Director's Corner - Friday, July 19

Friday, July 19, 2024

“Summer Breeze”

Summer breeze,
makes me feel fine,
blowing through the jasmine in my mind.

Today was a remarkable day through and through! There's a special joy that fills me every Friday morning as I eagerly anticipate the fun we'll have before reaching one of my beloved moments at camp... Shabbat! It's amazing how quickly Friday has arrived.

Some staff chose to wake up early and swim the lake from the opposite side back to camp this morning.  Our swim the lake hobby campers will be getting a chance to do this later in the session as they are busy training for it.  It is incredible seeing the staff wanting to take on the fun challenges offered to our campers.  They are always eager to try their hand at the skills learned by our campers in their hobby programs.  Throughout the summer, our different camp area directors open up their areas on staff free time to allow them to explore and learn and have some fun.  They take pride in their areas and are excited to share their enthusiasm with other staff making this a very inviting community.

Today, we wrapped up our first round of hobbies and campers eagerly signed up for next week's hobby sessions. The arts and crafts activities this week were a blast! Campers honed their skills in ceramics, making friendship bracelets, and completing works of art from recycled materials.  I cannot wait for them to bring these masterpieces home to show you.

I had a blast today playing an intense game of Ultimate Frisbee with the Ramot Ultimate hobby campers and some other leadership staff members.  I was impressed with their level of skill and glad I could hang with them as long as I did.  

I hung out with the PIOs today as they did a program on Empathy as well as a fun program called Scotty the Pirate. I am impressed with the TLP leaders who have planned such an intentional program that balances the fun with the educational and allows them to explore their strengths in a positive environment.  

Today marked the second canteen of the session, with campers relishing their special snacks. They also enjoy two snacks daily: fruit in the morning after cabin activity and a choice of fruit, pretzels, or cookies in the afternoon — always a delicious treat.

Speaking of food, for breakfast we had eggs and tater tots and lunch was delicious featuring pizza and caesar salad.  More on dinner later.

Friday afternoons skip the second cabin activity for Shabbat preparation. Today's theme was "dress in white," adding a special flair to our evening. We began with a casual gathering, the "Shabbat Schmooze," at Hobby Wheel Field, where campers socialized and captured memories. The evening continued with bunk gatherings to welcome Shabbat, express gratitude, and share in prayers led by guitar-accompanied services in our outdoor amphitheater. Ruchel’s daughters (four of our Cornerstone Fellows), enchanted us with a story with a moral and song without the words, sparking reflections on the week's experiences and supporting our Shabbat theme of Love of Israel.

We dined family style tonight in the dining hall making our Shabbat dinner a little more intimate as they did not have to go through the serving line for more.  Refills were obtained by staff members and campers were able to sit in the dining hall and enjoy the meal of delicious roast chicken, potatoes, broccoli, matzo ball soup and fresh challah.  Hearing our campers enthusiastically sing the Tish after the meal was both entertaining and heart warming.

Following services, campers donned sports jerseys for a spirited Israeli Dance on the Ron Kaplan Courts, blending classic moves with new ones learned throughout the week. This lively session culminated in a vibrant song sesh led by the Beber Music Staff Band, mixing traditional Jewish melodies with popular tunes, all while reinforcing our camp's profound connection to Jewish traditions.  

Ramot campers enjoyed a special movie night after the festivities, a relaxing contrast to the energetic evening. Tomorrow, the entire camp will relish a well-deserved morning sleep-in and a leisurely start to the day.  I can’t wait to tell you more about Shabbat!

P.S. Congratulations to the following who knew that Justin Timberlake sang "Can’t Stop The Feeling!"

Jill R
Amy G
Stacy L
Wendy E
Ahsley S
Dennis P
Jessica F
Viktoriya V
Amy B
Amanda S
Ronit R
Amy L
Franci F

P.S. - Today’s question: Who sang “Summer Breeze?”  Email your answer to trivia@bebercamp.com for a shoutout in tomorrow’s blog!