Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! What a month November has been! So much going on in the camp world and the world in general. It was sure anything but boring. And we know December is going to be tons of fun too.
From there it was on to Cleveland, OH, where fate had our reunion scheduled on the same evening as Game 7 of the World Series. Ah, but we camp folks are flexible if nothing else (and we’re a lot else…just sayin’), so thanks to our wonderful host family there, we were able to move the reunion up earlier, and everyone got to watch the game. And what a fun reunion it was! We had a bunch of kids and parents and little brothers there. I then had a fantastic breakfast at The Original Pancake house. From Cleveland, it was a lengthy drive to Chicago for our big reunion weekend there. Folks there were sure in a great mood! Was it the World Series win for the Cubs, or the awesome camp reunion that had everyone so upbeat? Who’s to say? We can say the reunion was AMAZING! It was another unseasonably sunny and warm day, and there were folks from St. Louis, Denver, Florida, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee who made the trip in. How great is that?! Back to the food….we had a nice dinner one night at Portillo’s, and then a great lunch and Max’s deli. Am I making you hungry yet? On the road again, and this time headed for Omaha. We had a fun mini-reunion there and I was able to catch up with a few alums, including a wonderful lunch at Greenbelly. Whoah…was that great!
Entering the home stretch of the trip, I motored my way into Kansas City and had a great time with our camp families there. The weather remained sunny and mild, and it was a short, but sweet visit there. And while I didn’t get any famous KC barbecue, I did have some very good gluten free pizza courtesy of our reunion hosts. And then it was on to St. Louis, where I met up with SCOTT WOLF and SAM “PICKLES” KAHN. Later on we also caught up with RYAN COHEN who came in from Chicago with DAVID HEIMAN, and OWEN & JONAS MONIESON. Our reunion in St. Louis was incredible! It was a huge group and we had a blast! Other highlights included delicious barbecue at Sugarfire (top 1 or 2 in my BBQ book), amazing wings at Culpeppers, and not one, but two high school hockey games in the same night. That, my friends, is living large!
I was very happy to wing my way back home, but honestly, I had SUCH A GREAT TIME on the trip. I thank everyone for taking time out of their busy days and evenings to come out to the reunions. I especially want to thank our reunion hosts, the Viners, the Elias’, the Wolinetz’, the Liss’, the Lucoffs, and the Lynchs. And thanks as well to everyone who helped (and continue to help) us reach out to new families while we’re in their neck of the woods. Our travels continue, of course, but if you learn of interested families and we’ve already been to your city, please still put us in touch. Ya never know, we often make return visits to meet new kids.
  November has been a stellar month for returning and new campers too! Several age groups are or soon will be filled in the 1st session. 2nd Session has more room available, but is well ahead of last year’s pace. Looking for an amazing holiday gift? How about the gift of camp? It’s a great gift that’s great for your kids! Welcome back to the following “old-timers” who re-enrolled this past month:JACOB & SAM KILINE of Chicago, IL; JESSE STOLBERG of Deerfield, IL; JAMES PRICE of Maricopa, AZ: EMERSON CORONEL, JEREMY GROVER, JAMES LOVETT, ELI OKUM, ILAN REISS, and MILES STEIN of Los Angeles, CA; ZACHARY SEGALL of Atlanta, GA; ELI & NOAH GOLDBLATT, of Glencoe, IL; EVAN BLOOM, SAM HENSON, DUSTY KARMIN, and LEO SCLAMBERG of Highland Park, IL; DUSTIN GREENWOOD, of Kansas City, KS; AVI HIKEN of Prospect, KY; JOE & WILLIAM COOVERT, ZACHARY HEARST, IAN & MICHAEL LYNCH, and ELI TENENBAUM of St. Louis, MO; AIDAN POMEROY and MICAH SHULMAN of Northbrook, IL; JAVVY VALLEJO-MCCANN of Cleveland, OH; MORGAN DECKER of Tulsa, OK; ARI COPLON, AIDAN FELDMAN, and JASON RABINOWITZ of Houston, TX; HENRY & JOE LEVY of Seattle, WA; and SEAN FEHRENBACH of Mequon, WI. And welcome aboard to the following first-year campers who will join us this summer: LUCAS & OLIVER ARORA of Buffalo Grove, IL; JACK DUFFY of Chicago, IL; ELLIOT KORENTAGER of Kansas City, KS; SLOAN HURWITZ and JACK SCHWARCZ of Nashville, TN; NATE GALE and ETHAN MAYDEW of Glencoe, IL; LANDON SELZER of Houston, TX; and RYAN COPELAND of Dallas, TX. You all are in for an INCREDIBLE summer! |
Some of you have already had the chance to see a shortened version of the 2017 Reunion Video at gatherings we’ve already held, and some of you have not. Well, it is finally time for everyone to have the chance to see the full length video at your leisure! By clicking on the image to the right, you will have the choice of streaming or downloading the video to any device. You even can choose how large a file you want to download. So go ahead! Watch and enjoy!! And please be sure to share it with your friends!
