Session 2 – Day 2: Picture perfect
Hi Herzl Family!
It doesn’t get more picture perfect than today. I woke up just as the sun was starting to shine on the Herzl Camp Shores of Devils Lake. Our resident eagle was out fishing for breakfast for her kids and, of course, because we’re up in Wisconsin in the Northwoods, there was a pair of Loons making the picture just that perfect.
385 campers and 130 staff all showed up at 8:15 sharp (I couldn’t believe it myself). They were on time for our first morning, flag (Degel) of the session. I love Degel! It’s where our community starts our day together as one, the Ozrim kickoff with the fun song to the Mode Ani prayer and we raise the three most important flags here at Macheneh Herzl. The American flag, the Israeli flag, and lastly the Herzl Camp flag. It’s where we teach our campers pride, loyalty and gratitude for what we have. If your camper doesn’t already know Hatikvah, I’m sure you’ll be driving them around one day and all of a sudden you’ll hear from the backseat the humming or singing of those beautiful words, reminding you that your kid goes to a Zionist Jewish awesome summer camp.
I like to walk around during Chugim (activities) as much as possible. It’s where we get to connect with the campers. Danya and I get to see our staff doing their job or trying to in some cases. It’s where we get a real good pulse of what’s going on here at Herzl.
Today, being the first full day of Chugim, we had a lot of introduction activity. The climbing and ropes courses, along with our new bouldering cave, were being introduced after a warm-up and getting to know of the climbing team, which is two Israeli’s passionate about climbing in the outdoors, three awesome men from South Africa who also will serve as our Teva (camping trips) crew… because these men can actually start a fire without a match. I’ve seen it, It’s incredible. And lastly, they’re led by our fourth year veteran, Bibian (a PhD candidate in physics, by the way) from Puebla, Mexico who started with us in the kitchen and has become a staple in the fabric of our specialist staff.
I was able to catch the Kadima play reveal to the Kadima campers done by our exuberant Ozrim, who came running into the Kadima Mo, dancing, in costumes, and playing and singing dancing Queen and with all the craziness you can imagine celebrating what is going to be the Kadima play, Mamma Mia.
After that amazing awesome fun experience where I got multiple loud environment warnings on my watch, I went down to the boating side and watched our boating staff, all of them Israeli and fresh out of the IDF Navy- three officers, two commanders, and a Naval Academy instructor. They were fitting the kids for the proper water skis and showing them the early instruction required before they get out on the boat and start skiing across Devils Lake. Of course, some of our season veterans went down there and were able to convince the boating staff that they knew exactly what they were doing, and we had multiple water skiers up and out there on this beautiful day.
After lunch and a very noisy Chadar (a song of success for us) Camp quieted down for Minucha (rest time), but almost exactly an hour later when Chugim began again, you could hear the noise down the waterfront of splashing and laughter and giggles and games all the way up at the Chadar and, I’m sure, all the way across beautiful Devils lake.
My afternoon Chugim stroll brought me up to the Sports fields and the Beit Ruach (our gymnasium) where I caught the World League – our competitive sports chug – doing its first day combine. Something relatively new where each kid gets to show off their particular skills in front of all the coaches and the kids treat it as if they’re on ESPN themselves. It’s really fun to watch everything, from throwing basketball balls up, throwing footballs across the field, hitting the softball, fielding the softball, and kicking the soccer ball in drills I don’t understand but we clearly have some serious soccer players here this session…there were many different uniforms on the field, each boasting pride in their club…and showing them proud. The world league Chug leaders/staff stay up into the wee hours, setting up the teams so that they’re level and competitive, I think Roger Goodell could take a lesson from this crew!
Believe or not, I could tell you much more, like… I played pickle ball with the two campers and another staff member. I disappointed my camper partner by being the cause of losing both games. I’m not being drafted tonight, I’m sure.
Point being… so much happens here in a day and again it’s one of the things I love about Degel (flag Circle), because from the time we say good morning to the time we lower the flag, which is just before dinner, it feels like we just did a week of activity and we still have more ahead.
Well, this camper is tired and it’s time to hit the cot, but…
All is well, safely rest.
Thanks for sending your kid to Herzl Camp!
לילה טוב
Tommy