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Simcha Magic: Feel It In The Air!

Medieval Day in the Fiefdom

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This morning, at the front of the dining hall stood a stone wall decorated with coats of armor.  A long red carpet led to a royal throne draped in shades of red and purple velvet with hanging gold tassels. In the center of the hall was a medieval tavern with rickety stools and wooden tables covered in tin cups and tankards.

Knights roamed the land, ladies strolled around and peasants scurried about the streets.  Later, the fiefdom participated in a joust-ball, where they used colorful sponge “swords” to maneuver a ball in a communal competition.  After dinner, there was a dance on the red carpet.  Knights and vassals alike eagerly await the night’s coming festivities.

IMG_2740      talyayoyoyoyo

-T

Trip: Part 2 – H2Ohhhh!

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It was dark when we pulled up to H2Ohhhh Indoor Water Park, which was rented out just for the camp.  Upon arrival the lovely staff greeted us at the entrance to the building.  The inner hallway was lined with thatched straw awnings, leading to a balcony overseeing a cavernous tropical oasis.  Palm fronds speckled the room along with other tropical greenery, fountains gushed up from the stone floor, and rows of lounge chair lay to the side, overlooking the attractions:

Leapin Lizards, a shallow wading pool, was fed by a gurgling stream.  A yellow slide stood in the middle, and brightly colored fountains of different shapes jetted streams of water, some shooting high and thick, some low and thin.

The Komodo Dragon was a wide, flat surface, a sharp incline with water rushing upward.  The rider could choose to lie down on a large board or stand on a smaller, narrow one, and, starting from the bottom, ride the current up while maintaining a hold on the board.

The Hurricane Cove was a large pool with rolling waves that campers jumped and rode.  At the shallow end of the pool stood a giant blue mushroom, around eleven feet tall, with sheets of water streaming down. Farther in, the pool branched off into a cove, Lava Springs.  It was surrounded by gushing waterfalls and contained a tall three-sided hoop where the campers enjoyed playing basketball.

At Jungle Falls was an intricate water-jungle-gym containing an ancient stone head, palm trees, and spinning fountains. At the top, a large bucket slowly filled with water until it overturned, spraying anyone nearby.

There were three enclosed waterslides.  Two of them, one pink and one blue, were ridden with light blue tubes, either singles or doubles.  The other slide was yellow, and ridden with a family-size tube, fitting up to five people.  The slides were all pitch-black, enclosed tunnels that splashed the tubes into a small pool at the end.

When the water-park closed, we all changed into dry clothes and headed back to camp. We had a long but exciting day, creating memories that none of us will forget.

-T

Trip: Part 1

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We left camp at ten o’clock, clad in our blue Camp Simcha shirts and pink sweatshirts.  The first stop was… a surprise visit to Lipa Schmeltzer’s house in Monsey!  We were invited into his backyard for a rocking concert.  We looked inside his synagogue, where almost everything was musical, from the musical notes on the walls to the flute mezuzah on the doorpost.  After a pizza lunch and an enormous thank you to Lipa, we boarded the bus and continued our adventure.

The next stop was the New York Botanical Gardens.  We were walking around, taking in the sight of the beautiful foliage, when the clock hit 4:45 and boom! Freeze flash mob! Three minutes later, we all carried on. We regrouped for dinner, then headed back to the buses for the drive to…Pennsylvania!

-T

The Twin From France

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The campers gathered in a huge circle in the social hall to a hysterical performance by The Twins From France (one of them, anyway). After a few unicycle warm-ups, he called up campers to lie down in the center of the circle, more than a foot apart, and he proceeded to jump over one, then two, then four of the campers in one shot. Then, on the unicycle, he bounced over each of them.

Next, he brought out a small high table, a cylinder and a small wooden board. Placing the cylinder atop the table and the board on the cylinder, he pulled a striped woolen hat over his face and stood on the shaky board. Then, he pulled out three gigantic sword-like knives and juggled them while comically maintaining his balance.

