Today, it is with extreme sadness that we say l’hitraot to Mariah Unger.

As many of you know, over the last few months, Mariah has been battling cancer with infinite bravery, humour and tremendous will. Her positive outlook, proudly and prominently displayed on facebook, towards “the C word” as she called it, inspired others – including myself – to fully enjoy life regardless of the obstacles that may arise.  On January 25th, 2012 Mariah unfortunately passed away, leaving behind empty hearts, but more importantly, memories that will forever be engrained in Centre Camp history.

Throughout my recent journey to Israel, our Jewish educator and tour guide left us with an uplifting quote as we left Kinneret Cemetery.

Cemeteries are here to celebrate lives and should be used as an outlet to tell the inspiring stories of the loved ones that have passed. -Muki Jankelowitz

I ask that you please join us and help keep her spirit alive and share a story about Mariah in the comment section below.  Here is my story…

I’ve known Mariah for over 10 years, growing up at Centre Camp is something we both have in common. While I of course remember Mariah as a creative camper, it was when Mariah matured as a staff member that she truly began to shine and our relationship grew. Mariah’s passion for children was both natural and effortless. During the winter months, I would always breathe a sigh of relief seeing Mariah’s summer application.  Being blessed with a staff member that was always dedicated, motived, caring and spirited is something I never took for granted. Mariah possessed all of those attributes. No task at camp was too menial for Mariah and regardless of the situation, Mariah took on every challenge as if it meant the world to her.  As a Camp Director, there’s nothing more I could ask for in a staff member.  Whenever I think of Mariah, the absolute first memory that comes to mind is her ability to take everyday items and turn them into phenomenal theme day costumes, filling her cabin and our camp with smiles and laughter.

In the summer of 2011, we here at Centre Camp decided to try something new and unique in the camp world – so we joined forces with the Koffler Centre of the Arts, a partner agency of the JCCs of Greater Toronto, to bring our campers the BEST arts, arts and crafts, and Judaic art anywhere!

You may ask: what makes the partnership with Koffler so amazing? Well, our campers got to create amazing things like mosaic boxes, Chagall homages, and unique and beautiful expressions in any medium you can imagine! The devotion and excitement of the Koffler Specialists at Centre Camp make every arts period a memorable experience – and there’s always something to bring home at the end of the week.

When it comes to Theme Days, look no further for creative vision than Koffler Arts, Koffler Arts & Crafts, and Koffler Judaic Art for great ideas. From Israel Day flags to Wild Wild West Day sheriff stars, there’s never an end to what a Centre Camp camper might bring home – along with the confidence that they can be artists too.

As Toronto’s best Jewish day camp expands into Vaughan, you can expect the same amazingly high standard of Koffler Arts excellence at both our Toronto and Vaughan locations!

Thank you to our Koffler team and the Koffler Centre of the Arts for the great Summer 2011 Memories, and for giving us yet another reason to say #ilovecentrecamp

Centre Camp’s Winter Carnival has arrived! What makes a Centre Camp Winter Carnival so much fun? How about two gyms of full of bouncy castles, carnival games, cotton candy, face painting, Sports with Jay, Mega Magic, DJ and dancing from Bounce Entertainment and more? And that’s not even the best part…it’s also FREE!

The Centre Camp Winter Carnival runs from 1-3pm at the schwartz/reismancentre ( SRC )at the Lebovic Jewish Community Campus. We’re going to bring you Toronto’s best day camp experience right in the middle of the winter! You can meet the Centre Camp directors and also discover what has hundreds of kids each summer saying
#ilovecentrecamp

Sunday, January 15th is a special day for our very good friends at Menchie’s Rutherford Marketplace as well: 20% of EVERY frozen yogurt purchase made that day with this flyer will go to the Centre Camp Scholarship Fund – helping send kids to Centre Camp every summer! And don’t miss the opportunity to register your children for the best day camp in Toronto and Vaughan with last chance Early Bird discounts! You could save up to $240/camper!

We hope to see you all at this FUN and FREE family event! For more information, check out our Winter Carnival Page!

#campAllYearLong

Before we look at what our campers did today, let’s take a look ahead – because the fun never stops at Centre Camp!

