Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,
Wow! Has October ever been a crazy month for us! We didn’t really go anywhere, but we were so busy in the camp office that the days just blew by. There were two main things keeping us swamped. Firstly, our enrollment has been going a little crazy, and we’ve been 
spending a lot of time talking with new families as well. That’s been fantastic, and the result is that first session is nearing capacity, and second session isn’t far behind. Pretty incredible for this early in the “off-season.” We really appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm, and also the support we’ve felt in reaching out to new families. So we thank you for our busy days!
And secondly, there has been the production of the reunion video. Folks, it almost didn’t happen. Although I tend to spend a fair amount of time on a computer this time of year, it’s not my favorite thing, and the video production is all on the computer. But what really made matters worse is the computer had some issues. The editing software crashed no fewer than 50 times over the 5 or 6 weeks (honestly!) that I spent working on it, and the computer itself crashed twice! I never thought I would miss the days when I had long strips of 8mm film taped to the walls in my house as I pieced the old movies together, but this past month I was yearning for those days. Many weeks, many hours, and several trips to the computer store later, though, it is finished, and it premiered in Nashville over this past weekend. I think they liked it!! I think you will too, so we’re all looking forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming reunions.
Speaking of which, November ushers in our reunion travel season, and we will be piling up the frequent flier miles! Already we’ve hit up Memphis and Nashville. The Nashville reunion was so much fun! We had a great crew there, and JAKE REUTER and I spent the weekend crisscrossing the city seeing new kiddies and checking out some fun spots in Nashville. What a beautiful place with so much going on!! We tried to take in a music show on Saturday night at the famous Bluebird Café, but the new television show called “Nashville” has made that place so renowned, that it’s virtually impossible to get in. So we found other places to hear some great music and had a really fun time. Thanks to everyone there for the great hospitality!
We came across a few interesting articles that appeared on the Internet pertaining to youth sports, and we want to share those with you. From my baseball/softball coaching days, I get periodic information about working with kids in sports, and I was aware of some research done about what kids like…and don’t like…about playing sports. It may surprise you,so please check it out by clicking here.
And then there was this fantastic story about some middle school football players in Michigan who totally build your faith in our kids today. Have a look at this YouTube video.
| CITY | DATE | TIME |
| 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 |
Welcome back to the following “old-timers” who re-enrolled this past month: SAM FRISHMAN of Buffalo Grove, IL; ADAM CORTES-FERRIE of Deerfield, IL; GUS MERVIS of Carmel, IN; EVAN & KYLE GROSS of Glencoe, IL; AVI HIKEN of Louisville, KY; GRANT KIBEL of West Newton, MA; BEN & JARED BLOOM, ALEXANDER & HENRY ECHT, ANDREW KARMIN, MYLES ROSENSTEIN, and ETHAN VICTOR of Highland Park, IL; WILL SEXTER of Rockville, MD; DANNY FISCHER, SAM SIWAK, and ZACHARY ZLEPPER of St. Louis, MO; MASSIMO & MATEO 
D’AGARO of Northbrook, IL; MATTHEW & ZACH KALLMEYER of Highland Heights, OH; HARRISON ATLAS and JOSEPH FIELDS of Houston, TX; JACKSON & SAM PAWLAN of Atlanta, GA; and JOSH GLAZER of Mequon, WI.
And say hello to the following first-year campers who will join us this summer: NOAH GOLDBLATT and JARED SAEF of Chicago, IL; SPENCER FARBER and TOMMY HOLLAND of Deerfield, IL; ZACHARY LISS of Kansas City, MO; BEN SIWAK of St. Louis, MO; AARON BERNS, EVAN BLOOM, DAVID FRIEDLAND, RYAN HOFFMAN, JACK KRISER, and NATE MILLEN of Highland Park, IL; and BEN ELLIS, BEN GOLDMAN, and ALEX GORDON of Glencoe, IL. We’re so happy to have you all with us!!
What?! Already? Yep, we have some great news to share with you. First of all, prepare to be well-fed…again! Welcome back to BILL MILLER, our amazing Kitchen Manager, for his 21st summer at camp. Bill has been setting the standard in camp cuisine for 2 decades, and we have been the lucky recipients! Bill lives in Tucson, AZ in the winter months, where he majors in being a grandpa. We’re so lucky to have a guy with his skill, his passion for working with kids, and his loyalty. But wait! We’re not done. Also returning for summer number two is our incredible Head Cook, MIKE SCLAVI! Mike debuted at camp last summer to rave revues. He’s a great guy with fantastic cooking skills, and he and Bill work so well together to keep us happy
and eating like kings! Mike lives in Superior, WI where he works as a caterer.
