The Simcha Spot hut makes the perfect atmosphere for candle-making. The tables and chairs drip with warm colorful wax. Chunks of wax sit in a container, and campers can form them into any shape, like a flower, butterfly, heart, or duck. They can add any scent and color and put a wick in the middle and they have their candle. Some campers choose to put the small candles on a string and wear it as a necklace. For campers who want bigger candles, they can take a mold in a variety of shapes, like cylinders, stars, and rectangles. They dip the mold into any color wax they like, and even a few colors to create a multi-layered look. As an extra design, they can use the carving tool to carve out a strip of the wax while its still warm. They twist the piece and then push it back onto the candle. They can also make other decorations on the mold. The candle is then glazed to make it smooth and shiny, and then it dries. The candles are remarkable, creative, and beautiful. Some campers who just want to have fun are sticking their hands into the molten wax and making wax molds of their fists!

Meet Ahavah, one of our Camp Simcha Special campers.

Beyond the fields and the courts of Camp Simcha, a huge bonfire is smoking, and the sound of camp songs echoes in the air. The fire warms us from the cool breeze. Anyone who is up for a second dinner can have hot dogs and corn-on-the-cob. For those who just want a mid-night snack, there are the snacks like popcorn and potato chips. Of course, like at any great bonfire, we are roasting smores and marshmallows. Everything – hot dogs, corn, smores, marshmallows – is stuck on long wooden sticks put into the fire, or is wrapped in silver foil thrown into the fire. Thanks to Mindy, Rivka, and Mickey for making sure everything goes smoothly with the cooking and the fire. Around the campfire sit dozens of campers and staff members, eating, singing songs and enjoying the atmosphere!

Another great concert at CSS! Camp Simcha roared with excitement as soon as the curtains opened, revealing Lipa Shmeltzer and his band. Lipa sang all our favorite songs and we joined along. The room vibrated with song and dance and the lights flashed different colors. Lipa taught us some new songs and dances, too. He also sang slow songs, which we waved our arms to, sitting on the floor altogether. Everyone really enjoyed!

Card day at Camp Simcha featured a casino-turned dining room. Medical staff members became our dealers, and watch out, there’s some serious gambling going on in the Simcha Casino. At one table campers are playing Black Jack; at others, Poker, Roulette, Perpetual Commotion, and other card games. Slap machines give an added twist to the entertainment. Who needs Vegas?! Plus, pick your choice of Strawberry Daiquiris, Cosmos, Pina Coladas, and Margaritas, all freshly made at the bar. Note: please do not drink and drive.

Paul the Caricaturist delighted us with his caricature skills, drawing humorous exaggerated pictures of people. While drawing his first caricature, he taught us the chief features of the face, in order of importance when drawing: eyes, nose ,mouth, eyebrows, and then shape of the face. He made a caricature of the Cat in the Hat, which the audience guessed pretty quickly in middle of his drawing. For his next one, Paul said he’d be drawing a character from a book and a movie. It was the last few details of the face that gave it away – the round thick-framed glasses and the lightning bolt scar in the middle of his forehead screamed Harry Potter. After that, Paul asked for a volunteer from the audience to draw, and Peri was chosen! He drew all the features of her face, even the bow in her hair. He drew one of her earrings and asked for an artistic volunteer who could draw the other. Shira was the one, and artistic she is! Paul also drew Ilana’s face, with all her myriads of freckles. At the end of the show, Paul gave away his pictures to some lucky members of the audience. Of course, campers received the drawings of themselves!

The tables are covered in waxed paper and bowls of fresh-made cookie dough sit on the table. Each camper gets a ball of dough which they roll out using a rolling pin. There are different types of dough: chocolate chip, chocolate, and sugar cookie. With cookie cutters, they make different shaped cookies, like hearts and stars. They can decorate the cookies with colored edible glitter, making them sparkly and tasty! Everyone is having fun making cookies and can’t wait to eat them!

Lee began her acrobatic career when she was just six years old, and has been doing acrobatics since. She blew us away with her dances, spins, splits, and jumps. Lee, from China, first taught us some phrases in Chinese. “Hi, how are you?” in Chinese is pronounced “ni hau ma.” “Im fine” is wahaum hau.” Lee showed us the Chinese Red Ribbon dance. She called up a few volunteers and taught it to them and they performed beautifully! Lee did cool tricks on the Chinese yo-yo, spinning it, throwing it up and down, but always catching it on the string smoothly. For her final act, Lee showed us how she rides a bike, and it’s not like most people… She biked without hands and then she rode backwards. She did a handstand on the bike, and rode around the room while standing on the bike! Lee’s amazing acrobatics kept us all “on our toes.”

Simcha stars are taking over. There is much hidden (and open) talent in Camp Simcha Special but it all became apparent during today’s talent show. There are singers, dancers, actors, gymnasts, and more in camp. Singing acts are very popular. Leah sang Waving Flags with the Hebrew lyrics. Two sisters, Esther and Shterna, sang a duet. Frannie, Rebecca, Gabi, Simi, and Sarah sang their favorite song together. Sol and Channah sang and danced the newest CSS song, Spinning Around. Among our dancers were Leah, Chedvah, and Chaya, who did a cool wheelchair dance, and they were eve asked for an encore! Abby and Rachel did gymnastics, as did Rivka Bracha and Zlatie. Shira, Ilana, Nechama, Rebecca, and Henny did an improv skit, like the ones we saw a few nights ago! These are just a few examples of the many talented campers here in camp. Everyone enjoyed being in the spotlight and they all deserved the huge applause they received!

Today’s Cops and Robbers patrol officer announced breaking news that there’s been a jail break in Camp Simcha! Twenty-eight criminals are running wild on campus. The campers’ job is to find as many of them as possible. Every camper got a sheet with the mugshots of these wanted individuals and they had to race around camp looking for them. Each criminal who was uncovered handed the camper a “found” sticker. Campers earned prizes for their great police-work.