ParentSpace Blog
Once upon a time…
Once upon a time there was a camp where all princesses could go to have the very best summer that they could imagine. This camp was located in Glen Spey, NY and its initials were CSS. Some say that CSS stood Cool Stupendous Sanctuary, and others say that it stood for Camp Simcha Special.
On July 8, 2010, all the princesses at CSS dressed up in their tiaras and ball gowns for a magical day. In the first activity of the day, the youngest princesses got to play a game called princess power. Winners won a variety of prizes including princess puzzles, scrunchies, stickers, and jewelry.
After lunch, princesses from Shana and Sarah’s divisions left for a trip to the bowling alley. Though bowling is not exactly a royal-like activity, the princesses enjoyed the experience nonetheless.
At dinner, Shloime Dachs came to sing at CSS’s grand ball. The princesses danced and sang until they were exhausted, at which point it was time for the three princesses of CSS: Princess Emily, Princess Nechama, and Princess Rivky to perform. Emily wrote a speech saying that though CSS is undoubtably the best camp for princesses in the world, if she were to be elected princess of CSS, she would have a transport limousine for each bunk and breakfast in bed. Nechama composed a beautiful poem detailing why she should be elected princess of CSS. Finally, Rivky sang a song with a chorus of: “vote Rivky D!” All princesses were winners, and were crowned princesses of CSS!
After CSS’s grand ball, the Silbers joined the CSS royalty for the ribbon cutting ceremony of CSS’s brand new infirmary. CSS’s new infirmary was rumored to be a large, technically advanced, and welcoming facility complete with the most top of the line medical equipment. The younger princesses especially liked how the rooms were decorated to look like a farm, though some could not understand why there were stuffed animal heads on the walls. On behalf of all the princesses of CSS, we would like to publicly thank the Silbers for our infirmary. THANK YOU!!!!
The princesses were treated to yet another activity when some fellow princesses put on a play called “Finally Ever After.” The play centered around the storyline of some famous princesses including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Jasmine, and Ariel. The CSS princesses that performed were Evelin, Gavriela, Leah, Chani, Frannie, Chumie, Miriam, Rebecca, Ahuva, Rina, Shterna, Rachel, Malka, Rebecca, Ziva, Liat, Rachel, and Alexis. The play was phenomenal!
The princesses capped off their night with a fireworks show in the field at CSS. After a long night, the princesses headed off to their royal bunkhouses to get some sleep in preparation for another exciting day at the one and only camp for princesses in Glen Spey…
Imagine if you Lived in a Haunted House
Good morning Camp Simcha Special! I’m really glad that it’s morning because if it was night, I’d be pretty scared in the dining room. There are zombies, skeletons, ghosts, and cobwebs. Most campers agree that it is “pretty gross,” but I’d like to focus on the “pretty” and say that though it looks scary over here, it does looks “pretty awesome.”
At lunch today, we had a screaming competition between Samara and Mara to see who could do the best spooky house shriek. There were no winners because everyone was just too excited that our hearing was still intact. We also called up a couple of campers who got blindfolded and had to guess what they were feeling inside of a bowl. Rivky got ketchup and Chaya got cottage cheese. A little later in the day we got to see some division heads and counselors in their zombie best perform their rendition of thriller!
For night activity, we had a one man circus by Michael Dubov. We were really impressed with his juggling skills and Rachel W. only had to pick up the balls that he dropped a couple of times. Then, Rachel L. was called up to help with a card trick. When Michael pulled her card out of his mouth, Rachel was impressed, but she decided not to take it back. Then, Chumie and Krak were called up and Michael tried to guess what word they were thinking of. We were astounded when he guessed that Krak’s word was newspaper! For the finale, Mr. Dubov juggled machetes on a tightrope. After a most entertaining show, our campers headed to their bunkhouses to rest up for whatever CSS will bring us tomorrow. Have a great night!
Under the Sea…
(Sung to the tune “Under the Sea” from Disney’s The Little Mermaid)
The seaweed is always greener
By Simcha Special, it’s true
You dream about going up there
But this blog will just have to do
Today the whole world around us
Looked just like an ocean floor
Imagine you’re under the sea; that’s where you’ll find us
What more could we have hoped for?
Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it’s better
Down where it’s wetter
Take it from me
On today’s hottest summer day
With tons of water we kept the heat away
While we devotin’
Full time to floatin’
Under the sea
Scuba divers came to make our campers happy
‘Cuz they got to do scuba in our pool
Water fights and sprinklers also made us happy
And there were mist tents to keep us cool
We had some activities out on the lake
Sarah B. loved the motor boat
And some Sushi our campers did make
And in the pool we did float
Under the sea
Under the sea
Our counselors got dressed
In their underwater best
Like Nemo and Dory
We had quite a lot of sponge bobs running around
Our dining room had seaweed on the ground
We got no troubles
We even had bubbles
Under the sea
Under the sea
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here
Naturally
Everyone in Simcha Special shout Hooray
We always got the urge ‘n’ start to play
We got the spirit
You got to hear it
Under the sea
For night activity tonight
The Sky Riders came
They did a professional trampoline show
But our Meira put them to shame
When she got on the trampoline and had a go
She did some flips too
(But they were still awesomely cool)
(Yeah)
The ray he can play
The lings on the strings
The trout rockin’ out
The blackfish she sings
The smelt and the sprat
They know where it’s at
An’ oh that blowfish blow
Under the sea
Under the sea
Our counselors got dressed
In their underwater best
Like Nemo and Dory
We had quite a lot of sponge bobs running around
Our dining room had seaweed on the ground
We got no troubles
We even had bubbles
Under the sea
Under the sea
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here
Naturally
Everyone in Simcha Special shout Hooray
We always got the urge ‘n’ start to play
We got the spirit
You got to hear it
Under the sea
Superstars in Simcha
Get out your autograph books; this place is swarming with superstars! We have Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, and even Madonna lookalikes walking around camp. The paparazzi is blinding as their flashes click in front of our eyes. Campers are (as always) getting red carpet treatment. Welcome to Simchallywood!
Today marked the first day of intensive workshops, in which our two oldest divisions got to choose from a range of activities that they would like to master. For the rest of this week, our campers will concentrate on those skills so that they could become professionals by the time they leave camp. The workshops include drums, keyboard, first aid, embroidery, ceramics, and drama. Emily chose embroidery because it is a skill that she never tried before. She really enjoys it and is working on making a towel. I just saw it and it is GORGEOUS! Ziva chose drama because she is a talented actress and singer. She was given the role of Snow White. Can’t wait to see the play this Thursday!
After lunch, we had a show by Improv in the social hall. Girls got called up from the audience to help competing actors in an improv acting competition! Lea got interviewed and told the camp that she is a professional dancer. Libby pretended to be a bumblebee tuna. After the show, our actresses began to prepare for the talent show.
Our highlight for the day was the annual Simcha’s got Talent in the social hall! And let me just tell you that Simcha has most definitely got Talent! There were way too many amazing acts to get into, but here were a couple: Katie played guitar while Rachel sang, Gavriela and Stephanie sang solos, Franny, Rebecca, and Sarah sang a trio, Mara showed us an amazing charcoal painting, Samara showed us how to scream really loud and then sang us a solo, Ahuva and Shaindy did some gymnastics, and Ashira walked for us. There were so so many others but writing doesn’t do it justice. You have to see this stuff to believe it. So I will stop here…
Imaging if you lived in the Olden Days
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. The date today is July 4, 1773. Yes, you read that right-1773. Today in CSS we went back in time. We had colonial waitresses serving us an outdoor breakfast. Campers and counselors were dressed in bonnets and long dresses. We even had an old fashioned fair complete with pie making, spinning wheels, and soap making! But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll tell you about that in a minute…
Our week started off once again with a ballet class for our early risers. Breakfast today was quite a treat! Our waitresses dressed up in their 18th century garb and served us porridge. After breakfast, we had some fun workshops including one in which campers baked American flag cakes to celebrate America’s 234th birthday! After pottery, mosaics, swim, leather, ropes course, boating, baking and scrap-booking, it was time for lunch.
Following lunch, Miriam, Rachel, Gabriella, Molly, Sari and Chaya Brocha took turns singing America’s national anthem. After the professional singing from our campers, we had some other professionals sing for us: Eli and Yaakov Mordechai Gerstner! As usual, staff and campers rocked, jumped, twisted, and spun to the music making our second concert at CSS another huge success!
After our concert we travelled back in time yet again to experience a colonial fair. Campers were able to choose from a variety of booths including candle-making, candy apple-baking, basket weaving, wood carving, pail engraving, pie making, sewing, and soap making! Some campers even got to learn how to pump water by hand which is a skill that everyone in the 21st century really should know.
In addition to the fair, we had a petting zoo come to our basketball field! We had horseback riding and a monkey show. We were also able to look at (and touch, for those of us who wanted to…) turtles, rabbits and snakes. Rachel held the rabbits and Elana ran around with the snake.
After dinner, campers and counselors were able to dress up in old fashioned outfits and our professional photographers took pictures of them set against a vintage background. Then, we headed to the gym for our night activity. Tonight’s night activity was a competition in which we pitted the head staff against each other! Reuven and Michael Vatch had to diaper stuffed bears and make Jelly ‘n Fluff sandwiches. Our nurses had to carry eggs across the gym. The nurses at CSS are so precise, accurate, and talented that they had to do it three times until any of them got out! The DH’s had to put makeup on each other blindfolded. They were quite a sight to see! After the competition, we had a lantern tour around CSS while our guide told us stories about the olden days. And now we’re back to the 21st century and awaiting tomorrow and the future fun we’ll have in CSS. I’ll keep you updated tomorrow… Have a great night!