We still have plenty of fun reunions coming up in December and January! We know y'all are busy people, but we travel a long, long way to come and see our camp friends, so we really hope you'll carve a little time out of your busy day to spend a few hours with us.
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YO PARENTS: Some folks have told us they’re a bit confused about whether or not we’ll be using CampDoc this summer. So, please let us clarify. We ARE using CampDoc to receive and organize all of your son’s medical history and information. So you will use CampDoc to send us all of that. We are NOT using the CampDoc pharmacy when it comes to getting medications to camp. You will send those directly to us. No 3rd party this year. 
Very soon we will have our brand new PARENT HANDBOOK online for you. This is your one-stop place for all information regarding preparing for the summer, how we handle things like transportation, medical info and medications, communication during the summer, etc. Our Associate Director, SCOTT WOLF has been working on this for the past several weeks, and once it is ready for you, we will post it on your Keylog page and send you an email to let you know. If you ordered a Memory Book from last summer, it should have arrived by now for you to enjoy. If you ordered a Memory Book but it has not arrived, please let us know and we’ll make sure it gets to you. If you’re not sure if you ordered a Memory Book, let us know and we can look in to it and get back to you. Unfortunately, we are not able to accept Memory Book orders retroactively for last summer.
This is also a friendly reminder that our payment schedule includes a 2nd deposit, which is due on or before January 15th. That’s more than a month away but we wanted to give you advanced notice. You can make the $1250 payment online with your credit card, if you wish, by clicking here. If you prefer to send a check, please send it to our winter office in Tucson. Thank you!
YO STAFF: It’s that time of year again! We have sent out invitations to return to camp next summer to everyone via email. Please be sure to read everything we sent you. All of the important dates are in the stuff we sent you. Our sources tell us we’ll have another big return of staff from last year, and even a few who missed the last summer or two. So we hope to hear from you as soon as possible.
 TIS THE SEASON TO CONSIDER A DONATION TO CAMP FOR ALL KIDS! If you are putting together your ideas for charitable giving for the end of the year, we encourage you to help support CFAK. If you believe in the power of camp (of course  you do!) like we do, then you know your gift can provide a substantial life-improving leg-up opportunity to kids who would otherwise never be in a position to experience it. What you may not realize, though, is how valuable this program is to our tuition-paying campers too. It is too rare a circumstance when kids of different socio-economic backgrounds can spend time together, have fun together, and learn about each other as just..well….kids! CFAK provides that to all of our campers and to campers at 4 other high quality independent camps. And remember, once a child receives a CFAK campership, IT IS PERPETUAL FOR AS LONG AS HE/SHE IS CAMPER AGE! Just like our other campers, the CFAK kids get to return to their camp summer after summer. That key component is not cheap, but is so important to their development as strong young adults and to the networking they can do with the other kids. Thanks to all who have supported CFAK thus far. We hope you will continue to do so, and if this will be your first time contributing, thank you very much too. |
 We sure have some great news to share with you. We have just this month sent out invitations to our returning staff, and we think it’s gonna be another banner summer with the majority of our staff returning. Already we can share with you some folks who are planning to be back at camp this summer. Ya ready?
