webmaster, Author at Camp Simcha & Camp Simcha Special

Takeoff!

August 11, 2013Leave a Comment

Our colorful scarves whipping in the wind, we began the countdown: 10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1 – Takeoff!!! Campers embarked upon the legendary journey to the moon, boarding a helicopter-spacecraft, Apollo 11. Propellers whirled deafeningly. The atmospheric conditions were perfect for aerial flight – clear blue skies and bright shining sun. Our astronauts could barely contain their excitement as they boarded the craft, prepared to make history. We waved as they ascended to where no man had ever gone before. It was “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Then, as the pounding propeller sounds faded into the stratosphere, a loud rumbling noise pervaded the camp. A fleet of 11 shiny chrome bikes roared into camp. The campers donned motorcycle helmets and mounted the massive bikes, holding on tightly as they sped off in a cloud of dust.

-T

Biblical Times

August 9, 2013Leave a Comment

Our biblical Israelites prepared for Exodus from Egypt by pressing wine, baking matzot and decorating tambourines. Campers could stomp grapes with their feet like they did in the olden days, or they could squeeze them with their fingers into a strainer to be collected for cooking, (and this Shabbat we will enjoy the fruits of our labor). They mixed together flour and water and each rolled out their own personal matzot. Then, they decorated their own tambourines with colored markers, ribbons and tiles. Exodus, here we come!

-T

Reliving History

August 9, 2013Leave a Comment

In accordance with today’s theme – biblical times – the campers got to see, touch, and even try on antiques from 3000 years ago. Rabbi Deutch from The Living Torah Museum presented us with the personal jewelry of Ramses wife, the Queen of Egypt. Campers modeled the stunning royal necklaces and bracelets that were excavated from Ramses’ tomb. Then, we saw a selection of ancient coins. One was an ancient Greek coin with the king Antiochus’ picture engraved upon it. It was discovered on a sunken Greek boat on the Mediterranean Sea. He also passed around an original Machatzit Hashekel (half-shekel coin), as well as a coin that is almost 2000 years old, with the only picture of the Second Temple imprinted on it. Afterwards, campers were able to hold and stroke real stuffed animals: a lamb, a baby goat, a deer, a fox, and a full-size wolf. We were then presented with one of the catapulting stones that the Romans shot at Israel’s walls. There was a contest to see if any of the staff could hold it above their heads for 4 whole minutes. (It’s a lot harder than it sounds – trust me, I tried!) Then, at the end of his fascinating presentation, Rabbi Deutch presented every camper with a free copy of his new book! Thank you so much for the captivating journey back in history!

-T

The Sky’s The Limit: Night Activity August 8th

August 8, 2013Leave a Comment

Performers at halftime for every team in the NBA, led by Ken Kovach – 3-time National Trampoline Champion, and current holder of a Guinness World Record for the most revolutions through a hula hoop while jumping and somersaulting on a trampoline – the Skyriders graced the Camp Simcha gym, clad in red, white, and blue. With a repertoire of complex sequences of forward and backward flips, twists, and somersaults, the acrobats elicited roaring cheers from the audience.

Then it got even better. One performer strapped on a bounce-board (like a flexible trampoline snowboard), and held poses in the air, flipping and spinning even higher. Next, they pulled out a pair of 150 cm snow skis. Then a wakeboard. Then a snowboard. Spinning, flipping, somersaulting, almost hitting the ceiling, the acrobats were unstoppable.

When Ken pulled out bouncy neon-green ball, he selected a few camper volunteers – our very own Mika L., Grace F., Jordana K. and Tallie E. – to participate in a stunt! Each threw the green ball at the precise moment that the acrobats somersaulted, and they had to try and catch the ball mid-flip.

Throughout the show, Simcha-spirit was exploding from the bleachers. The acrobats nearly hit the gym rafters a couple of times, but if was definitely the Simcha energy that raised the roof! Ken Kovach said it best himself after the show: “This is the best camp ever! It’s the best energy of any camp we’ve ever [been to]. We love coming here; Camp Simcha rocks!” Then he grinned. “Zai gezunt” (take care).

-T

The Stone Age Life

August 8, 2013Leave a Comment

Era: Prehistoric/Stone Age

Campers and counselors walk the grounds as dinosaurs, cavewomen and, in particular, the Flintstones. In Stone Age fashion, campers made Stepping Stones; they took wet circular slabs of gray, red, or brown concrete and decorated them with stones, small colored pebbles, shiny bottle-caps, seashells, and colored glass. These beautiful, one-of-a-kind pieces of stone-art now decorate the pathway of Erica’s Garden.