Superheros in Simcha!
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s superman, spiderman, batman, hatzolah man (?)! Imagine if you were a superhero. We don’t have to imagine much because everyone in CSS is a hero in her own right, but we got to dress up like superheroes which was totally fun.
At lunch today, our campers showed off their superpowers. Bailu lifted a noodle with her super strength. Malky did a split. Shterna did a pretzel. Other campers played the piano and sang songs.
After lunch, David Garrity performed a magic show called “Magic of Illusionist” in the social hall. Melanie cut a white string that somehow never became even. Rivky and Samantha drew on a kerchief and their drawing miraculously appeared in an apple core. Libby performed a trick with a ring, and Bethany did a magic trick with a coloring book. David Garrity’s superpowers perplexed us all and we had a great show!
Right before Shabbat, the Simcha Spa opened and our campers were able to get their hair, nails, or makeup done. (or all three!) Now all our gorgeously made up campers and counselors are eagerly awaiting the Shabbat meal tonight. Have a good Shabbat!
Welcome to the Wild Wild West
Imagine if you lived in the wild west. There would be cowboys and indians. Sheriffs and shotguns. Horses and bonfires. In CSS we had all that and more. Even the horses!
When we entered the dining room this morning, we thought we were on the set of a western. We had a saloon, a bank, a jail, and even a wanted sign. There was western music blaring, ranging from the conventional “cotton eyed joe” to the more modern “hoedown throwdown.” Campers and counselors danced away in their cowboy hats and boots.
In sweet shop, we made horses & buggies using sandwich cookies, pretzels, honey, and twizzlers. By swimming, Bethany, Alexis, and Lea passed the deep water test- congratulations! After our morning activities, some divisions went horseback riding!
After lunch, Simi sang the hoedown throwdown and Blimie taught the whole camp the “Yavo” dance. Then, campers took turns trying to throw a lasso around a stuffed horse. Sterna almost got it! Then, the camp sang happy birthday to Molly and Samara. For Molly’s birthday, her bunk had a party complete with candy, a pinata, and a showing of Free Willy. Samara’s party was held in the sweet shop where her bunk got to have all the candy that they wanted! Happy birthday from the whole CSS family!
For night activity tonight we had square dancing! Our CSS dancers as usual rocked the dance floor. After, we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows, hotdogs, and s’mores. Aviva brought her guitar and we all sang ’round the campfire into the night…
After Dinner Acrobats
So I was partially right about the chocolate night activity. Right after dinner, Willy Wonka called up the three girls who found golden tickets today for a bubble-gum blowing competition! Shira blew the biggest bubble and won a set of Disney Princess dolls. After, the division heads were called up for another competition, this one involving CHOCOLATE! A camper from each division was called up to hold a plate of whipped cream and chocolate chips. The DH that got the most chocolate chips out of the whipped cream (with her mouth) by the time the music stopped won a prize for her whole division. I think that Chumie won but no one really knows because after about three minutes it all ended in a food fight! I don’t want to get into details because it can get kind of gross, but let me just tell you that there was chocolate EVERYWHERE. The perfect end to chocolate day!
After our Willy Wonka games, we headed to the social hall where twin acrobats all the way from France performed an amazing show with some outrageous stunts! Jennifer said that it was a great show, but she was afraid that the acrobats would fall off their stilts. Turns out they didn’t fall but they did wow us with some cool tricks on a unicycle, juggling with fire, and flipping over each other in balloon stuffed costumes. (I know it sounds a little strange but trust me, it was really cool.)
After the show, campers used their money that they collected from millionaire day to bid in a Camp Simcha Special auction! Prizes ranged from a Hanna Montana charity box to a slumber party in the video room. And that is all for today…have a great night!
Imagine the world was made of Chocolate
It is a widely known fact that Camp Simcha Special has awesome food. So what happens when you imagine Camp Simcha Special is made of chocolate?! There are fondue fountains in the dining room! Campers are making chocolate lollypops and houses! (don’t worry they’re miniature houses) We have giant hershey bars decorating the dining room! It’s insane!
Ballet yesterday was a success so our morning started once again with our early risers stretching, plie-ing, arabesque-ing, and releve-ing. Sweet shop today was quite a treat because we got to do chocolate molding. Rivky made a rose and Renee made a bear. We also had a special activity where campers got to mold their own creations out of graham crackers, buttercream, and candy. Some girls made houses, some made bunk beds, and some even made their counselors. We can’t say that the counselor creations were very flattering but they definitely tasted good.
The highlight of our afternoon was at lunchtime when we celebrated Pessy’s Bat Mitzvah! Huge Mazel Tov to Pessy and her whole family from all of Camp Simcha Special! A chocolate themed Bat Mitzvah is definitely very cool. We hope that you enjoyed!
Almost time for dinner and then a special activity in the social hall. I’ll let you know what it is later tonight, but I bet it’s going to have to do with chocolate.