#3bc15

It’s been a fantastic first two weeks for the new Outdoor Ed area. Becky, the farm specialist, introduced everyone to Zeus the sheep this week at the farm. He was very excited to see the campers. The farm hobby got a chance to hunt for some worms for the fishing hobby, as well as planting some squash in the new grow boxes. They even had a brief visit from a skunk!

Outdoor cooking has had a great couple of weeks with Noah using the newly renovated outdoor cooking area. They made some pizzaritos, banana boats and the delicious stone soup. Campers had their fire lighting skills tested. Noah challenged the campers to use as few matches as possible to start a fire. Noah is updating his menu every week, so watch this space for more delicious menu upgrades.

Connor has been leading Beber camp’s first ever Geocaching hobby for the past couple of weeks. The campers got a chance to go on a geocache hike, plant their own geocaches and of course, play around with our awesome new GPS devices! The group had so much fun and things have only just begun for geocaching at Beber.

Just this week we started a new hobby called wild art. We got a chance to get creative in nature and create some beautiful outdoor art. We did a wild weave for all of camp to see and we’re so proud of it. We also did some pebble art, wild cloaks and work inspired by the artist Andy Goldsworthy.

Something we’re very excited to have started this week was the Bushcraft hobby. Our five Ramot campers perfected the skills of lighting fires without matches and building shelters. They also learned about how to safely use bushcraft knives and began to carve their own spoons. We also purified our own water by filtration and boiling.

Hi I'm Tilly Freedman from highland park, Il. This is my 9th summer at Beber, and I am the song leader this year! This past year, I graduated from Highland Park High School, and I will be a freshman at Northwestern University this fall.

Hey Guys! I'm Sam Bellows, I'm 18, and it's my 6th year at camp. I'm a first-year counselor for Ramot. Next fall I will be going to the University of Illinois for psychology - however I'm a music specialist at Beber this summer! I can't wait to help lead songs and teach kids how to play music.

Hi, I'm Josh Kaplinsky. I am a recording studio specialist for this summer. I just graduated from Chicagoland Jewish High School, and will be attending the University of Wisconsin, Madison this fall. I'm super excited for the summer!

I'm Sarah Steiner, I'm a music specialist at Beber, and it's my 9th summer! I go to Loyola Chicago studying criminology/social justice.

I'm Bennett Shapiro from Highland Park, IL. This is my 9th summer at camp, and I will be a music specialist. In the fall I'll be attending the University of Iowa as an open major, and playing ultimate frisbee.

I'm Jack Maddox, it's my 5th summer at Beber, and I'm a music specialist. I'm from Buffalo Grove, IL, and just graduated high school. I've been playing guitar for seven years and I'm excited to continue this summer at camp!

I'm writing this afternoon with details about the detour on the road to camp. Beber is located on Lake Beulah, which is a managed waterway and the county is replacing the dam which feeds the Mukwonago River from Lake Beulah. Unfortunately for us, this dam is located under the roadway on County Road J, about 500 yards east of the camp entrance, between camp and the Elegant Farmer. The road is currently closed and we expect it to remain closed through October 1st.

For our returning families, there is no way to get to camp by turning right at the Elegant Farmer and driving west on County Road J. You must follow the detour.

The detour we are recommending is detailed in this Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/6I5gp

The map above provides directions from our Skokie office to Camp in Mukwonago. Here are the text directions:

Take 94 West (North) into Wisconsin

Exit 333, Highway 20 (West)

Follow Highway 20 into Waterford, taking a left at the stoplight to stay on Highway 20

Detour: Normally, upon leaving Waterford, you turn right at the Cotton Exchange (resturant) and take Route 83 North into Mukwonago. Instead, go straight at the Cotton Exchange to stay on Highway 20. This will take you into East Troy.

You will go under Highway 43 and cross railroad tracks in East Troy.

Turn right at Division Street

Turn left at the stop sign onto St. Peters Road (you cannot continue straight)

Turn right at the stop sign onto Stringers Bridge Road

Turn right onto County Road J

Ignore the "Bridge Out Ahead, Local Traffic Only" signs as you are local traffic! Drive down Highway J until you see Beber Camp, this time, on your right-hand side.

We will be sending out these directions again closer to the summer. I also want to encourage you to consider the bus from Glenbrook North High School as an option. We have made this available at no charge to our families. Please contact the camp office if you wish to change from "driving to camp" to taking the bus.

Thanks and have a great day!

Best,

My name is Jonny Fenner and I am incredibly excited to be the Summer 2015 Land Sports director at Beber. Having been the tennis specialist the previous two summers, I cannot wait to lead an amazing team of coaches to make this a great summer for athletics.

I was lucky enough to start my summer at camp early, flying in from London on May 5th with the paddle board man and Assistant Program director himself, Jaymez Clark. Immediately, we were settled into our summer home, reconnecting with friends. Of course, the reason for arriving early is to get camp ready and looking beautiful. Despite camp feeling almost empty without all the staff and campers, a lot of action has been happening here the last 3 weeks!

Many other groups use the Beber and Perlman Retreat Center facilities throughout the year and Retreat Center director Jamie Hawkins and the full time on-site team do an amazing job facilitating this. One of the first large groups to use lower camp this year was a BBYO teen group who. With all hands on deck, I helped clean through the kitchen and all the cabins to show off the best of Beber.

One of the most exciting things about arriving at camp early is welcoming staff back one by one. With 8 Beber camp staff currently moved into camp we are now fully engaged in getting camp up and running. With this said, the docks are going in, the climbing wall and archery platform have been stained, and the tennis nets and windbreaks are soon going up.

We’re nearly ready and we can’t wait for Beber 2015!

