Did you know that each summer Camp Canadensis draws campers from around 15 states? We visit each new camper before their first summer at camp and I’ve just returned from a trip that combined home visits, staff hiring, a camp conference and sight-seeing in some of the most beautiful parts of America! There is a lot out there too see, but the highlights were the campers that will be joining us at Lake Lenape this year!
Meet Luke! He lives in Boulder, Colorado and is in 8th grade. He will be an Upper Senior Boy this summer, and he’s been attending a camp in Colorado for the last few years. We hung out on a school night at his house, he’s one of four siblings. He has an older sister, and a younger brother and sister. In school, his best subject is math…but Luke much prefers to be outside wake boarding, and he can’t wait to ride the hondas at camp. He cheers for the Redskins, loves Mexican food, and will be playing lacrosse this Spring.
His brother might look familiar, Levi is a current 5th grader who will be an Upper Inter Boy this year. It’s going to be his 6th summer at camp and he is very excited to finally be in Middle Camp! Dave came on the home visit too, he’s excited to get to hang with Luke on Senior Side!
Before leaving Colorado, there were a few other members of the Canadensis family we wanted to meet up with!!
We had breakfast with Samantha, who cannot wait to be back at camp for her 2nd summer. She’s in 4th grade and will be a Lower Inter. She loves living in Denver, and looks forward to seeing her camp friends whenever she’s back east! Soccer has been keeping her really busy this year.
We grabbed a dinner in Denver with Jared (who goes by the nickname “Groundhog”) and Eric! Always good to hang out with Eric and catch up, and Groundhog is having a good school year as well. He has just returned from a trip to Vietnam over winter break! He’ll be back at camp this summer to take bunk photos so make sure your ready to flash him your best smile while you lean up against the trees in The Grove!
We did this road trip in a Volkswagon Campervan/RV (which has long been a dream of mine!!). We picked it up in Denver and started heading to Utah, and our very first stop was in Vail, Colorado where we got to visit Pete Tarnoff! Pete is the Middle Camp Boys Head Counselor and he’ll soon be celebrating his 20th summer at Canadensis! When he’s not at camp, he’s a snowboard instructor at Vail Resorts. Yes, he lives the life!!
Our first stop in California was in San Diego with the “Pearlman Dynasty”. All 5 of their kids were at Canadensis this summer and we had a “camp style” dinner together with hotdogs and hamburgers (grilled by dad instead of Chef David!). Paisley (front and center) and Cash (with glasses in the back row) are in 3rd grade and will be Upper Juniors this summer. Sonny (back right) is looking forward to moving up to Middle Camp and being in the Upper Inters. Ozzie (back left) is spending the summer working on baseball. Jones(back middle) started at camp 8 years ago! He is going to be a CIT this summer and that means all of his siblings are guaranteed to on the same Color War team this year (last year 4 of them were on the winning Good Morning Gold, and one Cash was on Blue After Dark…and even though mom was cheering for blue, it didn’t turn into a win!).
Meet Harper! She lives in Los Angeles, California and is a current 2nd grader. But she’s lived in both NYC & LA and she’s one of the oldest in her grade based on what coast she’s on so she’ll be going into the Upper Junior Girls division at camp this summer! She sometimes goes by the nickname “Harp”. We had a lot of fun hanging out after school, it was the first time I did a home visit mostly outside in the winter! When I pulled up she was scooting on the block with her youngest sister (she has two younger sisters) and later she was bouncing on the trampoline with her dad. Harper did the Tour & More Playday this summer, and she knew right away that she was ready for camp this summer!! Her mom is a Canadensis Alumni and loves camp, but Harper had to convince her that summer 2017 was the right time to go, and I’m glad she did! Here’s what you need to know about this happy, nice and easy-going new camper: her favorite food is mac & cheese (but she doesn’t like cold cheese!) and she likes the color purple. She loves horses, and her favorite TV show is “Kickin It”. She also likes listening to Ariana Grande and eating Laffy Taffy (but she’s glad we often have airheads in our Canteen!). Right now she’s reading the book “The Descendants”, but she loves to read and had several books next to her bed. She also likes the movie “The Incredibles” and “The Pacifier”. Harper is also a talented artist and her home is filled with a lot of her great projects from painting to sculptures. This summer she’s excited to try archery, woodworking and glass fusion electives. She loves building things too, and she’s started her own Fortune Telling business at school which is raising money for charity. The fortunes are very affordable, for $.25 I got a fortune and a paper airplane! Can’t wait to see all the fun and funk she creates at camp this summer!
