My first summer home was Camp Edward Isaacs (aka Eddie I) in Holmes, NY.  I started going there because my two older cousins had been going there for years and were starting to work there.  I had been waiting for years and I was finally old enough to go as well. I spent my first summer there in 2007 and loved it; I could not wait for next summer! By the time June of 2008 came around I was in for another great summer. I was so happy to see my best friends, or summer sisters, one of which I could never live without.  After another great experience, it was time to go home. This is when the bad news came. The camp had closed down. I was devastated. Where was I going to go? How was I going to stay connected to my best friends?

A few months later, the Camp Eddie I directors held a get together where they invited representatives from numerous other Jewish camps to talk to all the campers and parents about trying to find a new summer home. As we went around, my mom came across the camp that my cousins’ cousins went to and loved. After a lot of discussion, my mom and I decided that I would try out this camp. That summer I went and had fun but I didn’t consider the place to be right as a new summer home for me – it just wasn’t what I was looking for. I was unsettled and I still didn’t know where I wanted to be. Then I was talking to the same cousins who I went to Eddie I with, and they said they were now working at a camp they really enjoyed called Camp Laurelwood. I figured that if they were happy there, I probably would be too.

It looked really nice and fun online and in the pamphlet and I was really interested to go. It turns out we actually took the Camp Laurelwood pamphlet home with us from the camp get together too! It also turns out that one of my best friends from Eddie I went there and loved it. So I had my mom sign me up. I was really happy to know I would have so many people there already that loved it. I got there and met so many great people. I have had three amazing summers so far and am looking forward to more! I would never have had so much fun without the amazing people I met at this amazing place. My friend from Eddie I and I have become extremely close over the five summers we have spent together and I’m glad to call her one of my best friends. If I had never gone to Laurelwood I would never had wonderful memories with amazing friends.

Noam Slomovic is 13 years old, lives in New York City, and has been attending Camp Moshava in Honesdale, PA for four years.

I can’t believe it – camp is only three months away!  Well, actually to be exact it’s 113 days away, and as the summer approaches, I think about the many epic memories of my camp life. I have gone to Camp Moshava for the past four years, and from those few months of my life I have the greatest memories ever. Most memories are top secret so I cannot share them with the public. (That is one amazing thing about camp.) But for this blog I decided to share one in particular.

On the last night of my third summer at camp I had the time of my life.  It was packing day and it could have been the most hectic day in all of camp history. You could hear counselors and kids screaming at the top of their lungs saying, “Get your things on the truck!”

My bunk was the last bunk to finish packing.  We were all going crazy because of what was going to happen that night, the “banquet.”  Everyone in camp loved the banquet for one reason, the food.  However this year we were in for a little surprise, instead of having the norm – spicy wings, mini hot dogs, wings, burgers, and chicken, they had pita and falafel. People were clearly very unhappy. However, this banquet still could have been the best, for one reason, we were not there. We were outside on the dining hall porch just chatting, and that’s when the fun began. The second we realized that the singing and dancing at the banquet had ended we ran to our bunk and started the party.  We had been planning this party for two weeks; we had saved so much food that it took up half the bunk, we were ready to party.

As we started stuffing our faces with food, we launched our karaoke contest. Eight people were singers and we had one DJ and three judges. At about 1:00am we started. Everyone chose a different song to sing.  After each round we would eliminate one person from the contest.  No one was offended if they were eliminated because they knew it was just because the contest was all in fun.  I was one of the judges. My fellow judges and I took five minutes to decide who would be eliminated after every round, so clearly we took this very seriously. It was 3:30am when we finished.  At 6:00 we decided to watch the sun come up.

I wanted to share this particular memory because it just shows that camp is mostly about the friends you make and how you spend time with them. Although many activities at camp are very enjoyable, the main reason I go to camp is to spend quality time with my friends.