Camp Blog

Straight after our carnival was over, we made our way to the social hall for a concert with Shloime Dachs who we’re privileged to have perform for us every summer! Everyone sang, danced and cheered their hearts out as Shloimie sang many of our favorite songs! He even sang a song for Chani Katz in honor of her Bas Mitzvah and welcomed Sorelle back to camp! Thank you Shloimie for yet another awesome concert!

The entertainment continued after dinner where we enjoyed a “theater sports” show performed by improv artists from the Freestyle Repertory Theatre! The improvers (who called their teams the “Beach Bums” and the “Shpitz’s”) had us laughing away as they challenged each other in various comical improv acts. Many of our campers who were called up to assist in the acts included, Arianna, Rachel, Tzippy, Sarah, Ellen and Leora. Despite deafening cheers for both teams, in the end, the “Beach Bum” team were declared the winners and the “Shpitz’s” came in second. This show as all previous summer performances by the Freestyle Repertory Theatres was hilariously fun and we look forward to future performances!

Now as we speak our camp is slowly making it’s way to bed in preparation for tomorrow’s exciting trip…down the Delaware!

Today, our camp celebrated our annual Deal Day with a carnival! In addition to many excitng booths, our carnival featured a slip and slide, a dunking booth, moonbounces, a bungee-trampoline and a rock climbing wall, just to name a few. Our campers had the time of their lives visiting booths, climbing, jumping and getting wet. Water guns could be spotted throughout, as campers ran around squirting their counselors and friends! In addition to the amazing carnival, our Deal visitors brought all kinds of presents for the campers that they were thrilled to receive! One of our Israeli campers Natalie said ” it’s so nice coming home with all of these presents. Thank you to all of the people from Deal who donated. It makes us so happy.” Hanit said “I’m so excited, I’m going to replace all of my old toys with my new ones!” Deal Day is something our camp greatly looks forward to every year and we thank all of our friends from Deal for making it possible!

Grab a towel and some sunscreen and head on over to our Beach Party! Today, our campers went down to the “beach” where they made pictures out of sand as well as beautiful sand art in shell shaped bottles and necklaces of various other shapes. Across the field by the volleyball court, campers also played in the sand with shovels and pails, building tall sand castles. Afterwards, beach bags slung over their shoulders, they walked through the field, hunting for shells of various sizes and colors that were scattered throughout.

The Shpitz’s went into the “woods” behind the field where they had paintball! Campers were given guns filled with different colored paint balls that they had to shoot at wooden animals that were set up. Said a few of our Shpitz campers “it was awesome!” Now we’re off to lunch and then to a carnival in honor of Deal Day!

Tonight after dinner, the camp was bursting with activity! While our Hot Shot division enjoyed night-swim, Jeanie’s Jellybellies gathered pajama-clad in the social hall for a slumber party, complete with mattresses, blankets, snacks and a big screen showing of Nancy Drew. Across the field, our Israeli chevra got together for a bonfire where they sang tunes, roasted s’mores and ate hot dogs. While all this action was taking place, the Shpitzes “bummed” around camp. Said Ellen G. “I love relaxing and hanging out with my counselor.”

Once the clock struck nine, all the activity stopped and the entire camp came together on the lawn for a dazzling display of fireworks! Beautiful sparks of every color shot over our heads amd illuminated the sky. When it was over, everyone jumped out of their seats and began dancing, music blasting in the background. Mor, one of our Israeli campers said the fireworks were “really cool!” Shani said “it was amazing!” What a perfect end to another perfect day in Camp Simcha!

Today at lunch, in accordance with our topsy turvy theme, our camp was served dinner food instead of the usual dairy spread. After our lunch-turned-dinner was over, we made our way across the dining room where we made beautiful masquerade ball-like masks in honor of Purim! Campers creatively decorated their masks with various color paint, sequins, glitter, and pompoms. The finished products were absolutely spectacular!

While our campers were hard at work on their beautiful masterpieces, twenty five staff members, wearing their own masks as disguise, cleverly hid themselves around camp. Once the mask making was over, the search party began! Everyone ran out of the dining room, in search of the staff and collected a puzzle piece from each hidden girl that in the end was pieced together seperately by division, each resulting in it’s own unique puzzle.

Congratulations to the Israeli division who were the winners of the search!

Move over America ’cause Simcha’s taking over! This morning after breakfast, everyone gathered in the social hall for a talent show showcasing the performances of none other than our camper stars! Everyone clapped and cheered as our entertainers put on spectactular performances that included singing, dancing routines, hoola hooping, a comedy act, a balloon show and a pogo stick performance, among others.

After the show, we caught up with some of our performers and heard what they had to say about the acts they put on. Zoey, who performed “Grease,” said that “being Grease rocked.” Arianna, who sang and danced, commented that “the show was really fun.” Elizabeth, who sang “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus, said that “it was cool.”

Thank you campers for putting on an incredibly enjoyable show- you’ve really got some talent!

Tune in for more on NBC…

Yes, you’ve heard right! Today our camp is in fact celebrating SIMCHAs Purim- the Simcha way… smack in the middle of July! This morning, our dining room was all decked out in celebration- jester hats hanging from the ceilings, large cut-out masks on display and of course Purim music playing throughout. So many exciting activities are in store for us today, beginning now with a Talent Show in the social hall- stay tuned for a full review!

After our party tonight, everyone gathered around the front gate for the last special surprise of the day…a brand new speedboat contributed to the camp by an annoymous donor! Everyone gasped in awe at Simcha’s newest present and immediately welcomed the boat into our family by cheering and singing “Baruch Haba…welcome to Camp Simcha! This truly was the cherry on top of a fantastic day!

Tonight after dinner, dressed in elegant gowns, fancy hats and beautiful makeup, we made our way across the front lawn of camp where a tea party like no other was set up. Beautiful and bright pink, green and yellow table cloths were draped across the tables, miniature porcelain tea cups were spread across and glasses full of various color roses and sunflowers added the finishing touch. Cupcakes, petit fours, fancy “Simcha” cookies, candies, tasty fruit punch and lemonade ganished with lemon slices were set up on gorgeous display and delightful music created a charming atmosphere. In the back, a hat station was set up where campers designed and decorated straw hats with ribbons, bows, lace and flowers.

As the party went on, a few of our campers waltzed to the music, while some others went Harry Potter style, engaging in a game of “Quidditch” with actual brooms! All in all, our tea party was spectacularly delightful! Elizabeth said her favorite part was the food. Said Ellen “the tea party had some of the best desserts I ever had in my entire life!”

Today after lunch, we made our way into the social hall for a very special and very rare treat…Lipa Shmeltzer in concert!! This very concert truly was one-of-a-kind in Simcha concert history! Lipa, accompanied by new up and comers Shloimie Gertner and Benny Webber sang many of our favorite songs (both fast and slow), including his new popular “Hentelach” and even sang Simcha’s rendition “We are high on Tamiflu”!

Throughout the concert, the singing, dancing and cheering never ceased. Rachel R. said “the concert was awesome!” Sorelle thought “it was geshmak!” Remarked Chani K. “I love Lipa!”