Donate your North Star Memories to a Museum Exhibit

A Message from Ellie Gettinger from the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee:

Jewish Museum Milwaukee is planning a new exhibit in the popular “Growing Up Milwaukee” series that started last summer with “Growing Up Milwaukee: Youth Groups.” The new exhibit, “Growing Up Milwaukee: Camping,” will open this summer.

We know that day camp and overnight camping experiences hold precious memories for Jewish youth and are the roots of lifelong friendships for many in our community. It is up to you to make sure that your camp stories and experiences are included!

• Complete this short survey

• Upload your camp pictures and memories and send them to Ellie Gettinger

• Donate or lend artifacts like t-shirts, pins, banners to the Museum to display during the exhibit

• Help plan camp-related activities during the exhibit’s run. Call 414-390-5730 or email info@jewishmuseummilwaukee.org to volunteer.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email or call (414-390-5742) the Jewish Museum Milwaukee.

Are You Willing To Strike Out?

Are You Willing To Strike Out?
In 1923, Babe Ruth broke the record for most home runs in a season. That same year, he also broke the record for highest batting average.

There is a third record he broke that year that most people don't know about. In 1923, Babe Ruth struck out more times than any other player in Major League Baseball.
Babe Ruth was not afraid to strike out. And it was this fearlessness that contributed to his remarkable career. He was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season, a record he held for 34 years until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961. He also held the lifetime total home run record of 714 for 39 years until Hank Aaron broke it in 1974.
He held other records too. He had 1,33o career strike outs - a record he held for 29 years until it was broken by none other than the great Mickey Mantle.
Most people want to hit home runs, the problem is they are afraid to fail in order to get there. As Babe Ruth proved, you can't have one without the other. It's perfectly fine to be a good, solid player who doesn't go down swinging that often...but it also means you won't hit that many home runs. Those players are needed on a team - they are the consistent and reliable players.
However...

If you want to swing for the fences, you have to be willing to strikeout.

From Re:Focus: Are You Willing To Strike Out?: "March 30, 2010

Adults can't forget their summer camp-capades | StarTribune.com

Adults can't forget their summer camp-capades | StarTribune.com: 

"Every adult who ever attended a camp that included sleeping in the wild has a story or three to tell around future campfires. Sometimes harrowing and almost always amusing, these sagas are ever-living proof that kids and their counselors say and do the darnedest things. And with more than 200 summer camps in this region, there's plenty of time and places for these scenarios to play out. Nationwide, about 10 million kids attend more than 12,000 camps, according to the American Camp Association. Their campmates include a gazillion bugs and other animals, found objects and an infinite supply of human foibles and follies. We asked area camp counselors to observe and report."

Click Here to Read the Full Story

Summer Camp is Worth the Cost

Excerpts from "Is Summer Camp Worth The Cost?" Published in the Atlanta Daily World on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

Your children are begging you to let them spend the summer at camp and the enrollment deadline is drawing near. If you're like many, money is tight right now. Is it worth it financially to invest in a summer camp experience? Before you decide, it's important to take a good look at the benefits camp offers compared to having your child spend the summer at home or in daycare.

Summer camp for kids is traditionally a positive place that influences their lives for the better -- including building important skills, self-confidence, relationships and awareness of the outdoors that they may not get elsewhere. While financial cost is a factor, it certainly is not the only one to consider.

"Our research shows that, for years, campers' parents have reported that when their children return home from camp they are more caring, understand the importance of giving, are more equipped to stand up for what they know is right, and are willing to be more responsible," says Maria Schugel, executive director - Northland Section for the American Camp Association.

Before you assume the cost of camp is outside of your spending range, consider how much you will spend on childcare, transportation, extracurricular activities, food and entertainment at home during the same timeframe. Many camps offer scholarships and financial aid, too.

Practical skills: Studies show that one of the important benefits of camp is the exposure children gain to passions that often turn into life-long pursuits.

At Camp Lincoln-Camp Lake Hubert, in Lake Hubert, Minn., campers may choose from more than 30 land and water summer camp activities including horseback riding, sailing, archery, wall climbing, martial arts, riflery, ecology, golf and tennis -- as well as a traditional array of water and sports activities.

While it may be easy to assume that camps would provide these types of activities, it's important to consider -- where else would your child get such exposure and what would it cost to pursue these activities separately?

Life-long skills: Aside from tangible skills, perhaps even more important are the intangible life skills that many camps focus on through the camp experience.

"Besides all the exciting activities and friendships made, the immense value in camp comes in the development of key lifetime skills and attributes such as confidence, cooperation, communication, new skills and decision-making, to name a few. Camp goes beyond a summer session. It's unique in that it really is about each camper developing their best self for life," says Sam Cote, executive director of Camp Lincoln-Camp Lake Hubert. "In that regard it is priceless."

Jill Allen-Woodard and her husband, from Ohio, sent their 12-year old twin sons to a residential camp in Minnesota last summer.

"Summer camp was the best thing we ever did for our sons. They found confidence, friendships, and became more self-sufficient when they came home," she says. "Going to camp removes you from the familiar and places you alone in a nurturing but challenging environment to see who you are."

Lasting value: According to American Camp Association research, camps build many of the skills necessary to prepare campers to assume roles as successful adults. According to an online report from the ACA, campers said that camp helped them make new friends, get to know kids who are different from them, feel good about themselves, and try things they were afraid to do at first.

The cost of camp is definitely a factor that must fall within your family's budget. But overall, consider how camp may impact your child's life in a positive way and help them grow and gain experiences as the most relevant factor in determining its value.

