With day trip day, Lake Erie adventures, and overnights both on camp and away from camp, this week was filled with so much activity it literally flew by! Chalutzim visited Pioneer Waterland, Ohalim rode the toilet bowl at Wildwater Kingdom, and Noar enjoyed thrills all around at Cedar Point. While all of camp returned Monday evening from their day trips, Solel continued on their journey south to Cincinnati and Kentucky for their big trip. But the adventure didn’t stop there, our 8th grade Noar campers kept the good times rolling with an afternoon at Fairport Harbor on Lake Erie and our 9th grade Noar campers had their whitewater rafting overnight at Ohiopyle. Early in the week we welcomed campers from the Columbus and Akron JCC as they joined us for a mini, “taste of Camp Wise”. While these groups were at Camp Wise, we also hosted campers from Anisfield Day Camp (from across the lake) as well as a camp group that traveled from Buffalo. After we said goodbye to all of our visitors we welcomed our Rishon II campers on Thursday afternoon.
With all of these guests joining Camp Wise this week as well as the many opportunities our campers had to be hosted away from camp, there could have been no better week to focus on our core value of Hachnasat Orchim (welcoming guests). Hachnasat Orchim is biblically modeled by Abraham and Sarah in the Book of Genesis. When guests unexpectedly arrived at the tent of Abraham and Sarah, the couple warmly welcomed the visitors, made them comfortable, and fed them generously. We also learn this week that the Ma Tovu prayer we say at camp each Shabbat morning comes directly from this week’s parsha (Torah portion). Ma Tovu is a blessing said by a non-Jewish prophet when he saw the People of Israel and their tents. The blessing “Ma tovu ohalecha Ya’akov, mishkenotecha Yisrael”, how lovely are your tents oh Jacob, your dwelling places oh Israel.” This week’s Shabbat experience is facilitated by the village of Ohalim and in preparation for Shabbat, Ohalim talked about how we live this value of welcoming others at home and at camp. The campers discussed how perfect this week’s Shabbat is for Ohalim because their cabin’s tent flaps make their village open and welcoming to all, just like Abraham and Sarah’s tent once was.
There was so much excitement this week and yet we still have so much more to go! I’m looking forward to creating new memories with the campers this week as we continue the excitement with more special activities. While I can’t give away all the surprises still planned, I’m especially eager to watch our campers take the stage tomorrow evening at our all-camp Talent Show! I love seeing all of our camper’s unique talents. The Talent Show is also a great opportunity for us to see how our amazing team of staff creates safe spaces for campers push themselves a bit out of their comfort zone and build their confidence to perform in front of all of camp. Read below for more ways our counselors are fostering relationships with their cabins and creating lasting memories with each new day.
COLUMBUS & AKRON “TASTE OF CAMP WISE” WEEK
On Thursday we said goodbye to our Columbus and Akron day camp friends. While the day camp campers were here they enjoyed all of the amazing activities at Wise including tie dye, jet skiing, horseback riding, and so much more! They also joined the Chalutzim campers on their day trip to Pioneer Waterland on Monday! It was a great week and we were very sad to see this awesome group of kids head home! We are looking forward to summer 2017 so we can welcome them all back to the Home of Happiness again!
Cabin Photos
CHALUTZIM
C1: The men of C1 cooked up some tasty treats at the fire pit and even made their special Camp Wise tie dye t-shirts. They also had a lot of fun having a cabin with a water fight!
C2: These guys had a great time at the Chalutzim honeymoon pool party! They’ve been playing a lot of Pokémon during rest hour and had an awesome late night basketball game just for their cabin.
C3: The C3 campers spent their week rallying on the tennis courts and in the art shack making their cabin plaque. They learned the basics of playing guitar enjoyed s’mores while relaxing around the Chalutzim fire pit!
C4 – RISHON: C4 has gotten off to a great first couple days of camp. They have already swam, gone horseback riding, and enjoyed an awesome evening program, Alaska vs The World! We are looking forward to a great first week of camp!
C5 – RISHON: C5 had an awesome evening last night bonding at bunk night. They enjoyed snacks and talked about their excitement for these upcoming 2 weeks. We are looking forward to a wonderful first Shabbat tonight and can’t wait to see what fun is in store!