On January 15th, Centre Camp is hosting a massive Winter Carnival at the Lebovic Jewish Community Campus from 1-3pm – featuring bouncy castles, carnival games, Sports with Jay, dancing, and more! Come learn about Centre Camp at both our Toronto and Vaughan locations, register your camper for the summer, and meet the Camp Directors! Do you love Frozen Yogurt? Well if you head over to Menchie’s at Rutherford and Bathurst on January 15 with our flyer, 20% of your purchase will go to Centre Camp Scholarship Fund, helping to send campers from families in need to Centre Camp each summer!

Now let’s take a quick look at our last day at Winter Camp!

First Ever Winter Camp Survivor Finale
Here at Centre Camp, we have a great tradition called Survivor. For many years, this has stayed a summer mainstay, but for the first time ever, Survivor was an integral part of Winter Morning Flagpole – and today its first champion was crowned! After an exciting and intense set of challenges, Tsofim counselor Ben became the first-ever Winter Camp Survivor Champion!

Oneg Shabbat
Today is Friday, which of course means Oneg Shabbat! Our famous Shabbat Party featured plenty of songs, stories, and amazing Challah! Not to mention hot chocolate and candle-lighting. Our Winter Camp campers had an awesome time with Dani and Matt for their fantastic Shabbat Party!

Winter Camp Recap
Winter Camp has been a truly great way to spend the last couple weeks – and what better way to end it off by revisiting our favourite parts of the day! From Koffler Arts & Crafts to Specialty, Sports, and Drama, from Theme Day to Pizza Party, our campers had a great time with their counselors and specialists! Here’s to K’tanim, Bonim 1, Bonim 2, Tsofim, Halutzim 1 and Halutzim 2!

Koffler Centre of the Arts
Koffler Arts & Crafts was brought to you by the Koffler Centre of the Arts – help keep the creative juices flowing with Koffler Centre art classes! This winter and spring, the Koffler Centre of the Arts offers over 30 new classes in visual art, music, dance, writing, photography and ceramics – including new classes for kids and families. Winter classes start this January, and new students get 10% off. Register now before classes fill up!

And finally, keep an eye on our Blog website, because the blogging doesn’t stop now! Every Thursday is Blogsday on the Centre Camp site, so you’ll always stay in touch with Centre Camp!

We hope you have had as amazing a winter break as we have – and here’s to an incredible 2012!

#campAllYearLong

To quote Camp Director Phil Faibish: “everything’s fine on day number nine!” Let’s find out how our campers celebrated Israel Day!

Halutzim 2
Halutzim 2 started off their day with a celebration of Yom Yisrael – and created their very own playdough! Halutzim 2′s digital adventure continued in iCompute – and in Sports, Halutzim 2 had an exciting time with Rosa!

Halutzim 1
Halutzim 1 had the opportunity to finish their beautiful Stained Glass art in Koffler Arts & Crafts today, as well as celebrate Israel Day with Matt! In iCompute, Halutzim 1 finished their amazing slideshows, and ended off the day with fun improv games in Drama!

Tsofim
Our Tsofim cabin started their celebration of Israel Day with some outdoor fun – followed by games in Drama! After lunch, Tsofim made their own playdough with Matt before revisiting iCompute to finish off an amazing day nine!

Bonim 2
In Koffler Arts & Crafts, Bonim 2 celebrated Yom Yisrael by making beautiful Tzedakah boxes featuring each campers own unique style and colours. Later, Bonim 2 had a blast with Rosa in Sports before some outdoor adventure in the fantastic weather!

K’tanim and Bonim 1
Our K’tanim and Bonim 1 cabin enjoyed a little fresh air to start their Israel Day, enjoying some outdoor sports! In Koffler Arts & Crafts, K’tanim and Bonim 1 also made dazzling Tzedakah boxes to celebrate Yom Yisrael. To end their day the Specialty way, Bonim 1 also got to create their own playdough!

Check out the pictures to see more of the excitement from today – and here’s to one more FANTASTIC day of Winter Camp coming up, featuring our Shabbat Party, plenty of Challah, and our first every Winter Camp Survivor Finale!

