North Star Camp for Boys







Monday, September 30, 2019

Camp Moves Me 2019



During the month of October, North Star Camp is participating in Camp Moves Me, a fun and easy way to raise money for our scholarship foundation with Camp for All Kids. By running, walking, biking, hiking, swimming or moving during any activity we can help send additional campers who otherwise would not be able to afford it. 

We have always been proud of the support that our North Star families have provided to our scholarship foundation. For the past six years, during this national campaign, North Star has been the #1 fundraiser. We are looking forward to another strong year! 

Here's how to participate: 
1. Register for Camp Moves Me. Make sure to join the "North Star Camp" team. 
2. Spread the word about your commitment to stay active. Email, post and share your participation and encourage others to do the same. Don't forget to tag North Star Camp!
3. Collect donations and pledges. Remember, the money you raise goes directly back to North Star's scholarship fund, Camp for All Kids. 
4. Move, move, move! Track your distance and reach your goal throughout the whole month of October. The more you move, the more campers you can help send to camp! 

Friday, September 20, 2019

Our Next Big Project


After the VICtory Fieldhouse was completed in 2016, we started thinking about what was next. Obviously there will be additions and renovations to camp every year, but it's always fun to think about what would be the next big project at camp. One obvious candidate was the building that housed the Heath Center, Trip Shack, Program Office and Arts and Crafts, which was in need of some real attention. Over the past several years, our maintenance crew worked hard to keep the building in great shape. However, with  the repairs necessary as well as some real needs that we have for camp, 2020 will see a new big new addition to the NSC landscape as the building comes down and is replaced.

Before we talk about the building project, it's worth spending some time on the history of the building that, for the sake of this article, we'll call the Arm and Hammer. Since North Star's beginning in 1945, this space has taken many different shapes and evolved immensely. A big thanks to Linda Rosenbloom, Frank Wintroub, Jim Silbermann, Bugsy Berger and several others who helped fill some gaps on the building's history.

The barn in the background on the Arm & Hammer Site
When camp opened in 1945, none of the Arm and Hammer building existed at all. In fact, there was a two story barn on the site. This barn was used for arts and crafts, boat storage and other purposes. Some time in the mid to late 1950s, the barn was replaced in its entirety. A one story building was built that would become the first part of the Arm and Hammer building. Within the photo album below is a picture that looks very similar to the Arts and Crafts, because this was what was built, starting at the lakeside edge. The initial building was about 1/2 the size and footprint of the Arm and Hammer Building, ending midway through the trip shack.

The building would receive three additions over the years. One would extend the building towards the athletic fields (but not all the way through what became known as the Handler Health Center) and another would add on Denny's Den. The Arts and Crafts itself was pretty constant in its use. Besides the trip shack, the building had additional functions. It would house the staff lounge, the Siren (camp newspaper) office, rocketry, and ultimately the map room. The room to the north of the trip shack was a games room that housed ping pong and knock hockey tables. Denny's Den, in addition to being the home of the camp program director was also used as the mail room. 
Game room that would become the Handler Health Center

In the early 1990s, the building got its final major change. An addition was put onto the north of the building, and the Handler Health Center came to be. The games room would be replaced with the health center's waiting room, exam room and parts of the inpatient rooms. The addition would make up the remaining inpatient rooms and bathroom. Prior to the Handler Health Center, sick campers and staff headed up to the Asper-Inn, the infirmary, which was located in some of the rooms above the lodge. 

Now replacing a building isn't that easy. It takes a lot of planning and we've had a lot of fun working with Bill, our architect on the building design. He's been out to camp, had meetings with lots of different staff. We want it to be a great space for trips, arts and crafts, our health center and our program office, so Bill has met with our health team, trip leadership, and lots of other folks. 

Moving out of the building was a lot of work. There's a lot of stuff in there, so starting during post camp, we had crews beginning to empty the Arts and Crafts and Trip shack. By the end of August, we had all those spaces emptied out, as well as Denny's Den and the Health Center. We also wanted to recycle and reuse as much as possible, so Todd, Donovan and our maintenance crew removed windows, fixtures, cabinets, they even made sure to remove some of the beams and paneling so that we could add some of the sentimentality from the old building into the new one. Bushes were also transplanted to other areas of camp.


On Tuesday September 4th the building came down. By the end of the day, very little was standing. You can check out a full album of photos and video of the building demolition. Modern machinery made quick of the building.



