• Teen Village Camp Leader Rachel Faruque and the teen’s Unit Leader J.J. (James Julius from Senior Boys last year) and I are anticipating a great summer in Teen Village. Rachel and J.J. have engineered some new elements into Village life this summer.
• Teen Village is always the best way to “Make Your Own Summer” at Blue Star, and now it should be even better. We have the expectation that kids in the Village will be responsible citizens and therefore are given more access to everything Blue Star has to offer. We want the Village to Dream BIG and Live Courageously.
• FEEL GOOD about this upcoming season’s Teen Village (as we do) once you read this update. Village life is very different from any other camp in Blue Star and has unique programs, trips, and opportunities to earn Community Service hours.
• We are continuing with the Village Photo I.D. Card which enables you to pick up your mail, visit the Health Center, Central Supply and most importantly, Granny’s Store without a counselor. You may take a counselor with you, but the I.D. Card will make your daily life easier to navigate.
• The first Shabbat of each session this summer will include Dinner and Services at the Top of Mt. Pinnacle at the spectacular Blue Moon Pavilion. The Pavilion at the Peak is the highest elevation in Henderson County overlooking four states. The Pavilion will provide shelter for the entire group if needed. This should be a wonderful evening and it is the first time Blue Star has been invited to use Blue Moon’s unique Pavilion.
• We have scheduled for both sessions, two days of activities with the Boys and Girls Club of Hendersonville. One day we will host a group at camp including Shabbat Dinner and Services in the Chapel. For the second day, we will help them prepare a neighborhood park. Participation is optional. We will need your school’s community service forms while you are still at camp in order to receive your credit for these approved service hours. We have tentatively scheduled two more days of service opportunities during Second Session.
• Thursday, June 16th we will be floating on a guided tubing & rubber kayak trip down the Tuckasegee River. (Attached is a NEW waiver form that both camper and parent will need to sign. This replaces the one previously sent). Since that puts us near Cherokee, N.C. we will take in the new production of “Unto these Hills” which is the story of the forced relocation of the Cherokee people from their mountains to Oklahoma. This is a new version of the story, produced by the Cherokees themselves – The Trail of Tears. Sometime between the end of the River float and the start of “Unto These Hills”, we will have dinner at a local restaurant.
• This summer, the Teen Village three-day, two night trips are to Savannah, GA for First Session and to Charleston, SC for Second Session; the itineraries will be shared with you at a later date. You may remember that the trips include stays in hotels and meals in restaurants as well as visits to outstanding beaches and swims in the warm summer Atlantic Ocean. Don’t worry, we always take a Lifeguard and Wilderness First Responder from camp, as well as a camp videographer. There are many cultural highlights, and you will hear the stories of the Jewish people who first settled in these oldest of American cities.
• Each session in the Village is unique and very distinctive. On Wednesday, July 20 we have booked seats in the first eight rows of The State Theater of North Carolina’s, Flat Rock Playhouse for the production of the musical Hairspray. Last summer, the Village enjoyed their Second Session theater trip to Flat’s Rock’s production of The Producers. We are also scheduling “day trips” on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Our part of the Parkway, including several amazing stops, runs from the Great Smokey Mountain National Park near Gatlinburg, Tennessee all the way to Boone, North Carolina. A day trip on the Parkway is a lifetime memory!
• Perhaps the most important feature in the Teen Village program the last couple of summers is the time you can spend with the campers in our Junior program. The Juniors adore their Village buddies and who doesn’t like being adored?
• The first Tuesday of each summer, the Village hosts the Junior Camp at a Bar-B-Que dinner. The time shared enables you to discover if life as a counselor is attractive. You time with the Juniors is voluntary, and you may opt out, but the Juniors have their Beach parties with Teen Village and other time together is always scheduled.
• There are many other aspects of Teen Village not highlighted in this post; this little glimpse shows you how exciting the Village can be…the choices are yours!

See you soon,

Rodger