Author: Elissa

Visiting Day is in the air and we can’t wait. It has been exactly 3 weeks since you have seen, hugged and kissed your kids and tomorrow is the big day. There is not a person on camp that can’t feel the excitement of what is happening tomorrow. We spent the day getting camp ready for your arrival and it looks AMAZING. Campers and staff are just so excited to welcome you into our summer home. Welcome posters are up and ready, bunks are cleaned and cubbies are organized. Now all we need is you!!!!

“It’s Not the Team with The Best Payers that Win, It’s the Players with the Best Team that WINS!!!”…Vince Lombardi

Freshman/Junior Girls Basketball  – CAW 20 vs. Starlight 8 / Chenny advances to Championship

Super Girls Softball – CAW 4 @ Starlight 3 / Chenny advances to Championship

GC/CIT Girls Tennis – CAW 4 @ Tioga 1 – Chenny advances to Championship

Inter Boys Hockey – CAW 0 @ Lavi 19

Inter Boys Basketball – CAW 18 vs. Wayne 52

Senior Boys Baseball – CAW 1 vs. Wayne 5

Super Boys Soccer  – CAW 0 vs. Wayne 10

It’s soooo Cool to be Kind and the smiles on your kids faces when we announced their names tonight at lineup is priceless. When your children are recognized for being kind, there is just no bigger compliment. Bring kind  is the best human trait to posses and we know how proud you must be of your kids who are being honored for their kindness. Congratulations to our Kind Kids: Livia Sherman, Annie Isaacson, Ashleigh Brett, Izzy Aranoff, Lexi Tave, Sarah Fernbach, Sydney Kesselman, Lindsay Gelfman, Alex Bass, Brianna Deutsch, Nikki Heifler, Beth Shields, Lila Klarsfeld, Sydney Garfield, Sam Tavel, Bennett Votano, Ben Kule, Jake Marin, Jordan Morris, Jake Fersko, and Ian Sherman.

Not only do we have Kind Kids here, we are excited to announce our Campers of the Week. Wow do we have amazing kids here. Congratulations to some pretty Awesome kids!! To be named Camper of the Week is pretty special here and we are proud of these outstanding kids.

Freshmen – Maddy Klatsky & Nick Einzig

Juniors – Maya Porat & Noah Simon

Middies – Kayla Denson & Charlie Horton

Inters – Sammy Selden & Zachary Gelfman

Collegiates – Samara Goldman & Brett Hafkin

Seniors – Jessica Benisch & Jagger Morgan

Supers – Lexi Gruberger & Jed Katz

GC’s – Alexis Siegel & Parker Moritz

CIT’s – Emily Sobel & Emery Cohen

Camp is quiet now and it’s hard to imagine that in just a handful of hours, our home will be even more full of love. We can’t wait to see you hug your kids tomorrow. Enjoy every minute of your day tomorrow. Here is to a great Visiting Day Everyone!!!

Life is Great at Camp Chen-A-Wanda!

Chenny Out.

It was a brunch wake up today and we all LOVED LOVED LOVED the extra sleep. After our lazy sleep-in morning, it was off to the Carnival for one amazingly fun day. There were dunk tanks, carnival games, water slides, foam pit, inflatable obstacle courses, snow cones, cotton candy and so much more. We even had a marriage booth. There were so many marriages today, it was a carnival of love. It’s a camp tradition to give away Carnival T-shirts on this special day and this years was a huge hit. That’s To Much Chen-A-Wanda ..Said No One Ever!! All our campers were proudly sporting the coolest carnival T-shirt to date and seeing everyone wear the same cool shirt on the same cool day is just awesome!

Take me out to the Ballgame! Our Navajo boarded buses after a fun afternoon at the carnival and headed out to the ballpark. They spent their evening munching on goodies, watching a great game and spending a perfect summer night at the baseball field. What says summer more than a seventh inning stretch while singing Take Me Out The Ballgame? Our Navajo kids had the ultimate day

For Cherokee and Mohican it was Round Robin and they too had an incredible Chenny night. Freshman Boys had a Biddy City Skills Tournament under the lights. Freshman Girls has a Arts & Crafts Party – It was artsty and it was craftsy and it was so much fun! Juniors and Middies spent their night at a pool party and s’mores beach party! Inters got into bathing suits too and slipped and slidded down the foam slip and slide. There were so many happy campers and you heard the roars of laughter all throughout camp. Our Collegiates had a black light party in Canteen. Faces were painted with neon glow paint, music was bumping, snacks were flowing and the fun was jut unstoppable. In a nut shell, Camp was en fuego tonight. Fun was happening in every corner of every place on camp tonight.

