It is with great pleasure that we begin CSL August 2013 today! Welcome to our Blog – this is your source for all information about what is happening at camp throughout the summer. We are now in the fourth year of actively communicating with you about what we are doing at CSL and are excited about what we will be able to offer you.
My name is Ari Baum and I am now in my fifth summer as the Program Director at camp and 22nd overall. I started here in C1 back in 1992 and have been a staff member now since 2001. During that time, I was a Mohawk and Tusc counselor (01-04), and Mohawk and Tusc Unit Head (05-08) before becoming Program Director in 2009. It is tough not having campers and you never fully adjust to that, but the opportunity to operate at 30,000 feet above working with just about everyone and everything has still been extremely interesting and rewarding. We are very proud of the progress CSL has made over the years and there is no doubt that it is in the middle of a golden age. This is indicative in our numbers – July and August this summer are the two highest enrolled sessions in camp’s history.
Over the last five summers we have added significantly to the camp program – doubling the size, capacity, and staff at the Waterfront, dramatically increasing the size, scope, and skill focus of our hiking, nature, and overnight program (Tiyulim), adding Ceramics full time to Arts & Crafts, integrating Triathlon training as a cornerstone to the Tusc Program, the addition of Fight Song as a major signature program for the July session, the integration of service and Tikkun Olam (Repair the World) as a focal point of the camp program, and of course the continued growth of our Color War as the premier event of that kind at any camp anywhere. And as we have grown, our emphasis on bringing everything to families and alumni has as well. The blog went full-time in 2010, we joined Twitter (@csl_official) in 2011, and went to Instagram in 2012 (@csl_official). In 2011, we employed a full-time photographer for the first time and since then our media department has grown significantly. This year, we will have a full-time videographer in our office who is tremendously talented in ways you will not be able to imagine.
The Programming Department oversees all that is happening at camp in terms of activities, scheduling, specialty areas, major events, and painting a picture for the ‘outside world’ of the daily happenings. It is our goal to reach all families and alumni with high quality and quantity content in written and visual form. More than ever, we feel tremendously well-equipped to get you as close to the action as possible without you actually being here. Here’s what you can expect to see on the blog and in other social media domains throughout the summer:
- Daily photos from Media Director and Photographer Neil Pickus on the blog (“Pictures with Pickus”) and on bunk1.com.
- A daily column from the Programming Department describing the exciting programs and stories.
- Each village has an assigned blogger whose role is to coordinate the content and tell the story of each village. There will be daily blog posts from each village from the perspectives of staff and campers.
- Weekly contributions from Judaic Educator David Zarkowsky highlighting the key points from the weekly parsha and the general focus of Judaism at camp.
- Frequent posts and stories from CSL alumni of all generations so we encourage you to send those in to cslofficialmedia@gmail.com!
- Weekly updates from each of our 23 Hobby groups on noteworthy developments and highlights leading to Hobby Culmination Day on August 20th.
- Profiles of each and every staff member at CSL for you to familiarize yourselves with!
- All kinds of exciting stories and anecdotes from staff and campers about the many things happening throughout the summer.
- The CSL Twitter and Instagram accounts (both @csl_official) will be updated continuously every day of the summer as well as our Facebook page. Every single blog posting will be linked on Twitter and Facebook.
Please send us comments, thoughts, questions, and feedback at cslprogramming@jccrochester.org. And if you have anything you want to contribute to the blog, please send to cslofficialmedia@gmail.com, especially alumni!
Make no mistake, this is the premiere Jewish overnight camp in America so we hope you are as excited about your kids being here as we are. And for the thousands of alumni out there, please keep tabs on us because we know that we never really leave camp and camp never leaves any of us.
It is time.
Sincerely,
Ari Baum, 1992-2013
Program Director