And…stay tuned. There’s much more where that came from. |
 Camp reunions sure are fun, aren’t they? And they also give us the chance to gather lots of good  news about our campers and staff around the country. In Nashville, TN, DILLON ARONOFF is playing tennis and preparing for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah in March. MICHAEL GORDON is running cross country and playing soccer. MAX KELLER is playing soccer and basketball, and touring high schools for next year. OWEN SHAFFER is into robotics, playing some tennis, and preparing for his Bar Mitzvah this month. Congrats, Owen! CONNOR O’NEIL is playing goalie for his select soccer team and is also playing lacrosse. JACKSON SCHNEIDER is playing hockey, football, and basketball. JACOB VINER is playing soccer and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah last month…congrats, Jacob!! CAM GORDON was a running back on his football team, and is also playing soccer. Brother GAVIN GORDON is on his school’s mountain biking team and has been camping with his scout troop. JACK DE RIESTHAL has been playing lacrosse, and is the proud new owner of a mouth full of braces! GRAHAM ELLIOT has been playing baseball, basketball, and golf. Brother MAX ELLIOT played 1st base and pitcher on his fall ball team. He’s also playing basketball. In Cleveland CHASE WOLINETZ is playing basketball, and spent some time with visiting Dallas camper DREW CUSHING. JAMAIRI COTTRELL is recovering from a broken thumb, and will start basketball season soon. DARION STARLING is playing basketball. MATTHEW KALLMEYER celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in October, and has been playing soccer and writing thank-you notes. In the Chicago area, AARON BERNS broke his elbow and has been playing Pokémon Go. JACK KRISER went to Italy with his family and with cousin, and KC camper, ZACHARY LISS. COLE BERNSTEIN is playing soccer. KOBE CERRA has been having fun playing outside. HENRY COHEN has been playing hockey. OWEN MONIESON got to travel to St. Louis for the reunion there and had fun  hanging with his buddies there. JOSH MEYER went to visit his buddy GRAHAM ELLIOT in Nashville for a weekend in November. Omaha finds JAKE LUCOFF playing soccer and participated in a walk/runathon to send kids to camp. Brother OLLIE LUCOFF is playing select soccer. In Kansas City, ZACHARY LISS went to Italy, as you already know. DUSTIN GREENWOOD placed high in a science Olympiad. In St. Louis, DANNY FISCHER is practicing for his Bar Mitzvah and playing some golf. JUSTIN GOLDENBERG is playing tennis. BEN SIWAK has been playing hockey. JOSH ETTINGER is on a speech and debate team. OWEN FRENCH, DEVON BIEMAN, and HENRY COEN have been doing nothing at all, while SAM SIWAK has been sleeping. BRETT MILLER has started his Bar Mitzvah practice. OWEN TAYLOR is involved with his high school theater program. TYLER DEUTSCH is playing hockey. Brother ETHAN DEUTSCH is playing football and lacrosse. GRANT GARLAND is playing soccer and basketball. ADAM POGER has been playing tennis and golf. NOAH COEN has been playing soccer. LUCAS LEVY is busy with soccer and baseball. JACK BECKER got braces. JOEY ETTINGER is busy doing everything…like basketball and tennis. JOEY FLOM is proud of his recent purchase of “Abby Road” on vinyl. JOE and WILLIAM COOVERT have both been playing lots of soccer. JEREMY COHN made it to the all-district honor band playing saxophone. IAN LYNCH has been playing basketball, lacrosse, and soccer. MAX PUGH made the trip up to Chicago for the camp reunion. |
  Chicagoans DAVID HEIMAN and JONAH MONIESON traveled to St. Louis for the camp reunion there. They also joined a large group of us who went to watch DAVID TAMSKY play hockey in a game against ARI SINGER’S team (we cheered for both), and then watch ZACH ZLEPPER play in a different hockey game. And David tasted toasted ravioli (a St. Louis delicacy) for his first time. WILL COEN is starting water polo season. ADAM WASSERMAN is enjoying college life at Kent State. He joined a fraternity and is philanthropy director. ADAM COHN is practicing driving a lot. “Old-timer” JACK LYNCH has been playing soccer and lacrosse. ZACHARY KALLMEYER got his driving permit (called “temps” in Cleveland), and has been bus with soccer and playing trumpet in his school band. Nashvillian TYLER JACOBS was in Chicago for the camp reunion there, and is involved in the leadership of his BBYO chapter. JONAH HOFFMAN is in Nashville and working on college applications. DUSTY