The first half of summer has been OUTSTANDING and in just 1 day, you will get to hug your babies and see their smiling beautiful faces. Your kids are safe and sound and in their beds sleeping from the awesome day they had. It’s good to be a Chenny kid!!!!

Chenny out.

 

It was another incredible day spent at our summer home. The weather was perfect and campers were happy playing outside all day long. It is why we do what we do. It takes a village and boy do we have an awesome one. You don’t see counselors without a camper holding their hand, sitting on their lap or catching a piggy back ride. It is such a beautiful sight to see as these bonds that happen and happen so quickly. Regardless if it’s wiping tears away and providing comfort to your children or just having a catch on a beautiful sunny day. These connections are so special and as a parent who sees this relationship with my own kids, I know that their presence in our kids lives makes them better people. Here, a twenty-something counselor has the ability to provide something us parents can’t. A counselor has the ability to motivate your children in a way that we as parents just can’t. They make their bed here, they put their laundry away here, they listen really great here. We give our children roots and sending them to sleep away camp is giving them their wings. It’s hard to imagine someone other than you understanding their fears, being there when they cry, tucking them in at night, laughing at their jokes, eating every meal with them and guiding them through their journey but this is what’s happening right now, every day and every night.

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan

Freshman/Junior Girls Soccer – CAW 1 @ Towanda 4

Inter Girls Basketball – CAW 28 @ Pearlman 0

Inter Girls Softball – CAW 6 @ Westmont 8

Collegiate Girls LAX – CAW 6 vs. Westmont 7 (Westmont forfeited due to rule violation – CAW advances)

Senior Girls Basketball – CAW 32 @ Wayne 18

GC/CIT Girls Tennis – CAW 6 @ Poyntelle 0

Inter/Collegiate Boys Basketball Tourney @ Towanda – CAW took 3rd Place

Collegiate Boys Hockey – CAW 19 vs. Westmont 11

The night belonged to Boys side with the best Boys Lip Sync I have ever seen here at Camp Chen-A-Wanda. We always hear from parents that their boy just wont get up and dance and every year not a single boy opts out as they come together with their division, lip sync, dance and have an amazing time. From the cutest and most adorable Freshman through the handsomely talented CIT’s, these boys put on incredible show tonight. The entire Shields Hall was mesmerized as they watched, clapped and sang along with the boys on stage. The crowd was so into tonight’s show – singing along, standing ovations and just loving every minute of Boys Lip Sync. It is the absolute best part of camp watching the support we give each other. We call it Chenny Pride and it is how we become family to one another. To see boys let loose, dance in front a packed house with such confidence and joy is awe inspiring. You have to see it to believe it. Confidence, swagger, freedom and fun is the only way to put it. To all those boys parents out there, if  you would never believe your son would get up on stage, dance in unison with their friends and even wear a tutu and love it – it happened here tonight. It was difficult but we had to choose the winner of Boys Lip Sync 2018 and for Lower Camp it went to Inter Boys and for Upper Camp it was unanimous- CIT boys WIN!!!!. What a night we all had.

Life is GREAT at Camp Chen-A-Wanda!!

Chenny Out

 

It was trip today and all our kids had the best day.

Cherokee spent their day at Camel Beach Water Park and loved every minute of their incredible day. They swirled around the Voretx, raced each other down the Checkered Flag Challenge and relaxed as they coasted along the Lazy River. It was a perfect day at the park. As the busses rolled back into camp, each camper walked off half sleeping still smiling from the day they just had. There were so many octopus hats, and bags full of goodies they got from the Park and as one camper so eloquently told me, “This was the best day I have ever had…ever.” It was straight to shower and bed and our youngest campers were sleeping within 30 minutes back from their exciting day out. Our little ones played hard and now they are sleeping peacefully. It have never been this quiet this time of night for our Cherokee cuties!!

