Hello Canadensis…
It’s March Madness! Originally, this saying was created to refer to the NCAA College Basketball Tournament (which I will get to later), but when you are in the camping business, it also means that camp is coming soon! And, this year at Canadensis, it also means that we have been so busy seeing all of you at a number of our spring events.
First, there was our second Canteen on the Fly on Sunday, March 7. We hit Cherry Hill, NJ as well as Wynnewood and Newtown, PA. We probably got to see around 60 people at each location. We were so happy with the turnout of both Canteen on the Fly weekends, which we estimated over 350 campers, parents, staff and friends attended! Obviously, this is now a new tradition for Camp Canadensis. Here are some pics from the March 7 day…
Amanda Seligman and friend Lindsay show off the Canteen on the Fly shirts they won!
The Schreiber Girls pick a prize.
Counselor Pete Tarnoff with Joey and Austin.
Noah and Ben Rubin enjoy some ice cream.
CITs Ally Zeltt and Melissa Liebman can't wait for Summer 2010!
The following weekend on Sunday, March 14, Canadensis was so thrilled to help participate in the Jewish Relief Agency’s Passover Food Distribution Drive. On a day filled with torrential downpours, we want to thank all of the families that came out to help this wonderful cause. The JRA was an amazing experience as more than 700 people came to help box and deliver more than 2500 boxes of groceries to local low income Jewish families. For more information on the JRA, please visit their website at www.jewishrelief.org. Here are some pictures from this great event…
The Canadensis Team at JRA!
Junior Counselor Rory Mitchell and mom Jamie.
The Center Family.
Cole and Tori Leitman and Katie Podell.
Rachel Cebula and dad Mike.
Blake Rapoport and mom, Stacy.
Of course, part of the March Madness also entails seeing some of our camp families. In Short Hills, NJ, I got a chance to see new camper Sam Hunn and his sister and future Canadensis camper, Lexi Hunn. Sam, who is currently in the 4th grade, will be a Lower Inter this summer. At home, he enjoys Biking, Baseball, playing his guitar, Legos and video games. This summer at camp, he can’t wait to try the Hondas as well as go Mountain Biking. He is also excited for Water Skiing and the Ropes Course and Zipline. As for Lexi, she takes Art classes throughout the year and plays the piano. Here is a picture…
Me with Sam and Lexi Hunn.
I also made it to Wilmington, DE to meet Alex Felzer. Alex’s older brother Brian had been a camper at Canadensis for many summer, but now Alex is excited that it is now his turn. Alex is in the 5th grade and will be an Upper Inter in 2010. All year, Alex takes tennis lessons. He just recently finished the season for his 5th grade basketball team. In the upcoming weeks, he will be involved in the town baseball league. This summer, Alex is really looking forward to Archery, Hondas and Mountain Biking. Here is a pic…
Me with Alex Felzer.
Last week, part of the madness meant an annual ritual of professionals in the camping industry. That is, our winter office headed down to Atlantic City for the Tri-State Camp Conference.
This conference is one of the many benefits we receive being an American Camp Association accredited camp. Over the course of the three days we were there, we all attended a number of wonderful sessions that dealt with a wide range of camper, staff and parent topics. All of us walked away with many new wonderful ideas on how to make the upcoming summer even better! The conference is attended by over 3000 attendees which means we also get to talk with so many wonderful people at other camps. At the same time, the conference has an amazing exhibit hall, which we walked through several times. We got great new ideas for camp shirts, games we can play at camp and saw some items that might be fun for camp. Here was one item, which looked like fun…
Me in a Bumperball.
And finally, back to the initial reason why the term March Madness was created…the college basketball tournament. As a sports fan, I find this to be one of the most exciting times of the year because of the drama of this basketball tournament. As our Program Director always says to me, sports is the original reality TV. For college basketball, this always seems to be true. In fact, how many games last weekend came down to the very last two minutes?!?! So many upsets, too! Who expected Cornell or Northern Iowa or St. Mary’s in the Sweet 16?!?! And, how awesome was that game involving Northern Iowa and Kansas. Amazing! Our staff has been involved in a Facebook pick’em bracket, who is currently being led by Justin Bruno. As for me, I think you all know who I am rooting for…SYRACUSE! Right now, I think I am in 7th place. We’ll let you know who won.
Until then…Have a great day…Brian
