Hello Canadensis!
Once again, I am writing to you at the end of the work week and today I am feeling very nostalgic. I think it is partly due to this new television show I have been watching on the Travel Channel called “Toy Hunter.” The show follows a renowned toy dealer named Jordan who searches across the country for rare toys and collectibles from past decades. In many cases, the items that Jordan finds are the same treasures from my childhood that I played with until no end from Star Wars and superhero action figures to games like Speak and Spell to the lunch boxes and thermoses I brought to school. As I watch, I continually find myself saying, “I had that!” So funny! For more about the show “Toy Hunter,” click here. And, here is one episode of this show. I hope you like it.
On the subject of toys, here was one of my favorites when I was growing up…
My nostalgic feeling also comes from the fact that over the last few weeks, I have spent a lot of time with camp friends from when I was a camper at camp. Still, to this day, many of my closest friends are those that I went to camp with. As I think about it, it is mind boggling to realize that these relationships have been part of my life for over 30 years! This always brings me back to my feeling about the magic of camp is that there is nothing quite like your camp friends! Interestingly enough, this summer, a camp friend of mine e-mailed me a few photos from “back in the day.” So, I finally figured that I would share these pics with my Canadensis camp family, completely realizing that I am setting myself up for a good laugh.
This first picture is from 1983. That's me in the front with the red Adidas shirt on. By the way, what kind of shirt is the counselor in the back wearing?! Ha Ha!
This picture was from 1984. That summer, the Olympics were in Los Angeles and red, white and blue were very in (as you can see). Adidas, as you may have guessed, was also a big trend. Not to mention, high socks! That's me in the middle. I am still wondering why my bunk mate to the left is wearing jeans and a flannel shirt?
With this nostalgic feeling going around in my head, the music I have been listening to over the past few weeks can be dated back to my youth of the late 70’s and early 80’s. When I was a kid, I can remember playing my records and spending hours just reading the album jackets while listening. During this time, the cassette tape also started to become very popular. Every Sunday morning, I used to make my breakfast and bring it to my room so that I could tape Casey Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown on the radio, which ultimately became the mix tapes that I would bring to camp! The other day, I actually went into my closet to relocate these tapes (that’s right, I still have them…coincidentally, they are stored in an Adidas sneaker box). As I sorted through the various mix tapes, a big smile came to my face. These songs, although some of them are definitely considered super cheesy, were a staple of my childhood! Here are a few songs to show you exactly what I mean.
Much like the current pop hit “Gangnam Style” by PSY where no one really knows the words, unless you speak Korean, in 1985, we had Falco’s hit “Rock Me Amadeus,” in which I still have no idea what these words are because I don’t speak German. Hard to believe now that this was such a radio hit back then.
In 1982, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing the J. Geils band and their hit “Freeze Frame.”
In 1984, “Ghostbusters” was one of the biggest movies of the year. And, the movie’s theme song was all over the radio and even spent several weeks as the #1 song in country. As for the song’s singer, Ray Parker Jr., I don’t think I ever heard another song from him again.
OK. So there is my walk down memory lane. For me, some great memories! And, hopefully for some of the older readers of this blog, a good nostalgic feeling as well. Onto other camp stuff…
I found 2012 CIT Becca Altschul online the other day. She and her friends have entered themselves in the VH1 Music contest where they had to submit their version of the Ingrid Michaelson song “Blood Brothers.” You can find their version of the song and vote for them by clicking here. Please show them your support and to help support the VH1 Save the Music Awareness program! Voting ends November 1. The winner will get Ingrid Michaelson to play at their school. Very cool! Good luck, Becca!
Got a great picture sent to me from 2012 Super Senior Lauren Gadol, who had her camp friends over as part of her Sweet 16 Celebration! Here is a picture from the post celebration festivities as all of the camp friends slept over…
(Pictured from left to right), some of the girls of 2012's Bunk 23: Mallie Feldman, Carly Lieberman, Bari Cohen, Hannah Schepps, Melissa Goldstein, Birthday Girl Lauren Gadol and Tori Handler having a late night snack.
Also, this blog gets to report on some of the campers I have seen in the past few weeks. For starters, I got to hang out with Drew Spielberger from Dobbs Ferry, NY. Drew is now in third grade and is already excited for Summer 2013, which will be his second summer at camp. He is currently playing left midfield on his travel soccer team, the Jaguars. Very soon, he will also be playing his third year of travel basketball. After camp, Drew told me that he and his family had a great trip the beach in Delaware! He wanted to give a shout out to his 2012 Bunk 2 boys and his counselors Ethan, Tom and Sam and can’t wait to see them at the reunion. Here is a picture…
Me with Junior Boy Drew Spielberger and Future Canadensis Camper and sister Ruby Spielberger.
Drew also shared with me his Halloween costume for this year...a baseball player that took a foul ball right in the face! Pretty gross! Ha Ha!
In South Orange, NJ, I saw Ethan and Robbie Goldman. Summer 2013 will mark Ethan’s third summer at camp as an Upper Inter while he’ll be joined by brother Robbie for his first summer in the Lower Junior Boys division. Now in 5th grade, Ethan is involved with a lot of rock climbing at a local climbing gym, where he will be competing in upcoming bouldering competitions. He is also playing soccer and the piano. Ethan also showed me a robotics competition and challenge that he and his friends have entered, called the First Lego League. You can check it out by clicking here. Ethan is excited to see his camp friends throughout the winter and is excited for the reunion in January. He wanted to say hello to his bunk mates from Summer 2012’s Bunk 8. Robbie, who is in the 2nd grade, has been involved in Muay Thai Kickboxing. When at home he likes to cook. In fact, when cooking, it is common for Robbie to get the fruits and vegetables from his very own garden that he and his dad take care of. Robbie also plays drums and is involved in the junior version of the robotics league. In the spring, Ethan will be playing short stop for his baseball team. When he gets to camp next year, Robbie is looking forward to all of the activities to do on Lake Lenape as well as the opportunity to once again spend the summers with his big brother. Here is a picture…
Me with Junior Boy Robbie Goldman (left) and Upper Inter Boy Ethan Goldman.
Had to tell you about this! I discovered a great new website that camp families are sure to make use of. As we encourage camp friends to see each other throughout the year, parents often try to find drop off and pick up points between different locations. After all, we certainly recognize that bunk mates could live quite some distance away from each other. Well, there is now a website called meetways.com. MeetWays was established to help people easily find a halfway point between two locations. So, if you’re thinking about meeting-up with a far away camp friend, MeetWays can help you find the perfect middle point. To go to the website, click here. Or simply go to www.meetways.com.
MeetWays.com is a great website to find a place to meet in the middle.
Finally, with Halloween upon us, I wanted to leave you with a few camp inspired Halloween costumes I found online. If you have yet to find a costume this year, maybe you can go as…
S'Mores?
Or, a campfire?
Have a great day! Have a great weekend! Have Happy and Safe Halloween!
-Brian
