Pinemere Camp

Facilities Upgrades and Renovations

Ezra Androphy — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:07:17 +0000

We have a number of upgrades and renovations to our camp facilities planned for Summer 2012.

We are adding a batting cage with a pitching machine. Village platforms are being completely renovated. Administrative buildings have been re-painted. By next summer many of our bunks will have a new, fresh coat of paint as well. The dining hall upgrade is underway. Many roofs have been entirely replaced. And much, much more!

We will continue to update this page throughout the year with additional photos:

(Last updated: January 6)

health center

health center porch

office

renovated guest bunk

new cottage roof

new kitchen counter

village platform renovation

Toby Selected for National Fellowship

Ezra Androphy — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:26:48 +0000

Toby Ayash, Executive Director of Pinemere Camp in Stroudsburg, PA, has been selected to participate in the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Executive Leadership Institute! The 16 fellows from different nonprofit Jewish camps across North America will receive intensive training in business management, fundraising, and leadership skills.

Camp directors work year-round, confronting challenges and dealing with issues a mayor of a town might meet including overseeing multi-million dollar budgets, hiring and supervising a staff of several hundred, managing communications, supervising physical sites, working with a board of directors, initiating new programs, and much more. The Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) is a one-of-a-kind program for the 21^st century camp director, often characterized as an executive MBA program, which weaves together the best of private sector leadership and management training with Jewish values and ethics to create the premier training program for Jewish camp professional leaders.

This third cohort of ELI is again made possible because of a generous grant from the Marcus Foundation, bringing the Marcus Foundation’s total donation to FJC to almost $3 million and providing continued support for an innovative project with a proven track record of success.

Those within the camp field, and in the Jewish communal world more broadly, view the Executive Leadership Institute as a program that successfully produces professional leaders with the vision, presence, and skill to create change and excellence. The fellowship consists of six seminars over the course of 14 months, executive coaching, and the use of customer satisfaction survey instruments, among other vital tools. With two cycles completed, the program has also created a certain esprit de corps among its graduates, generating a vital network of camp directors who support one another in becoming vision-driven leaders.

“Camp directors operating in 2011 and beyond require the training and tools necessary to make their camps and the camp field flourish,” explains Jeremy J. Fingerman, CEO, Foundation for Jewish Camp. “Adapting lessons from the private sector, ELI provides fellows with the necessary skills to raise the status of Jewish camping, grow their individual camps, compete in this competitive climate, and simply be better directors.”

See Dave Matthews in NYC for FREE!

Ezra Androphy — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:00:52 +0000

Make a donation to Pinemere Camp and see Dave Matthews in NYC for free!

Yes, really. Here’s how to do it:

1) Purchase a ticket to see Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds in NYC on 11/18.

2) For each ticket you purchase, you will receive a unique code worth your full ticket price to make donation at justgive.org. Select Pinemere Camp as the recipient.
3) Enjoy an awesome show, knowing that at the same time you are supporting Pinemere’s scholarship fund!

For more details, visit http://davematthews.com/charity/.

Second Session Slideshow!

Ezra Androphy — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:22:24 +0000

What a great way to end the summer! Please enjoy our look back at memories of the past 3 weeks, and we cannot wait to see all your smiling faces again in 2012!

2011 Pinemere Camp Season comes to an end! ;(

alyson — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 13:32:47 +0000

I can’t believe the summer is over! It seems like just yesterday I was taking pictures of campers on the green, eager to move in and meet their new counselors and bunk-mates. I am so fortunate to have the opportunity every summer to capture Pinemere campers’ smiling faces. I enjoy seeing the kids in action at their activities and all of the great events we have at Pinemere. I also feel privileged to watch each camper as they forge new friendships and grow old ones. Looking forward to Summer 2012 at the ‘Mere!
Lots of Smiles, Alyson

Hilltop Update

alyson — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:26:05 +0000

by Mallory F., Ally C., and Elise B.

This week on the Hill we have learned how to communicate better with each other. We have focused on expressing our feelings and excepting our differences. Yesterday was Hilltop Day. We had fun making shirts, getting acquainted with our big sister/little sister, and making friendship bracelets for each other. At night we we got dressed up and we had a feast on the basketball court. Our counselors served us our food! After a bonding evening activity, we had a candle ceremony. Each camper expressed what lights up her world & how much we each love our camp friends!

Stacey the Flower Fairy

alyson — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:53:05 +0000

Unplugged and plugged in. That’s the beauty of Pinemere. Watching the kids re-learn how to be kids is the greatest gift. Today, after making sachets from fresh herbs of lavender and rosemary, the Hilltop girls begged to pick cucumbers from our veggie patch. ” Why do they have prickles all over them?” ”Yum! These are so sweet.” “This tastes great …and I don’t even like cucumbers!”

