Spring 2015 Alumni Newsletter

Spring 2015
Shway der Magic
FROM THEDIRECTOR'S CABIN
Shway der Camp
Al umni
Newsl et t er
JodieAbr ams, Dir ect or
As w e count dow n the days to open Shw ayder Cam p for its 66th season,
I am over w helm ed w ith excitem ent for the upcom ing season. We have
so m any am azing enhancem ents that w e ar e br inging to cam p this
sum m er. In M ay, w e began the im pr ovem ents to the softball field
w her e w e installed a state-of- the-ar t athletic field to enhance our
athletic pr ogr am s so that w e can incr ease the spor ts w e ar e able to
offer at cam p. We also w ill be br inging back an old favor ite activity to
Shw ayder : fishing! W ith
the addition of a fishing
specialist and an
additional w ilder ness
specialist, w e w ill be focusing on teaching sur vival and
outdoor skills to our cam per s this sum m er.
SHABBAT@
SHWAYDER
Sat ur day, August 15t h
9:30am- 3:00pm
$18 Adul t s
$36 Famil ies
Com e back t o Sh w ayder Cam p. Join
us as w e celebr ate Shabbat @
Shw ayder Cam p. Enjoy this
oppor tunity to exper ience a beautiful
Shw ayder Shabbat, par ticipate in
cam p activities, see old fr iends and
m ake new ones. An event for all
ages. Br ing your fam ily and your
fr iends and enjoy ever ything that
Shw ayder Cam p has to offer.
To r egist er pl ease v isit
www.Shway der .com
This August w e w ill be hosting a Shabbat @ Shw ayder
Cam p event for anyone w ho w ants to exper ience that
Shw ayder M agic . It w ill be an am azing day to celebr ate
being Jew ish at 10,200 feet. M or e details can be found at
our w ebsite.
As you m ay know, this w ill be Sim i Adler ?s fir st sum m er
ser ving as Assistant Dir ector after spending a few
sum m er s aw ay at differ ent Jew ish sum m er cam ps. He has
br ought so m uch to cam p in the off season and w e ar e all
looking for w ar d to having him back at Shw ayder.
You can check out all of our am azing 2015 Shw ayder
Cam p staff on our w ebsite,
http://w w w.shw ayder.com /2015-staff/.
Finally, I w ould like to thank Janet Br onitsky, Executive
Dir ector of Tem ple Em anuel, w ho has been dedicated to
m aking Shw ayder Cam p the best it can possibly be for 25
year s. We all w ish her a huge M azel Tov on her
r etir em ent.
Looking for w ar d to an incr edible season!
Page2 | Shway der Magic | Spr ing 2015
What 's Cooking
INt heKit chen
We sat down with Shwayder Camp's Head Chef and Sous Chef/Kitchen
M anager, Jordy M eer and Campbell Hart to see what we can expect from
the kitchen this summer.
Tel l us about yoursel ves, what have you been doing t he
past f ew years?
Campbel l Hart : After graduating high school in Denver, I
studied at university for two years in Vancouver, BC.
During my time there I worked at a gastropub that got my
culinary passion kickstarted. I spent this past
October-December traveling by myself throughout
Europe by train, visiting 11 countries. I realized while
abroad that my absolute passion in life is cooking. After
returning to North America, I studied at the Northwest
Culinary Academy of Vancouver where my learning and
love for the culinary arts continued to grow.
Jordy Meer: After I graduated high school, I took a year
off and traveled to Israel. I started work at a privately
owned cafe in Tel Aviv where I rediscovered my passion
for cooking. From there I attended George Brown
University in Toronto, ON. for two years studying the
culinary arts with an underlying focus on nutrition with
the goal in mind to one day open my own restaurant.
What does it mean t o you t o be running t he kit chen at
Shwayder?
CH: It?s a pretty rare occasion in life to see things come
totally full circle. When I was 15 years old, as an SIT,
Shwayder?s kitchen was the first kitchen I ever cooked in
professionally. Two years later I worked on Kitchen Staff
at Shwayder for a summer. And now, I am returning to
Shwayder camp as
a professional
cook, running the
kitchen with my
best friend whom I
met at Shwayder
and who shares my
passion for food,
and doing what we
love; honestly it?s a
rather surreal
experience and an
incredible
opportunity.