C6: The girls enjoyed their cabin horseback riding activity when they each chose one of the 16 horses to ride. They also had a great time celebrating Josh and Sky’s “wedding” at the Sunday evening programming, they especially enjoyed eating wedding cake!
C7: Day trip day was a day to remember for these ladies, they had an amazing time on the paddle boats, racing down the speed slides, playing sports, and relaxing on the lazy river! Back at camp they climbed to the top of the tower and learned some new moves at yoga.
C8: The ladies of C8 really enjoyed Miron’s magic show and especially loved taking part in the tricks! They’re full of energy, they were seen dancing on stage during song sessions and loved learning more about Israel in the Israeli culture cabin activity.
OHALIM
O1: These guys served up some fun in their outdoor cooking cabin activity. They stayed in touch with nature when they went on their overnight in the Camp Wise woods!
O2: After day trip day O2 came back to watch a camp-favorite movie, “The Parent Trap” and they learned how camp can bring people together. Later this week they showed off their sharpshooting abilities on the archery field!
O3: The men of O3 put their acting skills to the test in the drama cabin activity! They also went extreme and had tons of fun at their mountain biking activity.
O4: O4 had an unforgettable fun time at Wildwater Kingdom at Ohalim day trip day. They also made their Camp Wise tie dye t-shirts this week!
O5: This cabin has now made a permanent impression on Camp Wise because they’ve completed their cabin plaque in the art shack. They’ve worked hard to prepare for Ohalim Shabbat this week, learning about this week’s parsha (Torah portion).
O6: The ladies of O6 have had an awesome week together. They enjoyed making s’mores Thursday night and had a blast celebrating the birthday of their counselor, AJ!
O7: O7 had tons of fun designing their cabin plaque together! They have really enjoyed creating special moments that are just for their cabin.
O8: These girls absolutely loved Wildwater Kingdom! This week the girls focused their attention on pulling pranks on their counselors.
O9: O9 is truly loving their time here at Camp Wise. Their highlight of each day is when they get together as a cabin for their bedtime ritual of writing madlibs!
O10: The O10 girls had an amazing time on our day trip. Back at camp they learned some new Israeli dances and also got crafty to make their cabin plaque!
OT: This group keeps getting closer and closer as a cabin with each new day. This week they particularly when they dressed in all pink and performed a dance on stage in front of all of camp!
NOAR
N1: The men of N1 had expanded their circle of friends, meeting more campers in the village and starting new cheers as well! They have had great bonding time at night in the cabin.
N2: N2’s highlight this week was their special nighttime zip line activity on Wednesday. They’ve bonded in the cabin nightly and have enjoyed other cabin activities such as Teva and low ropes!
N3: This week has been all about the outdoor adventure. These guys loved their vertical playground activity on the ropes course this week and they even made s’mores at their outdoor cooking cabin activity!
N4: N4 has had an amazing time this past week! With riding the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point and going on awesome nature hikes, things have been really great both in and out of the cabin.
N5: These ladies have been all about sports with their soccer and basketball cabin activities! They also had some cabin bonding and song sessions Tuesday night.
N6: This cabin has been staying busy participating in fun activities including completing the high ropes course and creating awesome name cards at the art shack! They also did introspective meditation with N5 while the ninth grade went on their overnight.
N7: N7 enjoyed their overnight rafting trip where the girls bonded with many of the girls from the other ninth grade cabin. Back at camp some of the girls went on a really fun nature hike and found some special parts of camp.
N8: These ladies had their prize of s’mores in the 15-year forest for winning the Shark Tank evening program last week. They also had a bonding cabin activity where they all made compliment posters to hang in their bunk!
SOLEL
This week, Solel took their first trip to Cincinnati and Kentucky! The first stop was Kings Island, an amusement park in Cincinnati. The next morning, we drove to Cave City, Kentucky where they visiting Mammoth Cave and went on a tour of the world’s largest know cave systems. That afternoon the adventure continued with a visit to the Kentucky Action Park for activities like the zip line, alpine slide, go karts, and bumper cars. The following day, Solel drove to Hocking Hills National Park in Logan, OH. They spent two hours canoeing in beautiful, sunny weather before returning back to Camp Wise for a relaxing end of the week in preparation for Shabbat.