In addition, campers are now proud pet owners! Campers transformed small, black stones with metallic marker decorations and created their very own pet rocks.

In Caveman Storytelling, they rolled picture dice and wove together an original story with contributions related to the images. What does a kid playing baseball, a turtle in a fedora, prayer, medicine, Camp Simcha, dancing, and a megaphone have in common? One story went as follows: A man was driving when he ran over a turtle. Devastated, he rushed the turtle to the hospital to receive immediate care, but the terribly unlucky turtle was hit by a baseball. The man prayed intently for the welfare of the turtle. Soon after, the turtle was traveling past a stop-sign when he met his best friend: a caveman in a wheelchair. They went to Camp Simcha together, where they danced and had a huge celebration.

At the Archeological Dig, the campers once again displayed their creative flairs. They were presented with ancient artifacts recovered from an archeological dig right here at Camp Simcha: chess pieces, dinosaurs, pirates, and Silly Bands. From these relics, they pieced together history, and acted it out.

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, Camp Simcha was just a barren wasteland where dinosaurs roamed freely, until a band of pirates arrived and plotted to capture and kill the dinosaurs with their arsenal of Silly Bands. The pirates were wildly successful, and they celebrated their skill until they realized that with no more land to plunder or dinosaurs to trap…they were actually quite bored. So one pirate mastermind invented a new pastime, a game he called chess, which the pirates soon grew quite fond of and played every waking moment. And that is the real history of Camp Simcha. And chess.

-T

Night Activity: August 7th, 2013

August 7, 2013Leave a Comment

Piercing whistle. Before us, in white and black stripes, is The Referee. He introduces his troupe: The Freestyle Repertory Theatre – improve actors. There are two teams: Beauty and the Beast (team red) and The Ugly Duckling (team blue), and they must complete their assigned challenges before the Referee blows his whistle.

Round 1

Contender: The Ugly Duckling (red)

Occupation: Nurse

Challenge: Try. To. Tell. A. Story. Switching. Off. Between. The. Two. Actors. One. Word. At. A. Time.

A nurse is studying her charts and looking at blood when suddenly, she discovers…talking blood! This magical blood begins to sing and its melodious sounds engulf the entire hospital with its beautiful voice.

Contender: Beauty and the Beast (blue)

Action: Taking blood

Challenge: Tell a story with your hands behind your back while your hand motions are performed by a hidden camper behind your back.

Volunteers: Grace F. & Rochel Leah’le

In a creative twist on the action, lady meets vampire, with hilarious hand-motions.

Round 2

Contender: The Ugly Duckling (red)

Challenge: Act out a skit interspersed with camper-provided similes – the crazier, the better!

Volunteers: Morgan D. and Anny S.

A girl comes with her father to a camp that is like a crab. She is nervous about making friends, and her stomach feels like a wave, and she frets like a bouncing ball, until her father reassures her that she will make friends in no time, like a movie star.

Contender: Beauty and the Beast (blue)

Occupations: 2 farmers

Challenge: Act out a scene, switching from English to Gibberish and back every time The Referee rings a bell.

The farmers assess their measly flower crop:

“Look at this. Uckenblesh kiferonsehg blabbindod oh no we are dirt poor and fiddle blop diklywaddle I think we have to sell the horse!”

“But widdleplumtinluckerd flobberquderontip we can’t! I don’t want to part with him, safidjohdiskl sherdfaukhk! At least let me be the one to go to market.”

And thus began the story of the farmers and thlosdlenigx gerdenshnopper.

Round 3 (Tell a story about summer)

Contender: The Ugly Duckling (red)

Scenario: Girl walks into a bakery

Challenge: 2 camper volunteers act out a story as one improv actor narrates.

Volunteers: Chani R. & Sienna W.

Chani walks into a bakery, ordering cookies and cake. Sienna, behind the bakery counter, goes to fill the order when she runs into “Eddie,” the crazy, wild-eyed, baker, who threatens to stick Chani in the oven (named Summer). Appalled, Sienna springs into action, slapping Eddie across the face, magically turning him into jelly. Now, the one kind of cookie that chain and Sienna had never tasted was jelly cookies, so they throw jelly Eddie into Summer… and they had the best summer ever.

Contender: Beauty and the Beast (blue)

Scenario: Mother helps her daughter pack for summer camp

Challenge: The Barbie Doll – the actors can talk all they like, but cannot move any part of their bodies until is tapped by a camper volunteer.

Volunteers: Chaya S. & Chani K.