Work began quickly on the new building with the foundation, and we will have more pics and video to come. The building will be replaced with something of a similar footprint but two stories, similar to the original barn. The building will house the Arts and Crafts, Denny's Den, Trip Shack and Handler Health Center. We're excited about improvements to all of those spaces and our program will see real benefits with those improvements. The 2nd story will see the addition of some new staff housing space.

We'll make sure to keep everyone updated with pictures of the building's progress.

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

United Nations Day


Lichtenstein, Mexico, Fuji, and Togo compete for glory in this new video from United Nations Day

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Green vs White Marathon Video


Two Team, One winner... we kick off the green white games with the first Green vs White Marathon

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Fun in the sun video


When its hot on days like this the campers gotta cool off somehow... check out this video of some waterskiing and the juniors slip-in-sliding 


Sunday, June 30, 2019

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Week 1 Recap Video


Check out this video to see how to first week of camp and all the fun things that campers have done!

Monday, June 17, 2019

Day 1 - Week 1 Video: The Campers Arrival



Watch has North Star Camp Pumps everyone up as they arrive for the 75th Summer!!!

#NSC75 North Star's 75th Summer Has Begun!


In 1945, Lou and Renee Rosenblum realized their dream of opening North Star Camp for Boys. As seen in this ad, originally published in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle on Dec. 29, 1944, they set out to provide “eight weeks of wholesome fun, growth and development on the trail, lake, rivers and woods of Wisconsin’s Indian Head Country.” This afternoon began North Star’s 75th summer as we carry on the vision of Lou and Renee.

Despite cool temperatures and storms around the country, the Chicago and Minneapolis buses arrived to a beautiful Northwoods Day with the sun peeking through. The staff went bananas as the buses unloaded. We gathered around the flagpole to announce the cabins, and then the boys headed toward their bunks to unpack. The cabin list is attached.

The boys are now unpacking and new campers are receiving a tour of camp. On their tour, they’ll find many improvements including a new low ropes course, 9 Square in the Air, lights on the batting cage, remodeled cabins on the Ridge and more. By the time they go to sleep tonight, they'll have played games with their cabins and met some of the other guys their age as well.

Dinner this evening will be burgers, fries and jello, plus the ever present salad bar and Sun Butter and jelly. There will be vegetarian burgers available for those that prefer, and Gluten free options for those that need it. And of course brownies for dessert. Immediately following dinner, the campers will choose their first week's activities.

The evening activities will be followed by the candlelight ceremonies, where each cabin will have a meeting led by their counselors. They will share their goals and expectations for the summer, while continuing to get to know one another. This will be the first of many cabin discussions that are an important part of the team-building goals that we have for each cabin group, and helps develop the strong sense of community that we strive for at camp. Our expectation is that every boy goes to bed tonight having known that they have at least one counselor that they are already comfortable enough with to wake him up if they need something in the middle of the night and that they have made one new friend that they can play with in the morning.

One of the ways that North Star has always created an environment of wholesome fun, growth and development is to give our campers ownership over their experience. Kids have less freedom and independence today than the generations that came before them and we want to empower our boys. In that spirit, we have made it our goal as a staff to say yes to as many of their ideas and suggestions as possible. We have given our staff a framework to evaluate the ideas, using our mission statement as their guide. Camp is made in moments that create memories and friendships, and we are excited to give every boy a plethora of both.

Even with 74 summers under our belt, we know that we can always be re-evaluating and working to get better. This summer will begin a new tradition with permanent Green-White Teams. The boys will find out their color tomorrow and will then be on these teams for life. We have already seen an increase in enthusiasm for Green-White activities as the staff are behind it and we look forward to a new great tradition. We are also establishing the Villa Council, a representative government for our oldest campers to take ownership of activities in the Senior Village.

Tomorrow the kids will have a busy day as our amazing medical team checks in the boys. The campers will take a swim test and find time to play several games of dodgeball. Evening program tomorrow will be our first game of All-Camp Capture the Flag, with a new twist there as well. First thing on Wednesday morning the boys will begin their first week of regular activities. Wednesday morning our oldest campers will leave for their Canadian adventure, where they will spend 10 days in the Canadian wilderness in Quetico Provincial Park. Some of our 8th graders (we use the grade they just completed) will leave that day for five days on the Superior Hiking Trail, while other campers will depart straight away to the Sylvania Wilderness Area. Wednesday evening will be the staff show, where our very talented group will be on display.

