in love!  Gardening is one of the new hobbies I picked up this past year, and this place has some beautiful plants.  We picked out some plants that accentuate the absolutely beautiful setting we have at Camp Canadensis.  The hanging basket I’m holding is now at camp, and hanging outside the main entrance to the Dining Hall.Aunt Terri is a gardening pro…she knows what grows well in the Poconos, how to arrange everything, and how to keep it safe from the deer who like to eat plants as a midnight snack!  I learned so much from her, and we loaded up the car full of beautiful plants to bring home and place around camp.  We spent hours getting everything potted, and picking out the perfect spots…it was so much fun!  We hope you’ll enjoy seeing them this summer.  Only 17 more days to go!

We know that parents who are getting a child ready for their first summer away from home have lots of questions, there is a lot to prepare.  In order to help make this process easier, we’ve been putting together “Camp Canadensis How-To” videos, with the help of our amazing Canadensis Today Show producer, Jason “JCal” Calabretta.  The first video, “How To Send and Receive Mail At Camp” went online today.

In the video, we mention that you should create your own “Fill Ins” with information you want to know about your child’s experience at camp.  In order to get you started, I’ve created a sample that you can print and even pack your child with!  Click here to download and print it.

Feel free to even share it with friends who are sending children to other overnight camps.  Lookout for more great How To videos in the next few weeks before campers leave for camp!  If you have a topic you’d like us to cover in a video, please be in touch!  Pam@canadensis.com or 570-595-7461.

(and yes, I do wish I was Martha Stewart…)

Hi blog readers! I’m Carly Fleischer, I will be a CIT at Camp Canadensis and this is going to be my 9^th summer in the 18325. Pam asked me to be a guest blogger and I’m so excited! I decided to write about the top 5 things that campers new and old should be looking forward to this summer. However, I couldn’t stop at just 5!

10-Pools! We have two awesome pools at Camp Canadensis! The Blue Pool is new and has just been built. We love to play in the pools with our many toys and waterslides! I can’t wait to see the new pool with the Indian head logo in the bottom!

9-Meals at Camp! At Canadensis, we have some of the best food! My favorite breakfast food is the amazing waffles, lunch is grilled cheese (also known by the CIT girls as “Cheese Toasty”) and for dinner, chicken parmesan. At every meal there is also a salad bar option, with many amazing options! Just thinking about all the yummy food at camp is getting me excited!!

8-Special Wednesdays! Every Wednesday at Camp Canadensis is a great time! We have late wakeup in the morning, usually a sport or lake activity, and then lunch. After lunch, the entire camp participates in a special activity, such as Carnival or Revolutionary War Day.

7-Lineup! Lineup is when the whole camp gathers on the ampitheater before the first activity period. We discuss the meals for the day, sports scores, and play games. If you have a summer birthday, the whole camp will sing to you at morning lineup!

6-Making New Friends! Every summer when the buses roll in, I see many old, familiar faces, and many new ones too! I love to make the newest campers feel comfortable here at camp, and get to know them! You will make sooo many new friends this summer!

5-Counselors! On the first day of camp, one of my favorite things to do is to get to know my counselors! I love to learn about their families, schools, pets, and more. We always have such amazing staff here at camp!

4-Evening Activities! After dinner, it is always so much fun to play games with your entire division. My favorite evening activity is The Newly Bunk Game!

3-Lake Lenape! This is one of my personal favorite locations on camp, and the possibilities at the lake are endless. When I was younger, I would spend every opportunity I had at the lakefront!

2-CITS! Our group of Counselors In Training will be amazing this year! We cant wait to meet each and every one of our campers, and have the best summer ever!

1–COLOR WAR! When the entire camp is divided into blue and gold, the sense of competition and spirit amplifies, and completely radiates from every camper. Color War is the best 5 days of the summer, and everybody has the best time!

So that was my list of the top 10 things to be excited for this summer! I hope that I got you pumped up and ready for summer! See you in just 25 days!! 🙂