For the next act, he brought out an old-fashioned looking bike, with a very high, backed seat and ram-horn handlebars. He performed several bike tricks, such as riding on the back wheel with one hand, jumping on one pedal with only his hands on the handlebars, riding backwards with no hands and other fun stunts. Then, his bike “broke,” and he called up the campers to help him fix it, attaching the seat upside down and the pedals sticking up in the air – and then he rode the new-and-improved edition.

He went backstage, and then emerged from behind the black curtain in a colossal suit, at least six feet in diameter, with at least one hundred balloons stuffed inside. As he performed somersaults and cartwheels, the balloons popped nonstop. He somehow managed to mount his unicycle and he spun on it dizzyingly before jumping off.

Then he brought out a giant unicycle, at least ten feet tall. And after a few comical attempts to mount it, he rode around the room, almost in reach of the ceiling beams. Afterward, we turned off the lights and had a short dance party accompanied by a multihued pulsing strobe light. Then, the campers returned to their seats and the Twin lit and juggled three burning torches in the darkness. After letting campers fan the flames, he blew fire across the room as the heat danced across our faces, eliciting gasps from all sides. Thank you Twins from France for the riveting performance!

-T

The Shooting Range!

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As one camper quipped, “Shooting was an incredible experience that definitely hit the target.” Today, the older bunks went to the Tri States Rod & Gun Club where the instructors, along with some members and volunteer shooters who drove up to Camp Simcha, showed them how to shoot. During the preliminary safety overview, the instructor said that once given the green-light, they should “shoot at will.” Then he added, “There actually is a guy named Will here. So when I say ‘fire at will,’ take your hands – ” he shaped his into a pistol – “and go boomboomboom.”

After the initial safety lecture, lunch, and a second safety run-through, the campers split up into 4 groups: rifles, military rifles, shotguns, and a photo station. Every girl received protective glasses, earplugs, and red headphones (except Shayna, who somehow managed to find pink ones…). They each stood in little compartments, where they were individually assisted by the amazing instructors and volunteer shooters.

The campers shot at still targets, targets that spun when hit, and floating balloons. They were able to put words to shoot at on poster-targets, such as “cancer sucks,” and all the things they hate about cancer. At the end, all that was left of the targets were shreds. When asked about the experience, one girl said, “It was really nice to reciprocate what cancer did to me, and give it back to cancer.”

For some of the campers, this was their first time shooting, while others were already pros, (Rachel R hit one of the spinning targets so many times it broke!), but they all had an incredible time, raving about the trip. “I loved shooting things!”; “It was awesome.”; “I loved holding a gun like Angelina Jolie – it was like I was in a movie, shooting things!”  A huge shout out to the instructors and volunteers who made this unforgettable experience possible.

-T

Deal Day Gifts!

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The room held at least ten tables covered with all types of gifts. There were rows of makeup kits, colorful pyramids of assorted towels, piles of cute bags, and tables of nail polish, One Direction pajamas, pillows, stuffed animals, crocheted hats and more. Campers traveled excitedly around the room, receiving one of every single gift and having an amazing time. Thank you Deal volunteers so much for making this experience so memorable for all of us!

-T

Free Cycle Action Sports Show

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Gathered in the gym, the whole camp along with our awesome friends from Deal watched the 3 vehicular-acrobats from the Free Cycle Action Sports Team with bated breath as they performed incredible bike tricks.

One man rode with one foot on the bike seat and the other on the handlebars, steering with his foot. Then, he stood on one wheel, performing a series of wheelies. They showed off their dance moves, spinning and bouncing the bikes and flipping them around while standing on one wheel.

They then began a sequence of stunts on the ramp, rotating and flipping the bikes in the air. They bounced and spun around on one wheel at the top of the ramp before jumping and zooming back down.

Next, they called up a counselor to hold a bike steady on the gym floor. One man shot down the ramp, sped toward the bike and vaulted over it, accompanied by loud cheering from the audience.

One man stood on his back wheel, his front wheel in the air, and rode the bike by spinning the wheel with his feet. He then proceeded to spin the front of the bike around 11 consecutive times!