This session, not only have we been planting up a storm to beatify camp and the units, I have also had the opportunity to make fresh salads with the Village boys, peach cobblers with the older girls, natural lemonade with the campers and home-made beauty products and glycerin soap with the Row and the Line kids! To me, all of that boils down to one thing: Understanding and connecting to nature through a hands-on practical experience!

xo Stacey the Flower Fairy

The Village Blog!

alyson — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:16:08 +0000

The village finished first session with a bang. Village day was a really big success, the kids had a great time and all of the activities ran extremely well. It all started with breakfast in bed followed by a morning full of mitzvah projects, such as cleaning up around the unit and continuing to refurbish our mini-golf course. For lunch we had some delicious burgers made with ground meat and onions that everybody enjoyed. After lunch we went to the beach for the “Storming of Formandy.” This is a game in which campers try to use barriers across the beach to reach the flag without getting hit with a water balloon. Every camper had a great time and many people survived and got to the flag. At night the kids participated in an activity called “Operation Flagpoint” in which they used strategy and teamwork to attack or defend The Village. Everybody had a fantastic time and the kids were talking about it for days! The rest of the week was really fun, and we were all sad to see first session come to a close and many of the first session campers go home.

We are all really excited for 2^nd session! Our unit is now the biggest unit in camp with 37 kids! These kids came in with a lot of energy and have brought a new life to The Village. Because of our sheer size the kids are more enthusiastic during cheering and we are definitely the loudest unit in the dining hall. The campers were also really excited about Wacky Water Wednesday. They got to do all sorts of water activities in the morning and went bowling in the afternoon. Every kid had a fantastic time and really had a great overall day. Right now the 9^th graders are on their overnight canoe trip! We are all looking forward to the rest of the session and all the fun activities still left to come!

Second Session on the Line!

alyson — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:30:33 +0000

The line has had a great start to second session! On Monday, the campers got to know one another and their counselors by playing different ice-breaker games. Everyone got settled into their bunks and had a restful night. On Tuesday, the boys from the line had an amazing 1st full day at camp! All of the new campers passed their deep water tests and had a great time in the pool. During the day they had activities such as gaga, soccer, adventure, mat ball, drama, ceramics and woodshop! They were busy campers! At night, the Line boys played games in the field house and got involved in lots of different sports activities. Yesterday was a fantastic day for everyone at camp – Wacky Water Wednesday! We ate dinner for breakfast and took part in lots of wacky water activities! In the afternoon, the Row and the Line went roller skating! The boys had lots of fun. For the evening activity, the boys took part in a challenging water obstacle course. The Line is looking forward to our “Overnight” (camp-out) on Sunday and all of the other exciting activities that will be going on in the next few weeks at Pinemere Camp!

1st Session Ends ;( and 2nd Session Campers Arrive! :)

alyson — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:21:11 +0000

We had an amazing ending to our 1st session at Pinemere! The last Saturday began with “Friendship Services” led by the CITs. The campers had their final “Sing” in the shade on the Green, finished packing and then had a final dip in the pool. The Banquet dinner was yummy and the Awards Show was excellent! Make sure you check out the “1st Session Slideshow” that the campers watched (you’ll find it in the Video section of the Online Community). As per Pinemere tradition, we ended the night with the beach ceremony. We will miss all of the campers that left and will be looking forward to seeing them again next summer!

The full-season campers had an exciting day. After visiting with their families, they had a special all-camp “flip-sync” and then an outdoor “drive-in” movie viewing of “Space Jam”, complete with pop corn and pj’s! Today the full-season campers went on a surprise trip to an ice-skating rink! Fun was had by all — and by the time they returned the hot weather finally broke.

By 3pm, our second-session campers began to arrive and settle in their bunks! The Welcome show is about to start and the campers will be introduced to the staff while being entertained to original songs about Pinemere and the various units. Look for pictures later on tonight!

Just an added note:

We are proud to announce that David Ferman, Bunk 4′s JC and a long-time Pinemere family member, has won the International Jugglers’ Association Junior Stage Championship! This is the most prestigious 17 & under juggling competition in the world. David has been focused on trying to win this event for many years and came in 2nd place in each of the past two years. So this was a very sweet victory for him, and caps off a great summer of juggling competitions for David. He also won the title for most balls juggled, across all age groups, at the World Juggling Federation championships two weeks ago. And all this is in addition to David having set the world record for most balls juggled a couple of months ago! Mazel Tov, David!