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Below are the archives for Maccabia 2012 Days 1, 2, and 3 – start at the bottom to follow in chronological order!

10:14 PM – Bucket Brigade 2012 goes to the WHITE team!!! They are ahead by 11 points at the end of Day 3!! We’ll see you tomorrow for the final day of Maccabia 2012!!!

10:09 PM – But wait! The Generals are switching out, and Alex takes over for White and Hannah for Blue!

10:07 PM – Marble is Generals! Sarah for White and Janelle for Blue!

10:02 PM – The last bucket is in, and we’re calling for the traditional post-Bucket Marble, Marble, Marble!

9:28 PM – The DJ, Sharon Kaufman, plays crowd-pleaser “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus and everyone continues dancing!

9:23 PM – Beyonce is playing as the Blue and White teams do a dance off with judge Eli Cohn-Wein! Past General Genna Yarkin is MCing

9:21 PM – Teva director Yoav entertains the crowd while they wait for their buckets

9:11 PM

9:02 PM – More action shots!

8:58 PM – Judges are closely watching the action at the Gymnastics Pavilion

8:53 PM – There are also bucket dumpers for each team, composed of Captains who dump the buckets into the garbage pail at the end of their line – here are the dumping groups for each team

8:50 PM – Blue dumps their small bucket first, followed closely by White

8:38 PM – A few shots from the lines – glow sticks abound for this nighttime event

8:33 PM – A photo of White Frost’s bucket fillers

8:31 PM – Adina briefs the bucket fillers on the intricacies of what is allowed and not allowed when filling buckets

8:28 PM – The buckets are in place down at the lake!

8:24 PM – The Blue ‘Staches have arrived! Blue Inferno’s bucket fillers (Captains who are stationed at the lake to fill buckets and send them up the hill) are all wearing mustaches!

8:16 PM – We’re back and ready to begin Bucket Brigade! A quick summary: Teams line up on either side of the road from the Gymnastics Pavilion to the Lake. Teams will pass three buckets (small, medium, and large) up from the Lake to the Gymnastics Pavilion, filling a large garbage pail with water from the Lake. The first team to fill their garbage pail, or the team with the highest level of water in the pail when time runs out will be the winners of Bucket Brigade! Penalties are assessed for having more than four hands on the bucket at a time, having team members out of line, unsportsmanlike behavior, bucket interference, throwing a bucket, and passing buckets out of order. For every 3 penalties there will be 5 seconds added to the total time.

Bucket Brigade is not as photogenic as last night’s Rope Burn – we’ll post some photos once we get started and then let you know when there’s a winner!

6:12 PM – As we head to all-camp dinner, more campers and staff are taking penalty-inducing trips into the Judges’ Circle! It’s good to find some time to be silly during the craziness of Maccabia

6:05 PM – The current score is 1572 to 1564 – only an 8 point difference – with WHITE in the lead heading into tonight’s staff games and Bucket Brigade!

6:03 PM – We’re about to get a score update, but first the judges are demonstrating how to correctly pass buckets tonight during Bucket Brigade. Only 4 hands can be on a bucket at a time!

6:02 PM – Blue Inferno wins line up 9-6!

6:00 PM -Lowering the flags tonight in recognition of their good sportsmanship for White Frost are Alexa M. (Chaverim) & Ben S. (Bonim), and Alice B. (Chaverim) & Josh (Bonim) for Blue Inferno

5:55 PM – Blue’s Generals and counselors do a clever parody of the Haka dance with the help of kitchen staff member Fraser

5:52 PM – Blue’s formation demonstrated how quickly their buckets will be flying up the hill tonight for Bucket Brigade! More details and an explanation will come before the event

5:49 PM – The area directors are judging line up tonight, and Aquatics Director Adina appreciates Blue Inferno’s mention of the lake in their song

5:45 PM – White Frost’s formation was correctly guessed by the judges – it was an avalanche!

5:40 PM – Past General Eli Cohn-Wein carries White Frost’s Molly Hagan into the Judges’ Circle – penalty! We’re just about to start line up

4:28 PM – Olim is having a track meet

4:24 PM – Bonim is playing Gaga

4:12 PM – Snack is over and now we’re back for more! Nitzanim is having a track meet

2:51 PM – Chaverim is having a track meet, including wacky relays! Some of the unit is relaxing on the hill between events

2:40 PM – The Puzzle competition is still fierce in the Game Room!

2:30 PM – Nitzanim is playing Gaga in the Rec Hall

2:23 PM – And we’re back with afternoon sports!