Bodies held in strange positions, mother and daughter move across the stage rusty-Tin-Man style, as they comically attempt to coordinate the task of packing a suitcase.

Round 4

Contender: Beauty and the Beast (blue)

Challenge: Tell a one-minute collaborative story, contributing when The Referee points to you.

Volunteers: Chavy P., Sarah H. & Trany K.

Melinda desperately wants to win the pie-throwing contest, practicing nonstop in her room throwing pies at her mirror. Disheartened, she cries and cries, sobbing until her tears fill the soil, creating a flower that smells like… pie perfume! With this unique olfactory advantage, Melinda has no problem winning the pie-throwing contest.

Contender: The Ugly Duckling

Challenge: Create a one-minute scene about sleeping

A counselor comes into a bunkhouse to make sure that everyone is sleeping. “Hey you! Stop yawning and sleep! Wait. Where do you think you’re going young lady? Gina! Get back here!” She orders everyone out of bed and…March! We’ll get her! A counselor-in-training drags Gina back, and commands Jenny to take Gina’s hat as punishment. The counselor is complimented on his developing strictness.

Whistle! Time’s up. No…wait. It seems The Referee forgot to look at the time. Do-over. Same scene, this time in 30 seconds.

The actors comply… Whistle. Ahh whoops. The Referee forgot again. Do-over. This time in 15 seconds.

Like someone had hit the fast-forward button, the actors speed through the scene, and – Oh my gosh! The actor fell off the stage.

The referee shakes his head. “I told you to do the scne the same way, and last time nobody fell. Now you have to do the scene this way, but in 5 seconds.

The actors were a fuzzy blur as they whipped across the stage: Don’t yawn!Oh no!March!Take her hat!falls off stage. And..whew! That was fast.

A huge round of applause for the amazing Freestyle Repertory Theatre actors and our Referee!!

-T

The Future: Robotic Age; Last Full Day of Camp Simcha Special Boys

August 4, 2013Leave a Comment

It’s hard to register the fact that Camp Simcha Special Boys 2013 is coming to a close. As we look back and acknowledge what was accomplished here and the fun we had together, it was definitely the best summer ever, in the greatest camp in the world. The greatest finish line in the world. It is hard to fathom how much fun was packed into these few weeks, hence the hard work and effort which went in on the staff’s side. Everyone worked hard together to collectively make this summer the best ever. From the shows to concerts, to Color War and workshops, the memories and accomplishments of this summer will last a lifetime.

Oh, I’m getting side-tracked here. Well, while we are physically waving good-bye to each other, inside we are still closer than ever. Not only counselors to campers, but within the entire Camp Simcha family, everyone to each other.

For ‘the future,’ a huge rocket ship with fire blasters and another colorful robot stood erect next to the stage, not far from some smaller robots, made of aluminum and other shiny, silver paraphernalia. This morning the campers got a chance to complete any unfinished projects in any of the variety of workshops camp has to offer. It was ‘open workshops’ activity. Afterwards, the camp went to the Social Hall to watch a Duvie “The Legend” Becker presentation: “Curious Yoel in the Fancy, Shmancy Airplane,” a musical play performed by staff and campers. It was very amusing and we enjoyed the singing and acting in the performance.

Following lunch, we were treated to another surprise Social Hall performance: Edon, a young, Jewish singer who starred on America’s Got Talent last year. He sings while playing guitar and while playing piano, and stunned the crowd by his amazing performance. It was a privilege to have him come to Camp Simcha, to end off on a ‘high note.’

Camp is packing up now and preparing for the grand banquet being held tonight, which will be followed by the camp video and a fireworks show by the lake.

From my side of the desk, it was a pleasure writing the blogs for Camp Simcha Special, and wish you all the best. This was my first session in Camp Simcha and it was an unbelievable experience I will never forget. Well, believe it or not, camp is almost over, but the memories are not… So long until next time!

Sincerely, Yaakov Z. Drebin

Final Shabbos in Camp Simcha Special for 2013

August 3, 2013Leave a Comment

The last Shabbos of Camp Simcha Special Boys 2013 was a special one indeed. As we had time to get closer to one another and understand the reality that there are only a few days left to camp, this Shabbos left an impression on us all.

We all enjoyed Duvie ‘The Lgend’ Becker’s entertainment for the last Shabbos of the 2013 season, with the weekly middos awards and stories on Friday night, followed by some comedy skits and more Shabbos day. The skits this week starred three pairs of actors to see who will make it to the finals: the Lubavitch pair, the Litvak pair, and the Hasidik pair. The stand-up comedy was hysterical and the camp voted for their favorite actors to take it all the way.