COHEN has completed training and is now teaching kids how to ski on the not-so-snowy slopes of Keystone, CO. He also works in sales at a local ski shop. He and JARED BURGDORF and a few other instructors took a day to hike up Quandary Peak at 14,272 feet. SAMMY COHEN made the women’s A team for Northwestern University Ultimate Frisbee. EVAN GOREHAM is applying for a masters program in athletic training. ERICA FLORIMONTE is finishing her degree in Inclusive Recreation at Ohio University. In Georgia, DANIEL VAN BUREN (DVB) has taken a job as a school bus driver with the Forsyth Country School District. PARKER DAWSON is in Denver and he is also on the college hunt. As part of his senior year project, he is working on raising funds for Camp for All Kids. That’s fantastic! Out in Ridgeway, CO, JAKE REUTER is applying to be an instructor with NOLS. |
 AROUND THE HAND-WASHING STATIONUGH. I am so full! Well, maybe not quite as full as I am after a ginormous omelet on Lazy Breakfast...but still very full! I hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day, full of family and friends and football and fresh yams (by the way, we should be so grateful to Bill Miller for providing us a Thanksgiving dinner in July...most people only get to experience that glory once a year!). But as it always happens, Thanksgiving is gone as quickly as it came, and our attention shifts to the holiday season. Gift shopping, ABC Family’s 25 Nights of Christmas, finals, winter vacation, and (for some of us) snow... Yes, it may be 57 degrees here in Chicago the day I’m writing this, but the snow is inevitable, right?! Assuming everyone is able to survive these last few weeks and emerge victorious on break, CONGRATULATIONS! You get a high five and a hand hug. Now what? Are you just going to sit around and do nothing? Yeah, that’s fair. You deserve some rest, take it. But a long break can also be an opportunity. Take a moment to consider something you love to do or have always wanted to try, but have told yourself you are too busy to because of school. Some of you are off for two weeks--that’s more than a whole activity series! Some of you older guys are off for a month--that’s an entire session of camp!! That’s so much time! Winter break is perfect for re-charging your batteries for the new year, but it can also be a chance to take ownership of your time and make it yours. The things every single one of you, campers and counselors alike, was able to accomplish in a matter of weeks last summer is nothing short of remarkable. Whether it was getting up on one ski for the first time (I see you Jack Greenberg) or developing lasting friendships (honestly, who DIDN’T want to be friends with last year’s CITs?), when you are the one deciding what to do with your time, the possibilities are limitless. So here’s your chance. Maybe your last chance without any homework or studying or practice or rehearsal until the buses roll down camp road this summer. Take ownership of your time. Yes, sleep in! Watch that Harry Potter marathon on TV! Binge watch Stranger Things on Netflix (no spoilers please, I’m only halfway through)! But also read that book you’ve been meaning to read. Call that friend for whom you haven’t had time. Learn a new skill! Pick up a guitar or juggling balls or mess around on Photoshop. This is your time. I can’t wait to hear about what you do with it. Tell me all about it: scottlorenwolf@gmail.com Fly the W, Scott |
BRAVO TO OUR DECEMBER BIRTHDAY BOYS & GIRLS: Andy Abaroa - 12/1/2005, Max Cepeda - 12/2/2004, Devon Bierman - 12/3/2002, Erica Florimonte - 12/3/1989, Jake Flom - 12/4/1998, Sam Siwak - 12/4/2002, Grant Garland - 12/8/2002, Izzy Horner - 12/8/1997, Kyle Gross - 12/9/1999, Holly Jones - 12/10/1957, Prestin Cooke - 12/11/1996, Gavin Gordon - 12/11/2002, Alexander Zlotnik - 12/11/2000, Henry Coen - 12/12/2002, Zachary Hearst - 12/12/2001, Bill Miller - 12/12/1956, Daniel VanBuren - 12/13/1984, Sloan Hurwitz - 12/15/2003, Ethan Prager - 12/15/2005, Adam Belker - 12/16/2003, Leslie Cohen - 12/18/1961, Charlie Weiss - 12/20/2002, Jack Baruch - 12/21/2000, Kate Ashby - 12/23/1989, Gabe Schultz - 12/27/2003, Andrew Karmin - 12/28/2000, Jeff Melrose - 12/29/1971, Jacob Rosenstein - 12/29/1997, Alex Goldberg - 12/30/2005, Dylan Teitelbaum - 12/31/2004.For those of you who celebrate winter, enjoy! We hope everyone has a fantastic December, and fun and relaxing and adventurous winter break, and we will write you again in 2017!!
Benches up,
