#michaelwax

We’re just about one month away from Leadership Week.  Tonight, our first staff are arriving to help get camp ready.  As we get closer to camp, I’m hoping to share some exciting programmatic news.  I’m excited to give you some news from the drama team.

First and foremost, I’m happy to report that Beber’s own Mr. Milon will be returning this summer.  Mr. Milon will once again be making many appearances during meals to deliver the Hebrew word of the day.  He’ll also be lending his expertise to the drama and musical hobby.  

I’m also excited to introduce the newest addition to the Fine Arts team, Pat Hitt.  Pat is the director of the Mukwonago Village Players and will be bringing his expertise to Summer 2016.  Pat has written an introduction and I wanted to share it with you.

“Hi Everyone! Since I am new at Beber Camp this year, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Pat, and I am really excited about teaching the Drama hobby at camp this summer! I have lived in Wisconsin my whole life, but I love to travel to see new places and meet new people. I am a professional photographer with a portrait studio in Mukwonago. I have a wife, Renee, and three children – Erin, Sean and Moira. I have acted in and directed many plays and musicals with community theatre groups over many years. I use similar techniques when doing theatre that I use when I am taking pictures. It’s all about getting a visual image in my mind, and then transferring that image to the stage or to the photo. I am so looking forward to teaching acting and other theatrical techniques to you all this summer! We will be doing the musical “ANNIE” in the first session and “THE WIZARD OF OZ” in the second session. There are many FUN roles in each show! I like to get a nice mix of experienced actors and new actors, so don’t be afraid to give it a try for the first time. I love to teach, so come with an open mind and be ready to learn. We will play games and perform acting exercises while rehearsing for the show.  We will see the importance of working as a team to tell a story on stage and to entertain an audience. We will build confidence and develop social skills. And most of all, we will have FUN! See you soon!”

Thanks for sharing Pat!  We look forward to having you join the community this summer!  

One of the joys of my job is working with staff from all over the world.  This summer Beber will employ staff from England, Ireland, Scotland, Mexico, Holland, New Zealand, Australia, France, South Africa, Canada, and of course, Israel.  Beber has a long standing tradition of working with Israeli staff.  Our partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Summer Shlichim Program has allowed us this opportunity.  

The Summer Shlichim program has 3 main objectives:

Bridge the gap between Jews of different backgrounds and Israel

Strengthen understanding of Jewish and Israeli culture and customs

Provide fresh perspectives on Israel to young Jews

Israel engagement and education have been recognized as key identity builders for young Jews around the world, and a Shaliach has the unique ability to bring living Israel straight to Jews wherever they are.

I recently returned from Shefayim, Israel to take part in the annual Schlichim Training Seminar.  Shefayim is a kibbutz in central Israel located just 2.5 miles north of Herzlilya along the Mediterranean coast.  

At the seminar, there were representatives from over 25 Jewish camps and over 350 Schlichim.  Over 4 days, including an incredible Shabbat experience, my job was to help enable the Schlichim smoothly integrate into camp life.  This came in the form of group bonding experiences, seminars, small group discussions, and even a Maccabiah competition.  Seminar sessions were varied and touched on several subjects including the following:

learning about the North American Jewish community

specific camp rituals

dialogue that encouraged the schlichim to think about values, experiences and points of view that helped shape their identity

learnings to help increase one’s ability in working with campers

English language tips and much more

This summer, Beber has 7 amazing Israelis who will be a part of the community.  I’m very excited for the campers to have opportunity to connect with our Schlichim this summer.

See you in just over a month!

On February 19th, over 60 campers came back to Beber to be a part of Winter Camp 2016. Or should we say Spring Camp? Temperatures were unseasonably warm so that the snow melted and lake thawed. Instead of traditional Winter Camp activities like sledding and ice fishing, campers ended up climbing the wall at the Ropes Course, playing capture the flag outside, and leaving coats inside for nature hikes around the property.

There were many highlights during the weekend. These included Game show night, S’mores, The Great Beber Winter Adventure, Ga­Ga, Elegant Farmer and so much more. A new tradition was the presentation of 3 year hats. Much like campers receive a jacket for 5 summers at Beber, 3 time Winter Campers gave speeches and received a Beber Winter hat for attending 3 or more Winter Camps. Check out the videos here:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBoOnG3jwZzi08rkuZCYYzbLXLWimuIYi

Chef Jeff brought out all the stops and introduced several new meals and snacks. Campers even participated in a survey at the end of the weekend that will determine which new items will be on the summer menu.

A big recognition should go out to the seasonal staff who made the camper’s experience very meaningful. Sam McGinnis, Alex Kommel, Jake Lapin, Jason Taitz, Frieda Myers, Hannah Spevak, Josh Kaplinsky, and Sarah Weiss did an amazing job. Let’s not forgot our nurse and former Ramot Division Leader, Tali Sirkis who made sure everyone felt great!

If you ever have questions about Winter Camp, don’t hesitate to email me with questions. If you haven’t experienced Beber in the Winter, we hope you’ll consider next year!

Beber is over the hill!  As most of you probably know, Summer 2016 marks Beber’s 40th summer.  Plans to celebrate this milestone are scheduled throughout the year - including the big weekend at the end of the summer.  