There’s more!! Welcome back to a full slate of great CITs who join our staff this summer: ARI ASARCH of Denver, CO; DILLON GROSS of Bannockburn, IL; DANIEL ENGEL and JONAH RAWITZ of Buffalo Grove, IL; CHAD KAMEN of Louisville, KY; EZRA WALLON of Chicago, IL; ADAM WASSWERMAN of Deerfield, IL; DANNY LEVY of Evanston, IL; JACK BARLOW of Red Wing, MN; AIDAN DOYAL of Glencoe, IL; JACOB ROSENSTEIN of Highland Park, IL; IAN JACOBS of Nashville, TN; JACOB ELIAS and JAKE FEIGER of Northbrook, IL; and DAVANTE GRACE of Schaumburg, IL. Summer 2014 is already shaping up to be epic!!
In Nashville, TYLER JACOBS is playing soccer, and was getting ready for soccer tryouts. GRAHAM ELLIOT is playing basketball, now that baseball season has ended. He was a pitcher, first-baseman, and third-baseman for his baseball team. JONAH HOFFMAN is pumped to be a PA next summer! He’s been playing basketball and soccer. MICHAEL GORDON’S soccer team won a recent tournament. JACOB VINER is also playing soccer. A while ago, Jacob was surprised when his counselor, CAMERON CAVALIER, dropped by for a lunch visit while in town from Houston to visit at Vanderbilt University. JORDAN FISHEL is playing lacrosse and driving….on the roads! GAVIN GORDON is playing lacrosse, and his football team won their league 
championship. IAN JACOBS is playing lacrosse, playing in a chess club, and is also a licensed driver in the State of Tennessee. In St. Louis, JACK KAHN got to travel to Chicago for his birthday and hang out with JOE & HENRY LEVY. Jack has been playing soccer and he made his middle school’s basketball team. In Washington, DC, WILL SEXTER is working hard in school and impressing his teachers. That’s always a good thing! In Chicago, ARI & BEN KADEN got to hang out with ADAM WASSERMAN for a while.
MATTHEW JACOBS is in Nashville living the boring life of a high school junior. It’s okay…college entrance exams will liven things up! He’s also playing soccer and is involved in his BBYO chapter. SAM KAHN is going to travel from St. Louis to Chicago for the big reunion this coming weekend. We’ll see him there! Across the pond, SEAN HOGAN is working as a personal trainer while also taking classes to obtain higher certifications in that field. On a recent trip to visit HANNAH JONES at West Point, RICK & HOLLY JONES were able to meet up with “old-timer” JOE SHAVER. Joe is a school teacher in New York, and he runs his own drama camp during the summer months. MICHAEL BREEN continues his worldwide trek, recently finding himself in Morocco, and meeting up there with SCOTTY MAYER, who is overseas studying this semester. KATIE TERBEEST is a student a UW-Lacrosse,and during Oktoberfest a few weeks ago and she bumped into MATT KEARNEY. She has been keeping up with SAM THIEL, CALLIE SIMMONS and EMMA SMITH since camp ended. Wherever it happens to be, we really like this kids visiting kids, counselors 
visiting counselor, and counselors visiting kids stuff! Keep it up, y’all!!
Hey everyone! Mark your calendars for the Camp for All Kids fund-raising event that will take place this Spring. It’s time to get down with some music and great camp friends at the House of Blues in Chicago on March 1st, 2014. We’ll tell you more about it as the date approaches, and if you want to check out some early information, you can click here and see it online. Thanks!
BRAVO TO OUR NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY BOYS AND GIRLS!! Jerris Kirkwood - 11/1/1997, Mike Sclavi - 11/1/1982, Jordan Herz - 11/6/1993, Samantha Thiel - 11/7/1994, Jordan Taylor - 11/9/1995, Zachary Zlepper - 11/9/1999, Sebastian Garza - 11/10/2003, Alan Bowles - 11/13/1979, Ryan Hoffman - 11/14/2002, Danny Fischer - 11/16/2004, Noah Kraus - 11/17/1998, Noah Foster - 11/18/2001, Max Goldenberg - 11/19/1998, Ben Spier - 11/19/1996, Asa Hiken - 11/20/1997, Emily Jones - 11/20/1991, Jack Rosenthal - 11/20/1998, Jonas Monieson - 11/21/1999, Jack Kriser - 11/27/2004, Adam Sherman - 11/28/1997, Norm Dudek - 11/29/1935, Sebastian Acuna - 11/30/1987, Jaimari Cottrell - 11/30/2001.
We’ll write you again with all sorts of news from our coming reunions. Please keep in touch, and have a happy Thanksgiving!
Benches up,