Sous Chef/Kitchen Manager
Campbell Hart
JM: It is a dream
come true. My
father, who?s no longer with us, was once a camper at
Shwayder many years ago, and I was once a camper
myself. Now working in the kitchen, I feel that I am
contributing to something that has been a part of my life
from before I was even born. Not only that, but my father
also had a passion for cooking, which makes me feel
connected to him on yet another level, up at Shwayder
camp.
How do you f eel being abl e t o col l aborat e and work
wit h a good camp f riend?
CH: I met Jordy when we were both SITs together back in
2010. We instantly became close friends. Our friendship
only grew a year later when we traveled to Israel
together on Colorado?s IST program, as well as last
summer working in the office at camp. Jordy and I share a
common goal of possibly opening a restaurant together
years down the road and it is a really special thing to be
able to begin this journey together at our home away
from home, Shwayder camp.
JM: I can only express my utmost excitement to finally be
working in a kitchen with my best friend, in which we
have been talking about for over two years now. We have
both been collaborating on an ideal restaurant for us
from the beginning, and this opportunity at Shwayder
feels like the perfect stepping stone to set into motion
what we?ve been dreaming of.
Head Chef Jordy Meer
Continued on Page 6
Page3 | Shway der Magic | Spr ing 2015
Camp Ev ent s
Don 't m i ss ou t on t h ese w on der f u l oppor t u n i t i es t o ex per i en ce cam p du r i n g t h e
of f -season !
Al l even t s r equ i r e an RSVP at w w w.sh w ayder .com
August 15t h
Shabbat @ Shway der
Sept ember 14t h and 15t h
Rosh HaShana
Family Camp
Sept ember 4t h- 7t h
(Templ e Emanuel Member s)
Sept ember 18t h- 20t h
(Open t o Al l Famil ies)
Feel like you'r e m issing out beacause don't get to exper ience the
M agic of Shw ayder Shabbat? Don't fr et, because Shabbat @
Shw ayder is as close as you can get to r eliving those w onder ful
Shabbat at cam p. Br ing the fam ily, because this gr eat event w ill be
fun for all ages.
Join us for a cr eative Rosh Hashanah w or ship ser vice and pr ogr am
at Shw ayder Cam p on both the fir st and second days of Rosh
Hashanah (Sept. 14th & 15th). Wor ship ser vices, activities and m usic
w ill be led by Steve Br odsky and Ron Leff. Spend your holiday
w or shipping, cr eating and lear ning together.
Shw ayder Fam ily Cam ps offer the unique oppor tunity for your
entir e fam ily to gr ab a little Shw ayder M agic of your ow n. A
concentr ated ver sion of our sum m er exper ience, Fam ily Cam p is
designed to give you a taste of all of our activities. Take a hike to
Echo Lake, test your aim at ar cher y, r ide a hor se up an isolated
m ountain tr ail, push your lim its 50 feet in the air on the zip line,
and of cour se celebr ate being Jew ish dur ing our spir itual Shabbat
exper ience.
BECOME INVOLVED
Do you miss your ca mp fr iends? Wa nt to play a r ole in futur e gener ations of ca mper s?
Have a gr eat idea for a n a lumni event?
We a r e a lways looking for new member s to
impr ove our wonder ful a lumni community.
Plea se conta ct Simi Adler at
Adler @Shwayder .com to find out how you
ca n become involved with our a lumni
community.
Page 4| Shway der Magic | Spr ing 2015
ALumni
ARchiv es
While it may be difficult to capture and preserve 65 summers worth of
memories, we at Shwayder Camp have begun our efforts to collect as
much of our history as possible. Whether it's a picture of campers
enjoying archery, an old brochure or an old staff picture, our alumni
archives now have a home at
ht t p:/ / www.shwayder.com/ al umni-archives/
While we have a great collection of photographs we are always looking
for more contributions to add to our archives. To learn how to submit
your camp photos, please email Simi at Adler@Shwayder.com
Page 5 | Shway der Magic | Spr ing 2015
Capit al Campaign Updat e
W ho do w e know that loves Shw ayder
Cam p m or e than Rabbi Bob Davis? W ho do
w e know w ho has m ade such a gr eat
com m itm ent to Shw ayder Cam p? His year s as
cam per, staff m em ber and dir ector engaged
thousands of young people in Judaism
thr ough the beauty of Shw ayder Cam p. And,
he r egular ly r etur ns to be par t of the
Shw ayder M agic.
be a m or e appr opr iate r ecognition of
som eone w ho has given so m uch to build and
m aintain the Shw ayder Cam p com m unity?