Laying out a blue mat, the bikers called down four counselors to lie down. Then they called down another four, for good measure. Seeing the eight counselors side by side, one camper gasped, “Oh no! They’re all gonna get crushed!” One man dragged a mini ramp up to the mat. A biker sped up toward the ramp and then hurtled over all eight girls. Then, one biker lay down on the mat as well. To spice things up, his partner placed a helmet on his tuchus, with a water bottle on top. The other biker rode back and soared over all nine people! Then, as one biker sat on his bike, another leapt over him.

For the final act the bikers rocketed up the ramp and executed full 360° flips off the top, riding back down and pulling up on one wheel. When the Free Cyclers bowed, the entire gymnasium exploded with thunderous applause.

-T

Simon Sez

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“I’m old on the outside, but young on the inside.” Simon looked around. “That means that even though on the outside I’m a grown-up man, inside I’m just like you,” he pointed to a young camper in the front. “A little girl.” Steve Max, aka Simon Sez, engaged the camp in the Social Hall both with both his complex routines and his comedy.

First, he called Chaya and Keren up, and Simon Sed they had to “give a mean serious face” (which turned out to be a little harder than they expected).

Then, Simon called up a group of campers to sing the words “Camp Simchaaaaaaaaaaa,” dragging out the line as long as possible, until they ran out of breath, as he demonstrated. As it turned out, he was able to not only keep the whole camp laughing with his comic entertainment, but amuse us with his operatic singing voice as well. Some of the campers’ lung capacities were very impressive as well!

Next, all the campers lined up to receive an individual short challenge from Simon. Bombarded with a rapid-fire stream of commands, hands flew everywhere, following what Simon Sed: “SimonSezup-SimonSezdown-SimonSeznose-SimonSezears-SimonSeznose-SimonSezears-SimonSeznose-SimonSezears-SimonSezchin-SimonSezbelly-SimonSezup-SimonSezdown…Beeeeeeautifulll Tov Meooohd,” he crooned.

Finally, the whole hall stood up (as Simon Sed), and had a floor-shaking dance party! The show ended off with the camp singing along to “Weeeee Are The Chaaaaampions.” A huge shout-out to Steve Max (and his Bubby) and rock on Simcha Champions!!

-T

Indian Pow-wow

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Haunting flute whispers, rhythmic whistling and hypnotic drumbeats resonate in the Native American Festival. The field is adorned with an encampment of tents, where the campers create tribal instruments and art. They size and connect wooden bamboo pipes, creating panpipe wind instruments, which they then decorate with vivid Indian patterns. They weave threads in intricate designs inside colorful hoops, dangling feathers and beads to produce their own breathtaking dream-catchers. Campers paint Native American keepsake boxes, sew together fringed beaded pouches, decorate totem poles in geometric patterns and feathers, fashion their own drums, dance rattles and rain-sticks. They also design arrowhead necklaces and amulets.

Across the field is a bonfire. Campers encircle the crackling blaze on tree stumps, holding an assortment of taut drums. Led by the ceremony master, Drum Man George, they bang mallets in tribal beats. Campers’ husked corn is wrapped in foil then tossed into the fire to cook. Above the hissing flames, the air rises in hazy waves as the beat picks up in tempo, faster and faster, culminating in a dramatic swelling crescendo.

-T

Simchastock

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As evening arrived, all members of Camp Simcha convened on the lawn, gathering from across the four corners of the campus at the world-renowned Simchastock.  The festival began with a barbecue, as we sat laid out on blankets on the grass.  To the side were tents with tie-dying and hemp bracelet- and stretchy bracelet-making.  Faux Real (the camp’s resident band) grooved to classic Beatles songs.  Then Open Mic and the talent show began. We were graced with soulful singing, lively dancing, gymnastics, instrumental song renditions, and even a broom-balancing act.  We grooved into the night as the light faded and the darkening sky sparkled with stars.  The air was filled with love, music, happiness and friendship (as it always is at Camp Simcha).  It was truly a beautiful loving evening.  Good night and peace out!

-T