Also in Los Angeles, California are brothers Kaden & Noah! They did the Tour & More Weekend at Canadensis last summer, and can’t wait for more summer fun in the Poconos! Their mom went to camp on the East Coast and can’t wait for them to experience it, and make tons of summer memories. They’ll be joining their cousins Zoe & Marley at Canadensis, and on the day I visited Zoe’s Bat Mitzvah invitation had just arrived. They are excited to be celebrating in Westchester this April! We went on a fun tour of their house, and these guys soaked up so much camp information during my visit…I tried to quiz them at the end to see who got first pick of t-shirts, and they both knew every answer!! They both love music and hockey, and will be practicing rollerblading before camp starts so they can join the Canadensis Hockey League for games. Here’s what you need to know about these guys:
Kaden (left) is a current 1st grader who will be a Lower Junior Boy at camp this summer. He sometimes goes by the nickname “KK” and he’s a little comedian who will crack you up! He is happy, sporty and can sometimes be a little bit of a smarty pants! For his electives this summer he’ll be trying out the batting cages and rocketry. His favorite sport to play is baseball and the season starts really soon, but his favorite sport to watch is hockey and he loves the LA Kings. His favorite food is pizza, and his favorite color is blue. If he has to pick a favorite animal, it’s fish. And the answer is the same for his favorite music…Phish! He likes the TV show “Best Friends Whenever” and snacking on Milky Way chocolate bars. He also loves floor hockey, the “Nate the Great” book series, and all things Star Wars, including the movie “The Last Jedi”!
Noah (right) is a current 3rd grader who will be an Upper Junior Boy at camp this summer. He is cool, funny and smart and definitely wants to try the floor hockey, waterslides and batting cage electives this summer. He’s involved with an after school program called “Rockstar” which puts bands together that practice and then they play a gig! Kaden participates too and they’ll be in the same band when they are older. Noah sings, plays guitar and keyboard so we’ll definitely be lucky to have him in our Rock Band at camp this summer! He doesn’t watch a ton of TV, but his favorite show is “Phineas and Ferb” and he cheers for the LA Kings. He had some of the best answers I’ve ever gotten when asking about favorite things…his favorite animal is a koala, his favorite music is classic rock, and his favorite food is In-N-Out burger (even though I only eat grilled cheese there, I 100% agree!!). He also likes the color red, Twix bars, and Star Wars. He showed me a huge Star Wars lego model he had recently built which was impressive! He’s also read all the Harry Potter books, and “Deathly Hallows” is his favorite. Can’t wait to have them both at camp!
When we pulled into Paradise Valley, Arizona, I pretty much headed right over to see Dylan & Jaden! Dylan will be spending his 4th summer at camp. He’s currently in 4th grade and can’t wait to be a Lower Inter…this year there are a bunch of new electives he can try, and he’s excited to step up and ride the Hondas and get his hands covered in clay on the Ceramics Wheel. He is staying very busy in Arizona with soccer, he’s on a travel soccer team and playing all the time! His big sister Jaden is getting her 5 year jacket this summer! She’s currently in 8th grade and will be an Upper Senior Girl at camp this summer. Last year her bunk won All-Camp MTV Night, they take it very, very seriously! Jaden takes camp in general very seriously…she’s staying at her current school for 9th grade because the dates work out better with the end of camp, and she doesn’t want to miss anything! This year she’s gotten very involved with her school’s Speech & Debate team, and she is part of a very successful Duo Interpretation. Right after I saw her she was heading to Stamford for a competition, and just before coming to camp she’ll be in Alabama for another tournament!
Also in the Phoenix, Arizona area, I visited new campers Daralee & Tavi! Their dad is a Camp Canadensis alumni, and both parents grew up in Pennsylvania. They are so excited for them to spend the summer with us in the Poconos! They did the Tour & More Weekend this past summer, so we talked about memories and then started to focus on things for the summer ahead! They have a younger sister who is only 4 years old…but she would hop on the bus to camp with them if she could! Here’s what you need to know about these siblings:
Daralee is a current 3rd grader, and will be a new Upper Junior Girl at camp this summer. She sometimes goes by the nickname “D”. She is a very serious dancer who practices 4-5 times a week at her studio, and is constantly on the move. We watched some of her recent team videos on the computer and I was totally wowed, and her season just started! We’ll be lucky to have her on our competition team this summer! She is strong, smart and creative, and this summer she can’t wait to test out lots of activities like windsurfing, water slides, glass fusion, ceramics, gymnastics, painting, art shack and of course dance! Her favorite food is watermelon, she loves the color sky blue and her favorite animal is a puppy (but for the holidays she got a cute guinea pig as a pet, and named him “S’more”!). Her favorite TV show is “Bunk’d” and she likes listening and dancing to pop music. She cheers for the Eagles (that makes her Philly parents proud!) and her favorite candy is Laffy Taffy.
Tavi is a current 1st grade, and will be a new Lower Junior Boy at camp this summer. He goes by two nicknames “Tavster” and “Tot”…and I think “Tot” will be the one that sticks at camp! He also got a pet for the holidays, a gecko named Jackie that I got to hold, she was very friendly and had tons of spots! In his room he also had a huge lego Starwars ship that he built with his dad, and he played me a song on the keyboard. He’s very fast, and likes to run so you’ll have to be quick to keep up with him! He’s funny and smart and likes to play ninjas. He can’t wait to try ceramics, gaga and the water trampoline this summer. His favorite food is chicken nuggets, he loves the color blue and the TV show “Ninja Turtles” (he also had some of their fatheads up on his wall). He cheers for the Philadelphia Eagles with the rest of his family, and he loves to snack on Kit Kats. His favorite book is “The Hulk” and he loves “The Lego Movie” and can’t wait for “Lego Batman” to come out soon! Can’t wait to have them at camp!