The donor par ticular ly w anted Shw ayder
Cam p alum ni w ho had a r elationship w ith
Bob to be par t of this pr oject. Ther efor e, the
donor m ade a $25,000 gift outr ight to Cam p
and the r em aining $25,000 w ill be com pleted
as a m atch that w e w ill have to r aise for a
total gift of $75,000. You can m ake a
donation to help us m eet this m atch to
Shw ayder Cam p, 51 Gr ape Str eet, Denver CO
80220 or you can give online at
w w w.shw ayder cam p.com /donate.
Please m ake sur e that the donation is to the
Capital Cam paign and that you state that you
ar e honor ing Rabbi Bob Davis. Additionally,
if you know of other individuals w ho w ould
be inter ested in honor ing Bob w ith a
donation, please let us know.
Rabbi Bob Davis at Shwayder Camp In 2014
We ar e ver y pleased to announce that an
anonym ous gift of $50,000 has been m ade in
honor of Rabbi Rober t Davis to the Shw ayder
Cam p Capital Cam paign. The funds w ill be
used to car ve bleacher s into the hillside next
to the basketball cour t and w ill be dedicated
in Bob?s honor.
This w ill be an ar ea w her e cam per s and staff
can gather, spend for m al and infor m al tim e
together and build com m unity. W hat could
Rabbi Bob Davis and the Shwayder Camp Staff of 1982
Page 6 | Shway der Magic | Spr ing 2015
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Year s as a CAmper
1985- 1988
Sheva Chaya
W hat have you been up to since
your time at Shwayder ?
Homet own
Denv er , CO
I gr aduated Cr eek high school,
w ent to Pr inceton, m ajor ed in
ar t, m oved to Isr ael, got
Cur r ent Locat ion
m ar r ied and have 5 kids,
Tsfat , Isr ael
lear ned glassblow ing, have had
a galler y in Tzfat w hich
featur es my w ater color
paintings and hand-blow n glass, r eceive gr oups in the
galler y and show live glassblow ing dem onstr ations w hile
explaining the kabalah of the ar t and shar ing my life stor y.
How did ca mp lea d you to wher e you a r e now?
I r em em ber being inspir ed by the natur e and nice people ther e, lear ning about
saying bir kat ham azon after eating w as special. I just loved hiking and
cam ping ar ound cam p. The natur al sur r ounding at cam p w as beautiful.
You can find more information abour Sheva Chaya at her
website at www.shevachaya.com
Cont inued Fr omPage2
What do you hope t he kids and st af f get out of t he
f ood t his year? What sort of t hings can we expect on
t he menu t his summer?
CH & JM: We hope that the kids can take away
memories of not only their favorite adventures at
camp, but also their favorite dining experience. It
would make our day to know that campers will have
fond memories of eating their favorite foods at camp.
This summer we will be showcasing some of the
traditional favorites
such as, french toast,
mac ?n?cheese, and
sloppy joes. We will
be adding some of
our personal
favorites, pastrami
latke sandwich,
chicken ?n?waffles,
and steak stir-fry.
Jordy Meer's Homemade Curry
Do you have a f avorit e ?Adul t -Dish? t hat you?re
part icul arl y proud of ?
CH: My personal favourite
dish of my own creation is
brined and jasmine
smoked salmon, daikon
?scallop? with quinoa,
pickles, gomae. We will be
serving a variation of this
salmon as a shabbat dish
over the summer.
Campbell Hart's Jasmine
Smoked Salmon
JM: I guess, uh, a homemade
curry? however, when I get in
the kitchen, I simply love cooking and if I can make
something vegetarian, I love it that much more.
Join us for any of our camp events to enjoy Jordy and
Campbell's culinary treats!