In recent years, we have undertaken a number of projects at camp to make our program more environmentally friendly and to boost awareness of our impact on the natural world around us.  We’ve increased the types of items and amount that can be recycled.  We moved away from individually packaged cereals to purchasing cereal in bulk packaging.  We greatly reduced our paper consumption by migrating camper forms to our online system CampInTouch.  Our Art Center has introduced a series of projects using recycled and repurposed materials.  The list can go on and on.  This summer we are moving to the next step.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Gendler Grapevine Project, we purchased additional dishes, cups and silverware.  This will allow us to move away from using paper plates, plastic utensils and paper cups when we have cookouts and Shabbat meals in the Picnic Grove.  By reducing our reliance on “disposable” products, we will lessen our negative impact on the environment and cut down on a tremendous amount of waste.  We’ll give you more facts about this at camp.

This project brings to life our commitment to the Jewish value of ba’al tashchit or do not waste.  In Judaism, we believe that “one generation goes and another generation comes, but the Earth remains forever (Kohelet 1:4).”  We have a responsibility to protect the Earth for generations to come. 

You can read more about this innovative initiative and other parts of the program in the Chicago Tribune Local. 

We feel very lucky to be one of the Jewish overnight camps whose proposal was accepted by the Gendler Grapevine Project for funding.  The Gendler Grapevine Project funds activities within the Jewish community to honor and support the values maintained by Rabbi Everett Gendler, the "grandfather of Jewish environmentalism." The Project recognizes and celebrates the deep connections between the Jewish tradition and the natural world by empowering individuals and communities to spiritual and practical application of these values.

We’ve purchased two new waterski/wakeboard boats for the upcoming summer!!  This will allow us to further enhance our already outstanding ski program.

Both new boats are Moombas.  Moomba is a popular name brand waterski and wakeboard boat made by Skiers Choice.  This boat is used by waterski and wakeboard teams around the country.  With these two new additions, we will have a total of four Moombas in our boat fleet.  Moombas use the latest technology and design and will aid in instruction of waterskiing, wakeboarding and kneeboarding.  They’ll get better gas mileage than the boats they are replacing and are more environmentally conscious.

One of the new boats is specially designed for wakeboarding and will have a wakeboard tower.  The other new boat’s motor is ideal for waterski.  (It's the blue boat in the above picture.)

Along with these boats, we are excited to announce our 2013 waterski/wakeboard staff:

It’s going to be a great summer down at the docks!

Last summer we introduced a whole new way to choose what you want to do at Camp Chi… Remix!  Remix is an evening program that lets you which cool activity you will do.  These are not your typical camp activities, but they give you an opportunity to try something new, learn a new skill, or just have fun.  Led by our talented counselors and specialists, last summer’s Remix activities included:

You can see a sampling of photos from 2012 Remix on Facebook. 

We can’t wait to see what our staff create for Remix this summer.  Remix will take place twice each session.  Get excited… We’ll be re-mixing it up again in 2013!

It takes a huge team of people to make the magic of camp happen every day.  Some of the hardest working and most valuable staff are those who work behind the scenes, including our kitchen staff and janitorial staff.  They work endless hours to provide us with the best camp meals and to make sure that our community is clean.

We are very lucky to have a dedicated group of returning kitchen staff and janitorial staff working at Camp Chi and Perlstein this summer:

These experienced staff join a great team of people from all over the world who work with our professional food service and maintenance staff.  We can't wait to meet all of our new kitchen and janitorial staff.

This week is National Nurses Week.  It's an opportunity to thank nurses for all that they do to take care of us. 

We have fantastic nurses at Camp Chi each summer.  They work so hard to keep us healthy and happy.  We are excited to have the following nurses on our team this summer:

Also, joining our Health Center staff this summer are two aides, Olivia Cessine and Ambreen Khan.

Think about the nurses in your life, including your school nurses. Make sure to thank them this week and whenever they help you.

With camp just around the corner, we needed a little extra help to get ready.  Luckily, we have a fantastic intern joining us this month – Louis Stromberg.  We thought it would be fun to have Louis introduce himself to all of you.

Hi! My name is Louis Stromberg and I'm excited to be getting started with Camp Chi! I'm originally from Buffalo, New York and grew up as a camper and staff at JCC Camp Lakeland.

I received my undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and became a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi. After I graduated, I moved to DC to become a teacher at the JCC. I then realized I wanted to fulfill my passion in working with the Jewish nonprofit world, so I moved to Chicago to get a dual masters degree in Nonprofit Management and Jewish Professional Studies at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. During my time in school, I've been working with BBYO to help guide and lead Jewish teens!

I love the Buffalo Bills, playing basketball, eating chicken wings, and all things camp! To me, there's nothing better.

Louis will also be at camp this summer!  He will be working with Mamph as the Habo Village Leader for first session.

Tera Eliasoff is performing in Once Upon a Mattress with the JCC Young Actors Ensemble.  Performances are taking place from May 2-12 at the Kaplan JCC in Skokie.  You can find more information, including how to purchase tickets, here. 

We are so excited for Dan Kaiman! Dan is completing rabbinical school in June.  He has accepted the position of Assistant Rabbi at Congregational B'nai Emunah in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He invites everyone to visit.

Aaron Kaufman is heading to George Washington University in the fall.  He is excited to follow in the footsteps of many Chi alums, including Lauren Schmidt.

Mazel tov to Noah Spitz on his recent Bar Mitzvah and to Oren Kaufman on her upcoming Bat Mitzvah.

Ashley O'Brien is completing her time as a student teacher in a third grade classroom before she graduates from the University of Arizona.  She is returning to Camp Chi this summer as a Noar Village Leader.

Do you have news to share about you or your friends for June? Send us your update here.

All Chi families are invited to join us at this summer's Family Visiting Day.

When: Sunday, June 9
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm (Last tour begins at 12:00pm)
Where: JCC Camp Chi, Lake Delton, Wisconsin
RSVP by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by June 1

Bring the whole family for a fun-filled morning at JCC Camp Chi. Go on the grand tour of our beautiful site, including all of the activity areas and cabins. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet summer staff and visit the Canteen to purchase Chi gear.  The day ends with a fantastic barbeque lunch served in the Dining Hall.

This is a great event for new and returning families.  We hope everyone will join us to kick off summer 2013!

We are so excited to have such a great group of shlichim (Israeli staff) at camp this summer.  They recently participated in a special training seminar sponsored by the Jewish Agency in Israel.  This great photo is from the seminar.

This year's shlichim are working all over camp and beyond:

 
Bruchim Ha-baim! We're glad to have you as part of the Chi team this summer.

We are so excited to have such an outstanding group of Junior Counselors this summer.  We know that you'll be excited to have your SITs from last summer as counselors this year. 

Junior Counselors will be at camp during all sessions this summer in cabins and some specialty areas  Many in this group are going on the Chi Israel Trip during second session.  We know that they will be great additions to the staff and then have an awesome time in Israel.