Bonim girls are playing kickball

11:59 AM – White wins Marble, 9-8!

11:52 AM – Marble, Marble, Marble is called in the middle of lower camp lunch! Nitzanim boys – Milton N. for White Frost and for Henry H. for Blue Inferno

11:43 AM – Time for rest lunch and rest! Games resume at 2 PM

11:25 AM – More fun at the lake!

11:19 AM – Olim boys are playing soccer, and the score is 3-2 with White in the lead. The goalies right now are Ben L. for White and Jacob R. for Blue

11:13 AM – Milton from Bunk 18 is seeing for himself how the Rope Burn fires were built last night! Pit Crew 2019?

11:09 AM – Upper Chaverim girls are playing hockey. The goalies right now are Emily G. for White Frost and Wendy S. for Blue Inferno. The score is 2-2!

10:46 AM – The Olim girls are playing softball. When asked about their favorite part of Maccabia, White Frost explains that even though it’s a competition, Maccabia brings the camp together. “It’s not winning with fun on the side, it’s fun with winning on the side.”

Blue Inferno’s Ali S. up at bat

10:39 AM – Morning sports competitions have begun!

Chaverim boys are playing basketball while Blue Inferno’s spirit bunnies cheer their team on. The game is being refereed by past generals Eli Cohn-Wein and David Barnett

9:44 AM – Blue Inferno wins morning line up 6-4! Now we’re having nikkayon (cleaning of camp and bunks) – events will begin around 10:30!

9:33 AM – Now we’re doing Flagpole, and we have three more birthdays! Happy birthday to Sarina L. (Machon), Ben S. (Olim) and Haley H. (Bonim) as well!

9:31 AM – White Frost, who wasn’t in the room yet when Blue Inferno came in and sang, starts ANOTHER round of Happy Birthday to Hilary! And now in Hebrew! We really REALLY love Hilary!

9:28 AM – Blue and White watch as the judges present our song and saying, and even laugh at our corny jokes!

9:22 AM – Blue is singing Happy Birthday to Hilary Winer, our Athletics and Programming Team Leader and Mistress of Ceremonies for Maccabia 2012!

9:19 AM – We had some rain last night and the Main Lawn is muddy, so line up is happening in the Beit Am. It’s very impressive to see the orderly way our Generals and Captains arrange their half of camp for line up. Pictures!

9:17 AM – We’re about to start morning line up!

8:09 AM – This morning our Captains were the “Mo” in “Modeh Ani” during T’filah!

Day 3 – Wednesday, August 15

–End of Day 2–

9:48 PM – Ross has put out the fires, we sing Hashkiveinu and Bedtime Shema, and Blue Inferno is officially announced as the winner of Rope Burn 2012 after all penalties have been calculated! There is currently a TWO POINT difference in the teams’ scores, with BLUE in the lead after Day 2! Good night, and we’ll see you tomorrow for Day 3!!!

9:40 PM – White’s rope has burned, and the captains are taking their traditional celebratory jump in the lake, ending this incredibly fun and exciting night

9:31 PM – White’s fire is going strong!

9:27 PM – Blue’s fire breaks through the rope and the crowd goes wild!!!!! Now everyone is cheering White on

9:24 PM – White has lit their fire, and the cheering begins!

9:21 PM Blue’s fire is going strong, and we are now streaming Rope Burn live!! Watch the video here: http://ustre.am/NuxJ

9:18 PM – Blue is lighting their Inferno! We see the first smoke of the evening

9:13 PM – Blue Inferno just called for matches and newspaper – “We’re getting ready to light soon”

9:08 PM – The tepees are almost as high as the ropes, which are more than 8 feet from the ground.

9:02 PM – Both teams have codes for stick sizes, it’s interesting to watch them call for “short 3s and long 2s” etc.

9:00 PM – All we can hear are the calls of the teams to each other and the chirps of nighttime insects as the tepees of branches grow taller and taller. It truly is quite a sight.

8:50 PM – Both teams have assembled small tepees as the base for their fires

8:45 PM – Here are the rope burn crews for each team (all are Olim campers except for the coaches):

-White-
Canoeing – Noah K. and Jacob F.
Feeders – Evan L., Alex P, Valerie F, and David P.
Pit – Spencer G., Ari B., and Sonya A.
Coach – Noah M.

-Blue-
Canoeing – Josh C. and Josh Q.
Feeders – Jesse G., Shoshana B., Rachel S., and Chris B.
Pit – Otis H., Jen P., and Jonathan E.
Coach – Pete K.

