Many wonderful things are spread throughout camp. Joy, friendship, happiness, sunshine, germs; WHAT? We all know the wonderful effects of the closed environment of camp, but one of the more negative effects is the ability for germs and disease to spread quickly.
While campers are out and about, their hands are dirtied by numerous things. Gardening and caring for the horses, goats, rabbits, chickens and other critters at Farm and Barn. Harry Nature is a hands-on man while educating the children about birds, mice, snakes and guinea pigs. The Delta, horseback and runny noses are just a few of the other grubby things we all come in contact here many times a day. Blue Star Camp is well aware of this and to combat all those micro gremlins, hand-washing stations are located throughout camp. We, as adults know that the most effective way to prevent the spreading of germs is regular and effective hand washing however, children tend to neglect this concept of basic hygiene. In places where hot water and soap is not available, there are hand sanitizing stations.
Counselors and staff are always urging campers to wash their hands thoroughly with warm water and soap and to use sanitizer if a sink is not available. Sanitizing stations are also located inside and outside each dining hall, just in case it may have been overlooked. Blue Star is committed to the prevention of the spread of germs and disease and will continue to do our best to keep our cosy closed environment disease free.
Blue Star Elects Barack Obama for Another Four Years!
Each four years at Camp we like to provide the campers with some awareness of the upcoming electoral process by having our own Blue Star Camp’s mock presidential election. Teen Village enjoy the process and to make it as real as possible, have their own campers represent the candidates, their wives and of course it would be incomplete with out the secret service agents to protect them.
Last Sunday prior to Drum Cafe, Obama’s platform was explained by Obama himself (Andrew Kenny), Michelle Obama (Michelle Sokoloff) and Joe Biden (Andrew Weiss). Romney’s platform was explained by Romney (Sam Moss), Ann Romney (Rachel Zager), and his un-named running mate (Alex Brill). Dressed in all black, sunglasses and earpieces, the Secret Service protected and accompanied the candidates, running mates, and their wives.
At carnival last week, we encouraged 458 campers to register to vote. In addition, Teen Village campers helped “Rock the Vote” by going around, registering campers and staff. Ultimately, 422 campers voted by casting a ballot for either Romney or Obama at our polling booth adjacent to Granny’s Store.
During Zimriah (Inaugural Ball theme), CNN reporters Leah Kleinberg and Carly Stevens, announced the electoral vote counts as the different time zones’ polls came in. Teen Village took advantage of the platform to educate the campers on the electoral vote process utilizing power point slides showing the United States map with Blue and Red states highlighted as electoral votes were awarded. Obama took the lead early on and maintained it throughout the evening. The girls announced the winner: Obama received 58.4% of the vote to Romney’s 41.6%. This translated to 318 electoral votes for Obama to Romney’s 220.
To complete the process, Mitt Romney, with his wife by his side, gave a concession speech followed by Obama’s acceptance speech while accompanied by his lovely wife Michelle.
It should be noted that history has proved Blue Star Campers to have an excellent record on predicting the future. Perhaps they have got it right yet again?
The Blue Star Campers In Your Neighborhood
Part 2
By Jennifer Cohen
In this series of stories about campers from different parts of the country, we’ll get to know a few campers from Dallas, Texas.
Adam Konig, age 15, is from Dallas. This summer is his sixth year at Blue Star and he’s in Teen Village.
“My brother and sister used to come to camp. My Brian is a counselor now for the Seniors,” said Adam. “I started coming here when I was 9-years-old.I feel that camp has given me the ability to deal with a lot of different and sometimes difficult situations. When my sister went to college she said that a lot of the other students were whining about the food and she noticed that the kids who had gone to summer camp were the ones who were better able to cope with things like that. I think camp has made me more tolerant.”
Adam enjoys being at an all-Jewish camp. “I feel more a part of the Jewish community and I’m proud to be with other Jewish kids. I definitely feel that bond.”
Adam is one of only a handful of campers who come from Texas. “I really only get to see my camp friends in the summer because it’s just too hard to get together during the year,” said Adam. “That’s frustrating but it does make me look more forward to camp each summer because every moment with my camp friends is all the more precious to me.”
Adam and fellow Blue Star Camper Olivia Gerard know each other from home. Olivia, 15, is also in Teen Village and this is her ninth summer at camp.
“My dad was a camper and then a counselor and all of my uncles came here. Then I started coming with my brother when I was about 6 or 7,” said Olivia. “My cousin Preston is also here. He’s a Pioneer Boy.”