#campAllYearLong

Let’s talk about today’s Winter Camp spirit!

K’tanim and Bonim 1
Today, our K’tanim and Bonim 1 cabin had a ton of fun making spirited noisemakers in Specialty – before creating awesome Winter-ready paper snowmen! K’tanim and Bonim 1 brought the spirit all the way through their Pizza Party lunch to an afternoon of fun facepainting and sports! 

Bonim 2
Our Bonim 2 cabin kept the Winter Camp spirit going all day long – with amazing noisemakers and outdoor adventure filling up their morning. The day continued through a great Pizza Party followed by spirited flag-making! To end off the day, Bonim 2 had a blast with drama games!

Tsofim
Tsofim got to start the day off with an iNcredible iCompute period – making their very own video game! The spirit continued in Sports with some friendly competition – Wii style! After their awesome Pizza Party, Tsofim had loads of messy spirit-filled fun in Koffler Arts & Crafts! 

Halutzim 1
Halutzim 1 had a great Yom Ruach – from celebrating a beautiful day outdoors to having a blast in Sports on the Wii. Halutzim 1 had their hand at iCompute today, learning the ins and outs of video game making! Their afternoon was filled with Spirit Day fun with Matt! 

Halutzim 2
Our Halutzim 2 cabin had an amazing Spirit Day – filled with exciting drama games and of course iCompute. Halutzim 2 also had a spirited Pizza Party lunch, before plenty of Wii fun in the gym and a celebration of Spirit Day with Matt!

From K’tanim to Halutzim, Yom Ruach was a rousing success at Winter Camp! And stay tuned for another special day at Winter Camp tomorrow: Yom Yisrael! Wear Israeli flavoured clothing!

#campAllYearLong

Let’s find out what our awesome Winter Camp campers did today!

Tsofim
Our Mifost campers celebrated Yad Sdrawkcab in style (see what I did there? read that sentence backwards) – Tsofim had a very exciting day, creating mismatched drawings for Backwards Day, fun and interactive Improv games in Drama, and making wonderful winter Snowmen in Koffler Arts and Crafts! Tsofim never cease to scout out a great time at Winter Camp!

Bonim 2
The 2 Minob (read backwards) cabin came to Winter Camp in great Backwards Day outfits, and were the builders of beautiful Snowflake Necklaces to match in Koffler Arts and Crafts! In Sports, Bonim 2 played mega-soccer, with everyone (including counsellors) running around and learning all the fun of the game! And in Specialty, the Bonim 2 cabin were our little cooks creating amazing pudding!

Halutzim 1
Yad Sdrawkcab no nuf of tol a dah 1 Miztulah (Halutzim 1 had a lot of fun on Backwards Day!) From a big game of Soccer in Sports to incredible Stained Glass art in Koffler Arts and Crafts, Halutzim 1 had non-stop excitement all day; especially when they went to be chefs in the Kitchen a la Matt making their very own pudding.

K’tanim and Bonim 1
Amard, Ytailceps, Strops, and Relffok  (read backwards)- who could ask for a better Backwards Day! K’tanim and Bonim had tons of fun in Drama (Amard) with their interactive mismatched art, made awesome pudding in Specialty (Ytailceps), played exciting ball games in Sports (Strops) and crafted dazzling Snowflake Necklaces in Koffler (Relffok) Arts and Crafts! So much fun for our little ones in one day!

Halutzim 2
2 Miztulah (read backwards) were our pioneers in cooking today, making a very successful first batch of pudding in Specialty! Their success helped them create spectacular Stained Glass in Koffler Arts and Crafts and played an amazing game of soccer at Sports! And of course Halutzim 2 celebrated Backwards Day all day long!

Tomorrow the Winter Camp excitement continues with Yom Ruach (Spirit Day!) and PIZZA DAY! Who will win the Winter Camp Spirit Cup? Maybe it’ll be me! Dress in bright, loud colours (preferably Orange, Blue and Green!)

And here’s a bonus question for you – comment on this blog post and tell us why we bolded a few key words in today’s post!

That’s all for now – have a terrific Tuesday!