8:41 PM – White racks their canoe first, followed closely by blue. Now both teams are building their fires

8:38 PM – Ross and Hilary are reading the rules to camp before the event begins. All viewers must be silent! They’re also demonstrating that both ropes are at the same height. Pictures will be a little dark for now until the fires get going.

8:32 PM – Before we start, a quick explanation of Rope Burn:

Rope Burn is one of the most anticipated events of Maccabia, and takes place on the lake. There are three groups of Captains (Olim campers) for each team that participate. The 2 canoers for each team start out on the far side of the lake and canoe to the beach. As soon as their canoe is racked on the beach, the feeders and pit crew can begin. The feeders hand over all the collected wood to the pit crew, who build a fire as high, quickly, and efficiently as possible. The team who burns through their rope first (after penalties are assessed) is the winner!

8:03 PM – Marble, Marble, Marble! Bonim girls!

8:00 PM – The pit crews are arranging the wood as the judges put the final touches on the arena and prepare for camp to arrive at the lake for Rope Burn

7:17 PM – It’s almost time…

White and Blue pit crews help each other carry their gathered wood from the collection area to the lake in preparation for tonight’s Rope Burn

6:05 PM – Chosen to lower the flags tonight for displaying good sportsmanship throughout the day are Ben S. (aka Noodles – Bonim) and Rachel M. (Bonim) for White Frost, and Josh L. (Chaverim) and Abby K. (Bonim) for Blue Inferno! Wow, what a line up! Now it’s dinner, showers, Rope Burn!!!

6:01 PM – Now the judges have asked all 8 generals to stand in front of them, and are presenting little songs they made up for each of them!

5:58 PM – White Frost’s counselors do a Haka dance! Greg’s been waiting for this all summer!

5:44 PM – Line up time! Tonight’s formations:

White Frost demonstrated how they’re going to “freeze” Blue Inferno’s rope later tonight

Blue Inferno did an interpretation of a “walk off” between themselves and White Frost

4:56 PM – Team meetings, line up, shower, and dinner are all that stand between us and Rope Burn 2012!!!

4:36 PM – Olim girls at soccer

4:22 PM – Olim boys at softball

4:20 PM – Upper Bonim boys playing Newcomb

4:18 PM – Upper Bonim girls’ tennis

4:05 PM – Lower Bonim girls’ basketball!

Frost Queens

3:50 PM – The Nitzanim boys are getting ready to play Steal the (Turkey) Bacon!

3:11 PM – All of camp is headed to snack to refuel before more games!

3:01 PM – Bonim has the spirit during their track meet!

2:48 PM – The Puzzle competition is going on right now in the game room. 2,000 pieces!!

2:43 PM – White Frost’s pit crew (the campers and coach who work the fire for Rope Burn) are hard at work training for tonight’s event

2:39 PM – Nitzanim girls are playing kickball!

2:21 PM – Olim’s boating regatta is in full swing!

2:11 PM – White Frost’s generals take a quick break from working on their fight song for Sing

1:54 PM – Chaverim is getting ready for their swim meet!

1:44 PM – More sports competition pics are coming your way after they begin at 2:00!

12:33 PM – Bunk 5 is taking a canteen break!

11:44 AM – White wins the first Marble, Marble, Marble of the day 16-9! The action is going to slow down for a while for lunch, rest, and team meetings.

11:35 AM – Marble, marble, marble! They’re calling for a male captain from each team – it’s Sam C. from Blue Inferno and Ben L. from White Frost!

11:09 AM – Teams are preparing wood for Rope Burn tonight!!! More details to come later, as well as an explanation of the event (one of the most anticipated in all of Maccabia!)

11:00 AM

Counselor Ben K. helps goalie Jordan E. stay hydrated during Lower Bonim boys’ hockey

10:36 AM – Upper Nitzanim Girls playing Steal the Bacon (it’s turkey bacon, of course!)

White Team Spirit Bunnies

10:26 AM –
We’ve started our morning sports competitions!

Bonim girls at softball

9:13 AM – And we’re back for Day 2! Time for morning line up!

There are no formations in the morning, only at evening line up. Now, flagpole! It’s Milton N. from bunk 18’s birthday!

–Beginning of Day 2 – Tuesday, August 14–

–End of Day 1–

9:45 PM – White wins Tug of War!!! Good night cyberspace, we’ll see you tomorrow for day 2!!!

8:31 PM – Tug of War is still going strong!

8:09 PM – All of camp is assembled on the lower soccer field for TUG!!!

6:55 PM – We just found out that White is winning by 33 points heading into Tug of War later this evening!!