One of our first celebrations was Sunday night, January 24th in Cleveland.  Campers, parents, and alumni helped myself and Mark honor this occasion at the Corner Alley Uptown.  It was great to see alumni come out from the 90s and 2000s as well as spend time with our current campers and their parents.

It was a great community party where there was delicious food and drink served and an opportunity to bowl!  We even had a cake made to honor the event.  All campers “skipped around the room” after singing the tradition camp birthday songs.

We’re looking forward to celebrating more during this special year!   I hope to see you at one of them soon!

Many families have often asked about spending time at camp but aren’t able to because they can’t commit to overnight stays.  This summer we are offering a great opportunity for anyone who wants to experience the magic of Beber Camp.  We’re excited to announce Beber’s Sunday Funday on August 16th.  Third session is now just one day amazing experience.  This is going to be an incredible day full of activities designed to help you and your family experience Beber Camp.  

All of the great camp activities will be available.  The include the following:

Waterskiing

Sailing

Kayaking

Canoeing

Paddleboarding

Aqua Park

Sports

Art

Farm/Nature

Music

Outdoor Cooking

The schedule will be as follows:

9:45 - Check In & Breakfast 10:30 - Activity 1 11:30 - Activity 2 12:30 - Lunch 1:30 - Activity 3 2:30 - Activity 4 3:30 - Activity 5 4:30 - Activity 6 5:30 - Cookout Dinner 6:45 - Camp Closing

Much like camp, you can customize your day.  After registering on-line (http://bebercamp.com/events/3rd_session_sunday_funday_event), download the activity spreadsheet and fill in your name 6 times (1 for each activity period) for the activity you would like to participate in.  Be sure to get your activity sheet sent in as soon as possible.  

The cost for the day is $50/participant and it includes 3 meals and all activities.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send me an email at [email protected].  Registration is going to close August 1st for this amazing day.  Hope to see you there.

This past Sunday, over 350 campers and parents attended the Get Ready for Summer 2015 Chicago area community event in Deerfield.  The spirit was at an all time high!

Returning and new campers had an amazing time connecting and playing games.  We had over 20 of our current teen leadership campers, staff, and alumni lead the campers in an energetic afternoon.

While the parents enjoyed mingling, eating pizza, and connecting with new families, they also had the option to spend time in workshops.  They had the following programs:

-The Hobby Program and helping your Camper customize their day at camp - Michael Wax -From Packing to Pickup: Get your Family ready for a successful summer! - Joel Bennett -Staying Connected to your Camper and Beber during the summer - Brad Robinson -The Annual Campaign and Year Round Engagement - Marc Altman

Parents also had the opportunity to connect with some of our amazing full time staff.  In attendance were the following:

Becky Altman - Camp Director Alisa Wasserman – Camp Head Nurse Trudy Sirkis – Health Center Administrator Debbie Morris – Camp Social Worker Marc Altman - Fundraising and The Annual Campaign

Finally, our clothes vendor, Everything Summer Camp, had a booth with the latest camp clothing!

With just under 50 days until first session, we hope that you have everything you need for what we think will be the most amazing summer ever!  If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!  

Last Sunday over 30 Beber campers gathered together at the Mega Quest Caverns with Joel and I for Louisville’s annual Spring community event.  This gathering was literally underground!

Louisville campers reunited in the man-made cavern that spans under a number of roadways above and is part of 17 miles of corridors located beneath the city of Louisville. Mega Quest is the ONLY fully underground aerial ropes challenge course in the world! We also learned there were over 12 acres of mountain bike trails in the cavern.  I can’t wait to try that out next time I visit!

Ou campers had a blast moving through the aerial ropes challenge course.  There was even a zip line at the exit.  Campers did not want to leave the course!  

Prior to getting on the course, we enjoyed getting the campers together and talking about their upcoming summer and hearing what they were looking forward to.  We have several new campers coming from Louisville and it was exciting to hear what they were looking forward to this summer!

The energy was buzzing the entire Louisville event and you can really tell that First Session is less than 2 months away.  We can’t wait to get started!

A big thank you to the Louisville community for showing their support!

I’ve said it many times before, but when people ask me what differentiates Beber I always talk about the size and diversity of our community.  Beber’s size allows the community to spend quality time together as one big group — we raise and lower the flag and eat meals together, participate in quality programming like Maccabiah, the Mishpacha program, and much more.  The diversity of the Beber community is also something that is very unique.  Our camper community hails from cities all over the United States.

This past weekend Beber hosted the annual Fall event for the Denver Beber community.  The Denver campers and parents came out to AMF Monaco lanes where they bowled, reminisced, and talked about all the exciting things in store for Summer 2015.  For me, it was great to connect with the Denver families that I hadn’t seen in a few years.  

During the event, we had the group get together and talk about what they are looking forward to for Summer 2015.  Seeing their camp friends, waterskiing, getting their 5 year jackets, and Shabbat were some of the common answers.

My west coast trip ended with a trip to Seattle.  During that time, I met with 2 new camp families who are super excited to travel east to Mukwonago this summer.  

Beber has come to the end of it’s Fall programming schedule.  We will be traveling again in the Spring to our communities around the country to connect with our amazing campers.  And…if you are looking for some Winter fun, consider Winter Camp for your camper! 

Happy Holidays!