Volume LIV, No. 2, October, 2013

Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,

As I look out my office window at the beautiful Santa Catalina Mountains here in Tucson, it’s hard to believe I’ve been back here for a month already.  It’s pretty nice here…we’re still in the 90s outside, but the evenings are cooling off.  The office at our house is the only thing on the 2nd floor, and we have a nice view of the mountains and the city of Tucson.  Not complaining or anything….it’s a nice office as far as offices go.  The only real problem is there are not enough distractions in this particular office.  In the summers, my office at camp is LOADED with distractions, which is great!  There’s the regular Tushball games going on right outside the office, and those are hard to resist.  There’s all the people passing through the Central Area at all times of the day (and often at all times of the night too).  My little “drive-up window” next to my desk is the source of many, many daily distractions.  There’s the bouncing trampolines during free periods that catch my attention, and of course, there is the call of Lake Towanda that is not to be ignored.  The sound of the boats, the kids in the water, the peaceful allure of a beautiful, natural body of water to sit and stare at…..it’s a wonder I ever get anything done up there, and yet I sometimes do.  Maybe if someone would build a nice lake near my house here in Tucson, I could get more stuff done here. 

Last month we enjoyed a fun trip to Milwaukee to join in the wedding of “old-timer” CHELSEA GIBSON, now Chelsea Krogman.  We were joined there by RICK, HOLLY, & FLETCHER JONES, as well as the entire HITCHENS Clan.  And SARAH KEARNEY took a few nights out of her busy schedule to babysit for the Hitchens kids during the event.  While we were in the area, we made the short drive to Madison to visit with DUSTIN COHEN, and to drop in at the regional Blue & White office.  It was a great weekend!

JAKE REUTER is certainly getting stuff done.  As you know, Jake has joined us as our year ‘round Associate Director this year, and he has hit the ground running.  He spent two weeks here in Tucson learning a little bit about the winter operations of camp, and that was fun.  We did some fine Mexican dining, Jake did some good hiking around the area, and we event took a short trip up to the top of Mt. Lemmon.  One night we went to the monthly city-sponsored outdoor event in downtown Tucson, which is a sort of festival with live music, food stands and merchants selling things.  We came across a band playing in front of a music store, and they were amazing.  The band is 3 high school guys who can rock with a lead/rhythm guitar, a bass guitar, and drums.  Here’s the kicker…in between songs, they rotate instruments!  It was so amazing.  All 3 are fantastic at all 3 instruments.  It was impressive!  Jake is now living in the Chicago area, and he has been meeting with prospective families.  It has been going very well, and our enrollment is still extremely hot.  More on that in a minute.

PARENTS!  For those of you who have been waiting for us to get our credit card act together, we’re all set. You can now pay your camp deposits using your credit card.  We are finally set up with End2End Payments, and their secure credit card processing is good to go.  You can do that 3 different ways:

1. When you submit your son’s application, you can choose to pay right then with your credit card.  Click the button, and the card authorization page will appear in your browser. 
2. From your Parent Keylog page, you can click the “Make a Payment” button, and you will see the card authorization page.  You can use this link to make a camp payment whenever deposits are due, or whenever you just feel like making a camp payment.
3. You can also call our office with your credit card information, and we can charge your card for you.   If that is easier for you, we’re happy to help.

Just like previous years, there is a surcharge added if you use your credit card.  The surcharge is 2.75%.

HOLD IT…..HOLD IT!!  You just have to check out our new 360° tours on our website.  If you were at camp 2nd session, you no doubt remember the day we took all those photos.  Well, they’re up and they’re beautiful!!  Not only that, RICK JONES and AARON ZEMACH both contributed to an update to our Interactive Camp Map to include the new Arena.  And “old-timer” RYAN COHEN’s new Staff Promotional Video really rounds out the way our website appeals to anyone thinking of spending their summers with us.  You can check it all out by clicking here. 

What else?  Well, the work continues up at camp.  Our amazing caretaker, GREG FUS, is staying busy. He’s building a new storage shed outside the kitchen, he’s tearing the roof off of the bathrooms in Navajo and Sioux (we think he’s going to replace them before the summer), and he’s building a few more new tables and benches for the Lodge.  And not to neglect the local economy, we’ve also already put a brand new septic system in for Shawnee Cabin (what did you guys do to the old one?!).  And – of course – there’s a major new project in store for the upcoming summer.  Stay tuned, and we’ll eventually tell you all about it!

As of this publication, we have more than 100 kids signed up for 1st session, and 2nd session is not far behind.  Folks, if your son’s plans are set and they include camp, we strongly recommend you sign him up soon.  We’re amazed by the pace of our enrollment thus far, and we thank you all for your enthusiasm!

Welcome back to the following “old-timers” who re-enrolled in the past month: JACK BARUCH and ETHAN GORDON of Buffalo Grove, IL; JOSH MEYER of Chicago, IL; AIDAN MEASE of Tucson, AZ; BRYAN BERKOWITZ and CHARLIE LOVETT of Los Angeles, CA; ETHAN & JARED LETWAT, DYLAN SALDINGER, and BEN SPIEGEL of Deerfield, IL; ZEV BURTON of Carmel, IN; JAKE & JOEY FLOM, JACK KAHN, and CAM & DYLAN STERN of St. Louis, MO; JONAS & OWEN MONIESON and NICK PAPPAS of Glencoe, IL; ELI MITCHELL of Glenview, IL; ALEX LYNCH and JAVY VALLEJO-MCCANN of Cleveland Heights, OH; JOE BERNS, JACK & MATT JARVIS, and LEO & LUKE SCLAMBERG of Highland Park, IL; GRAHAM ELLIOT and ALEX FREEDMAN of Nashville, TN; ZACH WALDEN of Northbrook, IL; ADAM SUSMAN of Oak Park, IL; and JARED MARGOLIS and JARED ORKIN of Houston, TX. 