Olivia’s camp friends are very special to her. “I have known so many of the kids here since we were all in Pioneer together. I only get to see them once a year for just one month and it’s so great to be able to reconnect. We do keep in touch during the year but it’s not the same. “
The best part of camp for Olivia is Friday night Shabbat services. “At home I’m not that religious and I don’t have time to go to services and I love that about camp. It is my time to connect with my religion,” said Olivia.
In the future, Olivia would like to come back and work as an Arts and crafts specialist.
“Camp Blue Star is a part of my family and a part of my life. It really is my second home.”
Sometimes after a steamy afternoon, the hot air rises, clouds form over the mountains and a heavy summer rain falls. Thunder heralds the warning and for a moment the drops fall like mini water-bomb artillery pounding the blacktop, grass and trees. Campers squeal as they run for cover through the deluge and as fast as it starts it slows and trickles to a stop. Now the magic really happens….cooling rain triggers humidity that rises from the ground and the lake; it merges with the mist left drifting in the trees and a magical quality of light seeps through the heavy air as the sun wrestles with thick atmosphere. These are the visions of Blue Star, “forever home”.
The Blue Star Campers In Your Neighborhood
By Jennifer Cohen
Blue Star Campers come from all around the country. Some campers live in nearby Georgia. Some come as far away as California. Many spend their summers at Blue Star because their older siblings or their parents and grandparents came when they were young. However they find Blue Star, and no matter where they come from, no one ever wants to leave.
Many campers come from the West Broward area of South Florida. Maybe it’s because that’s where the camp’s winter offices are located, or maybe it’s because campers want a change of scenery and weather. Or maybe it’s because they (and their parents) know that Blue Star Camps is the best!
Senior 1 camper Tara Zionts is going into 7th grade at Falcon Cove Middle School in Weston, Florida. This is her fourth summer at Blue Star. Tara, age 12, started coming to camp because her older brother came here. “I like being with my camp friends,” said Tara. “We have so much fun and the activities are great.” Tara’s options for the first two weeks are Web News and fishing.
Katie Friedman, 13, is from Miramar and attends David Posnack Jewish Day School. She is 13-years-old and will be starting 8th grade soon. This is her second year at Blue Star. “I love being able to do all of the things I want to do at camp. The friends I have made here have become like sisters to me,” said Katie who is a Senior 2. “My dad and my aunt came here when they were kids,” said Katie. “I have a lot of school friends that come here.”
Katie takes pottery, drama and yoga and the thing she likes the most about camp is the friendships she has made. “These are friendships and bonds that you can’t find anywhere else. I have other friends but it’s just not the same. I really can’t explain it,” said Katie. ”I definitely recommend Blue Star. People say Walt Disney World is the most magical place but it isn’t. Blue Star is.”
Nikki Chussid, 13, is from Weston and will be starting 8th grade at David Posnack Jewish Day School. This is her second year at camp. Nikki who is in Senior 2 takes arts and crafts, library and walk, jog, run. Nikki knew Katie from school and this is their first summer together at Blue Star. Nikki has two sisters Samantha, age 10, and Cali, age 14, who also attend Blue Star Camps. “At first I was a little nervous to come to camp but then I knew my older sister would be here and I’d be there to take care of my younger sister so that was reassuring to me,” said Nikki. “The memories she has made a Blue Star will be with her forever.
Daniela Schwartz is also from Weston. “My mom came here and she wanted me to come here too,” said Daniela who has come to Blue Star Camps for four years. She takes archery and video. “I love the activities, counselors, and being with my camp friends and I’m lucky so many of them are from Broward County because we get together when we are home.”
Maia Haims is from Davie and will be going into the 6th grade at David Posnack Jewish Day School. This is her second year at camp and she is in Pioneer. “My brother Elan is also here. He’s a Senior 2.” Maia takes nature and ancient arts. “It’s fun to go away to a new place in the summer,” said Maia, who will turn 11 in July. “I’m always so excited to come to camp.”
Jackie Jaffe, 12, is from Plantation. She will start 7th grade at Nova Middle School soon. This is her sixth year at Blue Star Camps and this year she is in Senior 1. She likes fishing and tennis.
“The friends you make at camp are different from the friends at home. You live with them so you really share more of a bond,” said Jackie. “Blue Star is so much fun. There are so many activities to do and you are never bored. I love my Blue Star summers.”
Marni Rosenblatt, 9 ½ is from Davie. She will be going into fifth grade at David Posnack Jewish Day School. This is Marni’s first year at Blue Star. “Everyone in my family came here. My mom and dad, my aunt and uncle, and my nana and my grandpa came here and were counselors a long time ago,” said Marni. “Now my mom said I was old enough to come.”
Marni is in Pioneer 2 and takes tennis and ancient arts. She likes meeting new people from different places and trying new things. “It was a little hard to be away from home at first but now I feel more independent.” She knew a few of the other campers from school and that made her feel better.