During the afternoon Duvie hosted his weekly Bingo game in the Social Hall with the amazing prizes as always: Coby iPod, Coby iPad, sports jerseys, and more. Duvie proudly proclaimed that a study was made on ten blindfolded people, each of which were given an Apple iPod shuffle and a Coby iPod Shuffle, along with a pair of Beats headphones, and all except one (90%) claimed the Coby ones sounded better… so lucky are the winners of these Coby mp3 players!

Following a kumzitz on the porch of the dining room, overlooking the sunset towards the end of Shabbos, we came inside for a melave malka with delicious food and pumping music. After the melave malka some of the divisions gathered around campfires to conclude their night and end off on a ‘high’ note.

Even though there is only one full day left to Camp Simcha Special, there are still plenty of exciting surprises approaching. Stay tuned…

Friday, The Stone Age…

August 2, 2013Leave a Comment

Wow, what a way to end off an action-packed week in Camp Simcha Special!

We went back several thousand years to the Stone Age today… Firstly, the dining room was transformed into one big cave! Well, not quite. But it did have cave to fit several people, fully furnished with lanterns and..rocks. If you look around you may catch a glimpseof members of the Flintstones and a couple of cavemen.

We had a unique opportunity today, in light of the theme. We had a visit from R’ Shimon Deutsch of the Living Torah Museum here, in camp! He brought with him several real ancient artifacts from some of his museums, all of which we were able to hold and/or wear. He is known for his fully hands-on exhibits, which people come from all over the world to study and ‘touch the past.’ He has actual items, including weaponry, eating utensils, clothing, manuscripts, and currency mentioned throughout the Torah and during the times of the fist and second Temples. He brought with him a chain vest and helmet worn by gladiators, a sword and shield, a spear, and more, which we were able to wear and hold. It was a fascinating experience! He explained everything that was on display and we even got a free book of his to take home with us!

One afternoon activity was car washing some of the cars in camp. It was a lot of fun playing with the soap; whoever was there got his share of it! Another activity taking place was a hockey game in which everyone was able to play. In addition, the pool and lake were open for swimming,boating, and many other activities and workshops that camp has to offer. Wow, what a week! Well, Shabbos is coming up and there is plenty more in store for us…

Let the Good Times Roll – Bike 4 Chai’s Arrival in Camp Simcha Special

August 1, 2013Leave a Comment

The entire Camp Simcha Special family, along with friends and family of the bikers, waited with great anticipation earlier this afternoon for the arrival of the unbelievable Bike 4 Chai bike-a-thon riders. While gathering near the entrance of camp, we watched and cheered as the bikers ‘rolled’ in at approximately 3:30, as they crossed the ‘Greatest Finish Line in the World,’ completing their journey of 175 miles from Asbury Park, NJ to Camp Simcha in Glen Spey, NY. After two days of intense bike riding and perhaps months of training, the bikers smiled as they crossed the finish line and acknowledged that their efforts ‘paid’ off. While they made their way through the entrance and into camp, upbeat music played as the crowd and the bikers danced and cheered. We all immensely appreciate the work that these people put in, and the funds that the bike-a-thon raised for Chai Lifeline.

After the bikers received their much-deserved greeting in camp, the camp and guests headed to the gym for a special program for everyone to enjoy. First some of the campers ‘rolled’ into the gym, with a fog machine and lighting to add to the scene, to the song ‘Rolling,’ specially modified for today’s event. The camp danced to that beat as well. Then the bikers put on a special performance of ‘Never say Never,’ dancing in the bleachers before the crowd. Dembi thanked the bikers and their sponsors before the crowd, expressing the appreciation of the Camp Simcha and Chai Lifeline family.

After the ceremony in the gym, the guests went to the tent by the tennis courts for a BBQ while the camp went to a Benny Friedman concert in the social hall. Some members of the Rosenblatt Orchestra, including a trumpet player and saxaphone player, were added to the concert. It was awesome! We went wild when he sang his popular ‘Yesh Tikvah’ and everyone enjoyed it very much. Even after an afternoon of dancing for Bike 4 Chai, we still had energy for the concert; Benny helped us out with that!

Following the concert and then supper, we went to night activity in the social hall, which was Simon Says by Steve Max. It looks easy, but it’s not when you’re trying to keep up with him! He talks so fast that almost everyone gets out, but one person got a t-shirt for lasting the longest without getting out.

What a day,here in Camp Simcha Special! We had so much fun here in camp, but there’s only a few days left! Well, there are always plenty of surprises in store…

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