Click Here to Read the Full Article

The New York Times on the Value of Working at Summer Camp

"As first jobs go, camp counselor is close to ideal," says an article from the March 8 issue of the New York Times:

When reviewing job applicants, Doug Herzog, the president of the MTV Networks Entertainment Group, said he would light up if one had experience as a camp counselor. “College is great; everyone who has the opportunity should go to college, but I learned everything I needed to know at camp.”

Working as a counselor at Camp Scatico in the Upper Hudson Valley, he said he realized early on that “you can force people to do things, or tell people to do things, but if you’re going to be successful, you’ve got to get them to do things and feel good about it.”

Seth Godin, an entrepreneur and author of the best-selling book “Linchpin,” considers his work as a counselor at Camp Arowhon in Ontario a major influence on his life and career. “People who have been transformed by summer camp never forget how it felt to have responsibility without a rule book,” he said. “They seek to achieve that again in their professional life — and for an underprivileged kid, it’s doubly important, because you’re not necessarily surrounded by role models who’ve had experience of leading with responsibility without being told precisely what to do. If a transformation’s going to happen, it’s going to happen in an environment like that.”

Click Here To Read the Article

Camper Ethan Kirshenbaum Collects Legos for Local Charities

As part of Ethan's upcoming Bar Mitzvah, Ethan's has chosen to collect Legos for two local charities as his mitzvah project.  Ethan is hoping to collect both new and used Legos for:

- Between Friends, which helps abused women and children in the Chicago area

- JCFS (Jewish Children & Family Services), which provides therapeutic services to children and families in the community, regardless of religion.

From Ethan:

I'm trying to collect as many pounds of Legos as possible to provide these organizations with a toy that allows for hours of creative fun.  Thanks for your help!

Please support Ethan by donating those Legos sitting unused in your basement, or buy some new ones. These are two great organizations and great work being done by a member of the North Star community. Thanks for supporting Ethan in this great cause!

Legos can be dropped off or shipped to:

1318 Ridge Road

Northbrook, IL 60062

For More Information:
Call 847-498-1128 or 
Email DKirshenbaum@jfreed.com

North Star March Madnesss - VI

Once again its time for all North Star people, past, present and future to join the NSC March Madness Challenge. If you're a current or future camper, staff or NSC alum or a parent of any of those, you're encouraged to participate. 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 2010.

In true North Star tradition, this is not a competitive thing so even if you don't know much about college basketball, you should still join. As you'll see with the log-in info below, we're using ESPN.com again this year. We hope this does not offend some of the various NSC alums who work for other media outlets. Here are the links and log-in information:

Direct Link to group
ESPN March Madness Front Page
Group: The Council Ring
Password: Keylog

If you have any problems logging in, let me know. If you do not have an ESPN.com account, you are going to have to register before you can join. It is free of charge (you do not need ESPN Insider)

Also, we want to encourage everyone to also participate in the Camp for All Kids March Madness Fundraiser. There is an entry fee for that and proceeds will go to help send kids to camp.

A few things. First off, please orward this to 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.

One entry per person, please.

You are able to sign-up now. You can fill out your brackets any time after selection Sunday and before tip-off on March 19th (you do not need to fill out brackets before the play-in game).

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:
2009 - Peter Tauber
2008 - Eli fried
2007 - Kenny Grider
2006 - Jeff Schrager
2005 - Alexander W Heldman

Camp Forms are Online

All parents should have received an email on Friday explaining how to complete our forms. Things are a little different this summer. For everyone's ease and to be a bit more eco friendly, all forms are online. Those forms can be found by accessing your Campintouch Page (just click the "login" link in the upper right of this page). For those of you who haven't accessed your Campintouch page yet, you can get your login information by clicking the "retrieve password" link once you go to the Campintouch Login Page. This is a new web based system for North Star and though there may be a few bumps as we all get adjusted to it, we know it will make life a lot easier for everyone in the long term. Several other camps use Campintouch and their parents love it.

Now back to forms...this checklist of forms everyone needs to follow was part of that email. Some forms are simple online submissions. Our health form and camper profile (to name a few) are forms that you enter all your info online and click the submit button. This info will be saved in the system, so next year you'll just update the forms, not start from scratch. Other forms are Faxback Forms, which have a unique barcode that will help us track each camper's forms (each form has a different barcode for each camper). These forms should be faxed to 866-875-2442 (the number at the bottom of the fax form), but if you send them to North Star's fax number we'll still process it with no problem.

You can also access your financial information via your Campintouch page. If you have any problems at all with the Campintouch system, let us know. Just call or send an email to office@northstarcamp.com and we'll be sure to have an answer for you shortly.

Finally, one of the forms that we've sent out is the Private Tennis Lesson sign-up form. Spots are limited and available on a first come, first serve basis, so if you want to reserve a spot, make sure that get the form in quickly. We will confirm that we have gotten your form, so if you send in the form and don't receive confirmation, let us know.

LA Alumni Brunch

Leb and Sue had brunch in LA on Sunday at Fromin's Deli in Santa Monica. Jeff "Dink" Dinkin, Mike "Farb" Katz, Lewis Shender, Paul Williger, How Cohen, Brad Dreyfus and Matt Silver all met for a great brunch.

We love being able to hear from our alumni.  Please make sure to Update Your Information and Send Us Your News!

Summer, Unplugged - From American Way Magazine

"Summer, Unplugged" by Winston Ross is in the March 2010 edition of American Way magazine.  Look for it while you're flying, or Read it Here.