6:35 PM – Time for line up, which consist of a song, a charade-like presentation that the judges try to guess, and a saying

Tonight both of the songs (and the judgeship’ song!!) are to the tune of “The Sun Is A Mass of Incandescent Gas” by They Might Be Giants…kind of an all-camp inside joke

The Blue Team presenting tug of war (tonight’s event!):

;;

The White Team presenting a snowflake

4:32 PM – Upper Chav Girls at volleyball

4:25 PM Blue Team Spirit Bunnies!

4:17 PM – Nitzanim swim meet

4:07 PM – Bonim boating regatta

3:55 PM – Lower Chaverim Girls at Kickball

3:34 PM We’re starting the sports competitions! We’ll keep you posted!

2:33 PM Blue team wins 25-7!!! We’ll be starting unit sports competitions shortly!

While we’re waiting, a quick explanation: When “Marble, marble, marble” is announced, all of camp runs to the marble pit by the dining hall. A unit and gender are announced (in this case, Upper Chav boys), and one person of that description from each team is chosen. He/she must toss as many marbles as possible into a tin can before the song ends, while the teams cheer them on!!!

2:28 PM – Marble, marble, marble! Upper Chaverim boys: Guy B. for Blue and Spencer L. for White!

2:25 PM – Now that all time penalties have been calculated, the WHITE Team is officially announced as the winner for Hatchet Hunt!

2:19 PM Both teams are back with their hatchets, which were hidden next to the big rock between the rows – covered in plants! Now we’re having an all-camp dance party for a few minutes!

2:10 PM – “I can see both of the rows; I am where many weeds grow.” Do you know where it is yet???

1:59 PM – Both teams are dancing in sync on the Main Lawn to “I Like It” by Enrique Iglesias

1:49 PM – We’re rocking out to “Drive By” by Train while waiting for the second groups to return. The clue? “Look up, look down, look all around. You may find me on the ground.”

1:44 PM – And they’re off! The first groups have taken off in search of their hatchet

1:16 PM – All of camp is assembled on the Main Lawn for flagpole, followed by Hatchet Hunt! Stay tuned for more!

11:52 AM – White wins 4-1!

11:45 AM – Marble, marble, marble! Nitzanim girl! Hannah F. from blue and Hannah J. from white!

10:32 AM – Blue Team’s Jonathan E. finishes, and chop is over! Now we’re heading to nikkayon and team meetings

10:27 AM – White Team’s Shantal K. breaks through the log first, WHITE WINS CHOP!

10:24 AM – At almost the halfway point, Blue Team Captain Otis H.’s mega-chops spur even louder cheering

10:19 AM – Chop is underway and the crowd is going wild!!! Our captains are amazing!

9:58 AM – We’re getting ready to begin Chop, the traditional first event of Maccabia. Stay tuned for live updates here and on Twitter @URJCraneLake

–Beginning of Day 1 – Monday, August 13–

10:46 PM – That’s all for now; we’re saying good night. Tomorrow we’ll begin, it’ll be quite the sight!

10:37 PM -The axe is in the stump and FIREWORKS are in the sky!!!

10:31 PM – The 2012 Maccabia Generals are:

Blue Inferno:
Hannah Gorfinkel
Sam Magida
Janelle Sarnevitz
Josh Rosenthal

White Frost:
Sarah Loeser
Jeremy Levine
Alex Lewis
Calvin Gibson

10:25 PM – Now camp is split into their teams and down at the lake awaiting what’s next…

9:37 PM The entire camp is now on the lower soccer field watching FIRE DANCERS!!! Best fake out ever??? We shall see…

9:37 PM – “What do we want? Color War! When do we want it?? NOW”

9:32 PM After the final curtain, torches are spotted outside the Rec hall as Debby and Greg take the stage…

8:27 PM – All of camp is assembled in the Rec Hall for this session’s play, “Seussical the Musical”!

6:08 PM – Fake out, fake out, we want a break out!!!

6:02 PM – Wild cheering is ringing through camp as the names of our 2012 generals are announced…

5:52 PM – “Marble, marble, marble” was just heard over the PA – is this it???

–Sunday, August 12 – Break Out–

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Maccabia is coming and we don’t know how
But soon it will be, it will start with a WOW!

So join in the fun from your home, work or phone,
Follow it live on the blog in any time zone

Blue and white will adorn the CLC
It will be fantastic and you’ll get to see!

Pictures, tweets, and blog posts too!
Live when it happens, all posted for you!

When the axe goes in the stump it all begins
We will start these games to see who wins!

Updates by Crane Lake Official Blogger, Eden B.