FOLLOW CAMP ONLINE
From here on out, you can follow along with the summer of 2019 on our website at www.NorthStarCamp.com/blog. We will also be posting updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/northstarcampforboys, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/northstarcamp , and on Instagram @northstarcamp, all with #NSC75!
We post pictures online on a regular basis, and you can access those directly from your CampInTouch page. To access your CampInTouch page, go to www.northstarcamp.com and click "login" in the upper right hand corner. From there you can click on "Photos" to see those smiling faces. If you'd like to set up guest accounts for friends or family you can do that from your landing page by clicking on "Guest Accounts."

Thank you for trusting us with your boys!

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Parenting the Home Stretch to Camp



We know it's hard to say goodbye for both campers and their parents. Here are some quick tips to help make the process go as smoothly as possible:

  1. Show them you believe in them: it's so important that our campers know that you trust that they are going to do great at camp. Have the boys help pack themselves so that they see that they are capable of handling every aspect of camp.
  2. Tell them you'll miss them, but not too much: often we hear from campers that they are worried that their parents won't be okay without them. You should of course tell them that you love them and are proud of them, but keep the attention on their emotions.
  3. Remind them what to do when there are challenges at camp: if there are specific concerns of theirs to address or you're just responding to general anxieties, let them know that they can always talk to their counselors and the directors when anything is bothering them. And let them know there are no challenges at camp that they can't handle.
  4. Make your goodbye concise and empowering: a big hug and kiss, an "I love you," an "I'm proud of you," and "I know you're going to do great" sets the right tone for the start of their summer. They're going to camp to make new friends and have new experiences, so let them get that started as soon as you arrive at the bus or at the airport. The longer the goodbye is prolonged, the more the doubt and anxiety creep in. 

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

2019 New Camper Pizza Party


New Camper Open House Pizza Party
Saturday, May 11, 2019
11am - 12:30pm
Barnaby's Pizza
960 Skokie Boulevard, Northbrook, IL


Join us on Saturday, May 12 at Barnaby's Pizza in Northbrook for an opportunity to meet some of our junior staff, ask your burning questions and introduce your son to some of the other first time campers. Dan and Andy will be at Barnaby's with some fine North Star staff members who will look to get your son psyched for his first summer at North Star.

Our goal is to help each of our first-time campers to feel comfortable and get even more excited for camp. It is our hope that this allows each of our first-time campers to meet some staff and other first-time campers so that they can see some familiar faces when they arrive at the bus.

You can check out the event on Facebook as well. Please RSVP to Andy@NorthStarCamp.com or at 715-462-3254, and feel free to contact us if you have any other questions as well. We hope you'll stop in and have some pizza!

Monday, March 18, 2019

NSC March Madness 2019


Once again its time for all North Star people, past, present and future to join the NSC March Madness Challenge. There is no cost to participate and winner gets a wanegan of his or her choice, to be redeemed at camp, during the summer of 2019.

Here are the links and log-in information:

Direct Link to group - http://bit.ly/NSC_MM19
Group: The Council Ring
Password: keylog

One entry per person, please. We have changed the group limit size to one, so if you have multiple family members, you're going to have to make additional accounts.

Please extend an invite any and all North Star people. We want to make sure that as many North Star people as possible are included. We know that a lot of our current campers and staff will enjoy seeing as lots of alumni participate. Don't worry about sending this to someone who may have gotten it already.

If you choose to join in, please put your name and perhaps even the years you attended North Star within your bracket name or entry info. Feel free to be creative, but it will be nice for people to see some names and know who all is involved.

You are able to sign-up now. You can fill out your brackets any time before tip-off on March 21st (you do not need to fill out brackets before the play-in games).

There is also a second March Madness that we want everyone to know about. The Camp For All Kids Foundation is having their annual March Madness competition. Camp for All Kids helps send kids in need to camp and is the organization that is responsible for bringing scholarship kids to camp. There Camp for All Kids March Madness is a great fundraiser aimed at making camp possible for more kids. Find that fundraiser here:
http://campforallkids.org/events/march-madness/

As always a big quick keylog to Doug Willson who opened up his Crunch Island Challenge to North Star guys many Marchs ago.

Keep those fires burning!

Past Winners:
2018: Leo Auerbach
2017: Zach Garfinkel
2016: Noah Glick
2015: Ezra Kornberg
2014: David Shakno
2013: Jonah Baim
2012: Charles Eisner
2011 - Zach Garfinkel
2010 - Alex Sharrin
2009 - Peter Tauber
2008 - Eli Fried
2007 - Kenny Grider
2006 - Jeff Schrager
2005 - Alexander W Heldman