Welcome aboard to the following new campers who will join us this summer: DAVID BERK of Tucson, AZ; JAMES LOVETT of Los Angeles, CA; and JACKSON SCHNEIDER of Nashville, TN.  We’re so happy to have you all with us.  Just you wait!  2014 is going to be the most incredible summer of all!!

Our reunion schedule is filling out a bit more now.  Take a look:

CITY	DATE	TIME
Nashville	Sunday, November 3rd	2:00 PM
Chicago	Sunday, November 10th	12:00 PM
Milwaukee	Monday, November 11th	7:00 PM
St. Louis	Saturday, November 16th	2:00 PM
Houston	Saturday, December 7th	2:00 PM
Dallas	Saturday, December 14th	2:00 PM

Phew!  Looks like some frequent-flier miles are comin’ up, and we still have several more cities to get on the calendar.  Fun, fun, fun!!  Please mark your calendars now and be sure to free up the time to hang with us and the rest of your camp friends when we’re in (or near) your home town.  We can’t wait to see you all!!

In Dallas, CONNOR FEHRENBACH is learning his way around and other than adjusting to the heat of Texas, is settling into his new digs.  In Chicago, JONAH RAWITZ will play the lead role of Usnavi in his high school’s rendition of the musical “In The Heights” next month.  JACOB ROSENSTEIN, ERIC THOMPSON, and ARI MAZZA hung out with counselors ARI LACKNER and DAVID PAWLAN, as well as “old-timers” RYAN COHEN and Houstonan JAKE STEIN for an evening recently.   In Denver, ARI ASARCH happened to bump into HITCH & CORRIE at a Rockies game.  In Tucson, DAVID BERK is having fun swimming in swim meets. 

JONAH ROSENBERG traveled from Houston to Chicago last month to take a look at Northwestern University.  He got a nice tour from BEN LEVEY, who is a freshman there.  And then got to hang out with DAVID RINGEL, AARON GLAZER, who drove down from Milwaukee, and “old-timer” DANIEL ECHT.  MICHAEL GROSS is on his high school’s cross country team, getting ready for the post-season.  In St. Louis, AARON ZEMACH has been accepted into the Washington University Masters program for Computer Science.  He is also co-president of Suspicious of Whistlers, Wash U’s comedy improv group.  BRITTANY BOLING is back home in Georgia, and she will be returning to college this spring, attending Salem State University in Massachusetts.  The MELROSE household has settled down just a tad after a string of visitors after camp.  Most recently, MAZ BALD and ASHLEIGH BROWN visited Mel and Andy before heading back home to the UK.  In Tucson, DAVID ARTZI is an assistant coach for the freshman football team at our local high school.  JOEY PAWLAN is at the University of Tampa where he has been joining leadership retreats and doing some mentoring.  He and his brother DAVID PAWLAN are going to be in New Orleans this month for a family gathering.  KATHY LEVERTON spent a few weeks on the east coast of South Africa doing some trail runs.  EMMA SMITH returned to the UK after camp and then left quickly for Milan, Italy where she will be studying Design until February.  SCOTT MAYER is in Denmark taking some classes and preparing to meet up with the traveling MIKE BREEN in Morocco this month.  And oh, Michael Breen.  Since camp his travels have taken him to Japan, South Korea, and recently into China.  He did not love the big city experience of Beijing, but has really enjoyed his travels through the more rural parts of the country.  And his travels continue….

We want to congratulate PARKER DAWSON from Denver for raising $2486 for Camp for All Kids this past spring.  Parker decided to designate CFAK as his chosen charitable organization as a mitzvah project for his Bar Mitzvah.  Parker’s friends and relatives made donations large and small, and it sure added up. 

If you are going to celebrate your Bar Mitzvah this year, we hope you’ll consider doing the same thing.  Camp for All Kids is a very worthwhile program that we have been a part of for a long, long time.  And they have a page on their website detailing how you can help CFAK as your mitzvah project.  If you’d like to learn more about that, please click here.

BRAVO TO OUR OCTOBER BIRTHDAY BOYS & GIRLS: Brittany Boling - 10/1/1993, Matthew Kallmeyer - 10/1/2003, Jono Rosenblum - 10/5/1998, Jonah Hoffman - 10/6/1998, Kathy Leverton - 10/7/1984, Eli Dauer - 10/11/2002, Ari Lackner - 10/11/1996, Josh Ettinger - 10/13/2000, Lucas Gottshall - 10/13/1999, Henry Alford - 10/15/1999, William Coovert - 10/15/2002, Joey Pawlan - 10/16/1992, Ben Litman - 10/17/2001, Spencer Farber - 10/18/2003, Alex Pobereskin - 10/18/1997, Ethan Schwartz - 10/18/2001, Dox Raskin - 10/19/2003, Jack Barlow - 10/20/1998, Nick Pappas - 10/20/1998, Ethan Teich - 10/21/1999, Jacob Wilson - 10/21/1998, Sam Spier - 10/24/1995, Jack Kahn - 10/25/2001, Seth Berk - 10/28/2003, Ross Krulisky - 10/28/1995, Alec Schlossberg - 10/28/2004, Garrett Glover - 10/29/1998, Jonah Rawitz - 10/29/1997, Ari Mazza - 10/30/1998, Joseph Kuperman - 10/31/1995.

We’ll see many of you at the reunions next month, and we’ll write you all again very soon.  Have a nice October, everyone!

Benches up,