By Adina Levitin (Staff, Camp Simcha & Camp Simcha Special)
Although the sky was cold and grey, our reunion in camp was warm and colorful! On Friday the 1st, we boarded buses, planes and cars and returned to the happiest place on earth- Camp Simcha. The dining room was decorated in an array of colors with all kinds of delicious candy. After arrivals and lunch, we had a colorful fashion show. Teams in different colors of the rainbow designed gowns and showed off their creations down the runway. Then we had races with jellybeans. It was a sweet time!
Friday night was uplifting and joyous with delicious food and stunning singing. We even met a few new friends! After the meal we had division activities where campers had to create skits using random objects in a bag. One group had to use a potato!
Shabbat day was a blast! Our campers performed different skits to display the concept of “judging one another favorably.” In a humorous way, we learned a powerful lesson.?Next came lunch and then…. BINGO! It was intense! Every camper was a winner and won an awesome prize (thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors!) At dinner, we heard some of our campers speak about their challenges and triumphs. It was certainly inspiring.
After Shabbat ended, the excitement started again with DJ Yitzy rocking the Social Hall. Everyone danced and danced and had a blast!
When we returned to the dining room, we barely recognized it! Ginormous inflatable race courses filled the middle. A huge smorgasbord lined one side, with activity booths along the other. In one night we had enough workshops to match a week in camp! There were booths for lipgloss and eyeshadow making, candied apples, jewelry making, cookie decorating, picture frame decorating, and flower pot pen holders! There was even a professional portrait studio set up where we got to take awesome pictures with hysterical backgrounds! A favorite all around was the crayon melting booth. Using a canvas, a bunch of crayons and a blow dryers, we made colorful artwork! After a long night of creativity and color and time with friends, it was time to go to sleep. Wow, we did a lot!
Sunday morning welcomed us with a yummy breakfast and then… A Simcha style gameshow! Using trivia about camp, we competed for points and prizes. (Do you know how many acres Camp Simcha is?) Before we knew it, it was time to go home, but we went home refreshed and rejuvenated and only more excited for the upcoming summer. Summer 2013- the girls are ready!!!!
Thank you to all the campers, staff, colorfest coordinators and of course, our beloved Rivky for giving us a colorful Shabbat we will never forget!