Marni especially enjoyed getting a package from home on the first day of camp!
Jennna Marks lives in Hollywood. She will be starting 9th grade at David Posnack Jewish Day School. This is her fourth year at Blue Star Camps. Jenna will be 14-years-old in July and she started coming to camp when she was 10-years-old. Jenna is in Senior 3 and enjoys horseback riding, walk-jog-run, ropes and arts and crafts.
“My sister came here and her mom works at camp so that’s why I started coming here,” said Jenna.
“I had a few friends from school when I started and now I have all of these amazing camp friends. Camp is an experience you just can’t get anywhere else. Coming to camp has made me feel proud to be Jewish. It is nice knowing that this whole community is Jewish and I feel more connected to these friends because not only are we connected in our friendships, we are connected as a people,” said Jenna. “Some people have vacation homes but for me, Blue Star Camps is my summer home.”
More stories about Blue Star Campers from different parts of the country are coming soon! Stay tuned!
Original Thoughts By Fish (Fish is the Pioneer Boy Camp Leader),
Saturday June 16, Pioneer and Junior Services – Theme “Camp is Good”
Camp is Good
Good morning. My name is Fish and this is my 20th summer at Camp. This week’s theme is “Camp is Good.” Over my years here, camp has been lots of things to me – camp was fun. Camp was challenging. Camp was upsetting. Where I made many lifelong friends. Camp was where I learned to rock climb. Camp was where I really admired my big brother. Camp was where I met my wife. Camp was where we got married. As I look back on my vast and varied experiences here, I know that camp is good.
If you start getting bored during services today, instead of playing with the rocks, look up at the trees and sky and mountains, and know that camp is good.
If you lose interest, think about the options and in house options that you never would be able to do, and know that camp is good.
If your attention wavers, look at the counselors who gave up internships or delayed their “real life” to share their time and talents with you, and know that camp is good.
If you find yourself distracted, look to your right and left at the friends you have here, the ones you have known for many years and the ones you just met less than a week ago, and know that camp is good.
If you stay focused this morning, look, listen and feel the beautiful service we will have today. Take the opportunity to connect to the 65 summers of Blue Star traditions and the thousands of years of Jewish tradition. Take the opportunity to have your own spiritual experience, and know that camp is good.
Blue Star is for me, and will be for you, Forever Home.
Friday night, 8th of June was the first official Shabbat dinner and service of the summer. This year our Living Judaism representatives Emily Schooler and Zachary Sosna are both working closely with our favorite Sabbath songstress Penny, along with each of the camp leaders and unit leaders. This new approach will allow much more involvement with the individual camps, staff members and campers in planning our services.
Friday night began with Kiddush and a wonderful dinner of roasted turkey, gravy, yams and broccoli. As always, Shabbat dinners finish with a special dessert, this weeks being a very tasty apple crumble. All washed down of with a camp favorite, Grape Bug Juice!
Services consisted of a selection of the “Best Of” songs and introduced this years theme “Blue Star Camps – Forever Home”. Along with traditional service prayers and songs, original thoughts were given by a first time staff member, a returning camper who is now staff, and a long term returning international staff member.
Senior Boy Staff closed the service with a rousing version of Salam that even had our first time International staff dancing in the aisles. If the energy of Friday night is a good indication of how the summer will progress, there is no doubt that it will be the best summer ever and will have everyone knowing that Blue Star Camps will always be “Forever Home”
Big Ass Fans new at Blue Star 2012 By Jennifer Cohen
What’s enormous, silver, and resembles an airplane propeller?
Newly installed this year in each of the dining halls at Blue Star are two Big Ass Fans. (Yes, that’s really what they are called!) Named Isis, (http://www.bigassfans.com/) these fans gently distribute the heat from the ceiling down to the floor. This means our campers stay more comfortable, all while using less energy which is in keeping with BSC commitment go going green.
These High Volume / Low Speed (HVLS) fans move a lot of air with their size (which is up to 24-ft. in diameter), not speed. Thanks to a steady, gentle breeze, Big Ass Fans “cool” by increasing evaporative cooling, or, the rate at which perspiration is evaporated from the skin’s surface. In some cases, the Big Ass Fans (or BAFs) make the surrounding area feel between 8 – 16ºF cooler! The aluminum fan blades spin slowly; the sleek silver blades look like a piece of high-tech architectural art.
No expense was spared to ensure the campers would be kept cool and comfortable throughout their stay so the ultra-sleek fans were installed just before the 2012 camp season started. Blue Star Camps is focused on ensuring our campers stay cool, calm and collected at mealtime. Big Ass Fans help us do just that!
