Debby Shriber, Director, Crane Lake Camp
Dear Friends,
We are in the homestretch! As you are reading this letter, our full-time staff are unpacking at camp and getting ready for another amazing summer at Crane Lake. Our extensive pre-camp staff training, beginning on June 3rd, covers a wide range of topics that are customized and age-appropriate for each unit. And I’m not just talking about core leadership and safety skills – our training goes much further than that. All Crane Lake staff learn how important it is for them to help children develop strong self-esteem, stand up for the themselves and what they believe in, act Jewishly, and feel connected to each other and to the Jewish community. To get a sense of how much we put into our training curriculum, we have posted a sample training week schedule for you to view.
I’m excited to tell you about a number of things that will be happening at camp this summer. First, this is going to be a record-breaking summer for Crane Lake. We have the largest number of campers that we’ve ever had, the largest number of new campers, and the largest Machon group. We are really looking forward to seeing old friends return to camp and having so many new friends to meet.
For all you animal lovers, we’re going to have quite the activity going on in our animal area. Along with our usual group, including four new adorable puppies and two llamas, we will have a mini-horse. (Just to play with, not to ride!) And, if you’re thinking of getting a puppy why not wait and put your name into the Crane Lake puppy lottery?
To complement our amazing staff, we will also have some amazing visitors. Guest musicians Alan Goodis (first session) and Dan Nichols (second session) will be joining us for a few days of musical magic. Alan and Dan are both national-touring musicians who bring their passion for Jewish music and their love for working with children together in the most engaging way. They will work with our song leaders, help teach our music chugim, lead us in song all around camp, and leave us singing their original songs.
And, we have important news about a topic near and dear to all of us: food! We will have a new dining hall manager, Nick Ruiz, who comes to Crane Lake with more than 28 years in food service. He has worked as a dietician, for Marriott in special events catering, and in the Air Force – where he even cooked for President George (H.W.) Bush. Under Nick’s direction we are expanding our salad bar with lots of new veggie and protein options. And, we’ll have many new items on the menu, including all sorts of great wraps for lunch.
Finally, like last year, we’ll be creating our Daily Bubble – a daily publication of the planned activities, special events, weather, sports scores, and other exciting camp news. It will be available for all campers on their tables and breakfast, so they know what to expect for the day ahead, and posted for parents on our Summer Central website. So keep an eye out for lots of emails, photos, and the Daily Bubble coming your way. Summer 2011 is almost here
L’Shalom,
Debby