Mohichan Campers spent their day at the State Park chilling out, swimming in the lake, listening to music, tossing a ball and just relaxing in the sun. Then after some fun in the sun it was off to the movies for a summer blockbuster –  Incredibles 2 or Ant-Man & The Wasp. It was a perfect summer day for our Mohican kids. Sun, swim, pizza, popcorn, movies and friends. Can’t get better than that!

Navajo had their incredible day at Dorney Park. What says summer more than spending it with friends at an amusement park? Going on roller coasters, eating churros, playing arcade games, winning giant over sized stuffed animals, getting your caricature portrait done and laughing all day long is what our oldest kids did on their trip day.

Our CIT’s spent their day at Ithaca at the beautiful Georges. They dipped in the waterfalls and was surrounded by natural beauty. Of course there were many photo ops there and that was just their morning. The town of Ithaca had quant shops and fun dining. After they shopped and soaked in the sun it was off to Binghamton for a night movie. It is great to be a Chenny CIT!!!!!

Everyone is back home and exhausted and sound asleep. Camp has never been this quiet. There is nothing like leaving camp and having the best day but the feeling of coming back to camp, taking a shower and crawling into bed is unlike any other. No stress here, just incredible fun times spent at awesome places with great people!!!

Chenny out

It was late wake-up today and we all loved the extra sleep, especially after Olympics. It was so nice to hear the bugle at 8:30am and the kids loved it too. We all rolled out of bed and headed to the Lodge still half asleep but what I saw made my day. There was a group of  boys walking to breakfast and they were all arm in arm heading into the lodge. They couldn’t couldn’t be physically closer and there was no conversation just a group of kids arm in arm walking to get breakfast. They were in step and clearly felt a closeness to literally walk to breakfast as a interlocked group. The fact that this was boys made it even sweeter. Human connection and closeness is why friendships here are as solid as they are. What happens here at Camp just feeds the soul. It has to be seen to be believed but trust us when say this is why Life is Great at Chen-A-Wanda.

“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi

Middie/Inter Girls LAX – CAW 2 vs. Westmont 8

Super Girls Soccer – CAW 9 @ Lavi 0

GC/CIT Girls Softball – CAW 4 vs. Morasha 11

Senior/Super/GC/CIT Tennis Tournament @ Indian Head – Olivia Leviss & Laine Bishop advanced to second round in doubles.

Freshman/Junior Boys Soccer – CAW 6 @ Westmont 5 (CAW wins in overtime)

Inter Boys Tennis – CAW 0 vs. Westmont 5

Senior/Super Boys Basketball Tourney @ Towanda – CAW WINS TOURNEY!

GC/CIT Boys Basketball Tourney @ Tyler Hill – CAW  played 2 games and lost

It was time for Campers of the Week and we couldn’t be prouder of our outstanding kids! What a Great Week

Freshman – Zoe Heymen & Alex Michaels

Junior –  Sofia Giarratana  & Cade McClure

Middies – Mandy Adler  & Noah Carrasquillo

Inters – Sarah Fernbach  & Cole Weiss

Collegiates – Jess Jaffe & Derek Satz

Seniors –   Jordana Brief & Justin Miller

Supers – Maya Hoffman & Scott Pinsk

GC’s  – Hannah Nissenbaum  & AJ Grisack

CIT’s – Maddy Grabow & Matt Gershman

Tonight was so much fun. One of those nights that every kid loved. It was divisional night and every group loved their activity. Freshman – Collegiates were in Shields playing Let’s Make a Deal – a show that the majority have never heard of but they had so much fun. It was just like game we all know and love. Who got closest to the price of an item, picking door number 1,2 or 3 and of course the Zonks! They had an absolute blast tonight. The Supers spent their night playing backyard games with a firepit and of course S’Mores. The Seniors had Cake Wars, the GC’s had card night and the CIT’s enjoyed hibachi at the Chenny Shack. It was night so perfect that when you walked around camp, all you saw was happy smiling kids. No TV or devices in sight. Just another incredible Chenny night.

Chenny out.