Wow, what a night! First off, we had the Farewell Banquet, which was an awesome outdoor buffet, with a carving station, and tons of other delicious foods. After that, everyone gathered in the social hall for the camp video, put together by our amazing media team. when the video ended the whole camp went down to the lake for an enormous fireworks display!
The Secret to Goodbyes
We are a wonderful lot of “goodbye procrastinators!” We’ve managed to spend an entire evening singing with Dalia Uziel who showed up for a surprise dinner concert while the waitresses popped in with a hip-hop flash mob! We’ve posed for last minute pictures, admired the black and red decor set up for our final banquet freckled with wands, balloons and card-suits center pieces. And still, we haven’t managed to say our goodbyes. Or maybe, we just aren’t trying hard enough. Either way, our banquet was followed by a ceremonial session in the social hall where we said our tremendous “Thank-you’s” to our dedicated staff and watched the culmination of our color-saturated craze this session put together by Malky, our Video Media Head, Meryl and Dina, our videographers and Rochel and Michelle, our video editors. A huge shout out to the entire Media Department for their efforts and devotion this entire session! And still, amidst the memories, the moment by moment reminiscing, we just haven’t found a spare moment for goodbyes. Our final event of the night, a sky full of fire works, welcomed in our very last night of Camp Simcha Special and still, we procrastinated our goodbyes. Maybe the true magic of Camp Simcha is that every single one of our girls knows that there really is no such thing as goodbyes. Just, “See ya laters” and a sweep of a red cape, and a swap of magic dust and a black hat full of memories.
A Magical Ending…
As Rivky, our head counselor, always says, “In Simcha, we always start with a thank you!” At the beginning of our assembly, we thanked many unbelievable individuals who made these two weeks the most amazing, joyous, exciting, and memorable of our lives!!! Everyone got up on their chairs and cheered for Rivky, our head counselor. THANK YOU for all that you do for us that we do or do not know about!!! The love and care that you show to each of the campers and staff touches the hearts of us all. THANK YOU!!! Thank you so Zahava, Shaindy, Esti KK, Rivka, Aviva, Ronit, Avital, and everyone else who works tirelessly on our behalf! Thank you to our waitresses, lifeguards, media, and all the specialty that make each camper feel special and help out in more ways than we can ever imagine! That you to our medics who make it possible for us to be here. Thank you for caring for our campers with all your heart and soul. To our marvelous counselors…THANK YOU! The campers felt the devotion, love, and time that you put into their days here at Camp Simcha to make them so wonderful! Last, but certainly not least, THANK YOU TO OUR AWESOME CAMPERS!!! WE LOVE YOU!!! Each of you are so special and are brilliant stars in our lives!
Finally, a flashback on the most awesome two weeks of our lives!!! The 2014 Camp Simcha video contained all the memories, happy moments, meaningful times, and many laughs. It portrayed all the campers and went through each and every single day with all of the delightful themes and exciting workshops. We ended off with a tribute to all the memories created, friendships made, and spirits strengthened throughout our marvelous time together. We can’t believe it’s over!!! Thank you Sarah and Malky for all of your hard work to create this most meaningful flashback!
All campers and staff were called outside onto our front lawn overlooking the lake for an exciting surprise!!! We all sat down together under the magnificently clear night sky with the stars sparkling above us and next to us. A slideshow began featuring gorgeous photographs from our Camp Simcha Girls 2014 session. We all enjoyed it as we sang along with the music and waved our glow sticks high up in the air.
Then, a countdown started! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!!! The fireworks blasted up into the air! The colorful and magnificent show over our very own Camp Simcha lake brought smiles to everyone’s faces! The finale´ was a glowing smiley face shining on our front lawn almost as brilliantly as our campers’ faces. The chai lifeline logo lit up in the sky as we began lively dancing to our Camp Simcha songs we know so well.
What a magical end to a unbelievable summer!!!!!
Goodnight from the Happiest Place on Earth!!!
Love,
Leah Guterman and Devora Weiss
The Future: Robotic Age; Last Full Day of Camp Simcha Special Boys
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