#campAllYearLong

And now for a special bonus: yesterday’s FLUBBER recipe! (courtesy of knowledgesutra.com)
You will need: 1 cup of white glue, 1 1/4 cup of warm water, food colouring, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1 teaspoon of 20 Mule Team Borax (found in laundry detergent section)

1. Mix glue and 1 1/4 cup of warm water – stir with fork until dissolved.
2. Add 4 drops of food colouring – stir with fork till well blended.
3. In a separate bowl mix 1/2 cup warm water & 1/2 teaspoon of Borax until dissolved
4. Blend well in to first mix.
5. Knead with your hands until ready – Flubber can be stored in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks, and vinegar can be used to clean Flubber out of fabric

Let’s take a look at what our campers did today for Ew Messy Day!

K’tanim
Our K’tanim cabin had a great first day of Week 2 – they got to experience Ew Messy Day with our Specialist Matt – creating super cool Flubber! And even though the weather was a bit on the chilly side today, K’tanim got to enjoy the amazing winter weather before Sports with Rosa!

Bonim 1
Bonim 1 also had the amazing experience of creating Flubber with Matt – as well as awesome exciting games with Dani, our Drama Specialist! Bonim 1 had some Ew Messy Day fun with their cabin to end out the day!

Bonim 2
Our Bonim 2 cabin created beautiful String Paintings in Koffler Arts and Crafts today, an amazing and artful way to celebrate Ew Messy Day and start our second week! In Sports, Bonim 2 had a blast in the gym with Rosa!

Tsofim
The Tsofim cabin got to start the day with some fun and exciting icebreaker games at Drama before having some Ew Messy Day fun of their own! In their celebration of Ew Messy Day, Tsofim got to make Flubber!

Halutzim 1
Our Halutzim 1 cabin started the week off with an exciting game of Dodgeball in Sports – and then went to create some of their very own Flubber for Ew Messy Day! Later, they got to enjoy the winter wonderland of the Heschel School grounds and made fantastic String Paintings in Koffler Arts and Crafts! Halutzim 1 also celebrated a camper birthday today!

Halutzim 2
Halutzim 2 played fun and interactive Drama games to start their day, as well a bit of outdoor excitement. Halutzim 2 had big fun with Romy in Koffler Arts and Crafts making their own take on String Paintings – amazing pieces of art!

And that’s just a snapshot of today’s excitement – head over to the Gallery for plenty of pictures of Winter Camp. And get ready to get excited about tomorrow: BACKWARDS DAY!
See you all then! 
#campAllYearLong

Can you believe it’s already Day 5 at Winter Camp! That means Oneg Shabbat and a celebration of New Years! Our Centre Camp Photo Gallery is THE place to go for amazing photos of WInter Camp Fun! (If you need the password, remember to send an e-mail to lauren@centrecamp.ca). Let’s take a look at what our campers did today!

Halutzim
Our Halutzim 1 and 2 cabins had the opportunity to experience our amazing Oneg Shabbat, featuring Hot Chocolate and Challah (of course)! Halutzim 1 had a fun-filled action-packed Sports period while Halutzim 2 created amazing stained glass windows in Koffler Arts and Crafts.

Tsofim
Today, Tsofim helped ring in the New Year with amazing 2012 Headbands, and celebrated Oneg Shabbat in fashion with Matt and Dani. In Koffler Arts & Crafts, Tsofim got to make awesome stained glass!

Bonim
Our Bonim 1 and 2 cabins celebrated Oneg Shabbat with Challah and Hot Chocolate, along with creating amazing Challah Covers! In Koffler Arts & Crafts, our Bonim cabins worked together to make an amazing colourful mural to adorn our walls, as well as great feet penguins.

K’tanim

Our K’tanim campers enjoyed an amazing New Years celebration with Bonim 1, and then went on to an adorable Oneg celebration, learning all about Shabbat and Jewish values!

All of us here at the Centre Camp Team would you like to thank you for an amazing first week of Winter Camp, and wish you a Shabbat Shalom and a very Happy New Year!

#campAllYearLong

And you can e-mail us for a very special Science Experiment recipe! info@centrecamp.ca