See you soon!

Hey there!  My name is Mina Fedderly and I’ll be the yoga specialist this summer at Beber.  I recently graduated from high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and also graduated from a 200 hour yoga instructor certification class! Most yoga training classes are just 20 hours.

This is my 9th summer at camp, but first year on staff!  I was a C.I.T last year for the wonderful O1 Makor girls, and this year I will again be with the amazing Makor division.

Yoga became a huge part of my life roughly 2 years ago when deciding on what I wanted to do with my future.  I plan on studying nutrition in college, as well as yoga instruction.

My journey through my yoga instructor training course was one of the best experiences that I have ever had. I was able to study yoga and gain the knowledge of what I love for 10 months of my senior year of high school. I learned how yoga is not just about your flexibility or how long you can hold a pose but what the poses do for your body and mind.

In my camp yoga hobby, I am going to take campers through a very relaxing, fun, challenging, and exotic path of yoga. We are going to learn some challenging but super fun yoga poses and learn how to use them in a sequence.  We will get to use those poses in some awesome obstacle games and even in the water for those hot sunny days! Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the relaxing part of the yoga hobby. We will spend some time hiking through the camp’s amazing woods and relax our minds through a guided meditation. Everyone loves and needs some peace and quiet in their day.

I am so excited to be sharing my love of yoga with all of you at my favorite place, Beber Camp. I can’t wait to meet all of you and introduce you to the wonders of yoga!! :)

Hello Beber Comminity,

As a former camper, staff member, leadership team member, and current member of the Young Alumni Committee, I am pleased to share with you that Beber Rocks had its largest turnout in the history of the event! Beber Rocks was able to raise more than $4,500 for the Annual Campaign for Camper Scholarship. The Annual Campaign for Camper Scholarship ensures that no child is denied the Beber Camp experience due to financial need.

Beber Rocks took place on Saturday May 16th 2015 at Nisei Lounge in Chicago, IL. This was a fun filled evening, which included alumni from all age groups, guest bartenders, food, drink specials, a raffle, and fantastic music from the Beber band.

Not only was it incredible raising funds for the Annual Campaign, it was inspiring to see such devoted and committed alumni reconnecting with one another. Throughout the evening, I was able to be silly with my camp friends, catch up with past counselors, and reconnect with a former camper. This event was truly unique and special! Thank you to everyone who was able to attend; you’re making the Beber Camp experience possible for many children.

I am proud to be apart of the Young Alumni Committee and I am excited to see more camp connections being made at future events.

I hope to see you all soon!

Abby Baron

What did you think of Beber Rocks 2015?

“It was great to come together to support scholarship and connect with old and new friends!”- Debbie Morris

“I had a great time catching up with old friends while supporting my favorite camp. I look forward to attending next year!”- Jonah Rosenberg

“ Beber Rocks is a unique event that is a must-attend. There’s nothing like picking up a conversation from summers ago, seemingly right where you left off. The positive energy, the outstanding music, the love of camp, and the sheer excellence of people in attendance makes Beber Rocks a can’t-miss camp event. – Joel Hadley

Hey everyone, it’s Sam Hollingdale here from England. I’m so excited to be returning for my 3rd summer and for my role this this time as the Outdoor Education director! The Beber camp team and I have come up with some great new ideas to make this an even more amazing summer.

What is this new outdoor area I hear you asking?  Well, we have some great hobbies for you, some you may have heard of before and some you won’t have! Outdoor cooking will be back this year to show you how to cook delicious treats in the great outdoors. This will be led by the fantastic new staff member Noah Weinman. The farm and all of its wonderful animals is back with Becky Handler leading this hobby and making sure you have lots of fun. Camp beautification will also be making a comeback this year with the help of Ollie Finding and Ed Soneberg. With this hobby, you’ll get a chance to make Beber an even better place to be (if that’s possible!).

Another staff member, who you probably already know, will be taking on the brand new role of Bushcraft Specialist this summer. Nathan Marsden and I will be showing you a wide range of skills such as shelter building, bushcraft knife safety and skills, water purification, fire building and much more. Last week I met up with Nathan in Buxton which is in the heart of England’s beautiful Peak district. When we weren’t exploring caves, we were hard at work putting together ideas for this summer. We both cannot wait to put these ideas into action and make Beber Camp’s summer more wild!

See you soon,

Shalom friends! My name is Monica and I am the Kesher division leader. Last weekend I was up at camp for Leadership Weekend and it was awesome! The purpose of Leadership Weekend is to bring the leadership team together (full-time staff, division leaders, head counselors, teen leadership staff, program directors, area directors, and of course Ron and Cheryl Kaplan) so we can begin planning out the summer. If you have “bebercamp” as a friend on Snapchat you may have seen our ten-minute long snap story. If not, don’t worry because I am going to fill you in on the weekend’s highlights (and there is a summary video below!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv1F4hV6Nio&feature=youtu.be

A major part of the weekend was spent discussing the exciting new changes we have in store for Summer 2015. One change is the arts and crafts renovation: the arts and crafts building now has a porch AND air conditioning! Another addition to camp is the new lamb on the farm named Zeus who is very friendly. Some other new things to look forward to at camp are a revamp of Judaic programming and occasional division-wide cookout lunches on the island. We also decided on the themes for each division (including Pios and CITs) but campers will have to wait until camp to find out what the themes are!

When we weren’t hard at work planning and programing, we played lots of games and bonded as a leadership team. The best part of the weekend happened after Havdallah on Saturday night when our program directors, Kym and Jaymez, planned an awesome scavenger-hunt sneakout for us that ended at a campfire where we made s’mores! Leadership weekend was so much fun and we can’t wait for the summer to start so soon!