Month: July 2022

Shabbat Shalom Ranch Camp!

What a wonderful week it has been. We’ve had an absolute blast in our first full week of Session 3. I cannot believe that we are looking down the horizon of the last week of camp. This has been an absolutely amazing session so far and it’s crazy that it is so close to the end.

This week we had quite the laundry list of exciting activities. Our TASCers began their 10 day trip on Monday, and are having quite the adventure up north despite, or in spite of, some pretty consistent rain every day. Not to mention our Toshavim 8th grade boys took their four day to Staunton State Park and also had such a great time, also, in spite of the rain and some sniffles on the trail.

Back at camp, it’s been a weather weird week. We got missed by the biggest storm of the summer, we had an awesome time at Gold Rush on Wednesday, we had an completely unhinged afternoon at Mayhem Day, where I was dunked in the dunk tank by basically every Toshavim camper, over, and over, and over again. It was a riot of a day only marred by the fact that it was the first day below 80 degrees Fahrenheit (it was about 60) for the first time all summer.

We had a fantastic Shabbat together with all our campers, indoors, as it was once again storming out on Friday night. The Mo was full of soul, signature, spirit and song. Once the storm cleared out, we danced outside under what was the best night sky of the summer – you’ll see some of the beauty in some of our pictures.

I truly cannot believe we are looking down the chute to the last seven days of main camp for 2022. It was been a summer for the record books, outside of a pool that deserves to be a skate park, but a summer for the record books nonetheless. I hope this session and the sessions before it have helped your campers be the best possible versions of themselves and given them a confidence in their ability to make the world a better place through their own actions.

Shabbat Shalom Ranch Camp Families!

What an amazing first week kicking off Session 3. It is truly a packed house this session! We’ve got over 160 campers on site and almost every bed at camp is full – it’s a really awesome send off to what has been a phenomenal summer.

The first week of the session is always my favorite – seeing friends reconnect and faces light up throughout the first few days is a real treat and never stops putting a smile on my face. It’s awesome to see so many campers returning this session for 2021 and beyond, really bringing a full (and very loud) community for our last camp session of the summer!

Truly appreciate everyone’s patience at drop off. I know check-in took a little longer than expected for some of ya’ll, and I can’t thank everyone enough for being so patient coming in for arrival.

It couldn’t be the first week of camp without some great activities. We’ve spent the first few days in cabin cohorts, and when we get through our final round of COVID testing, we’ll break out into activity groups and get camp fired up proper on Sunday morning. That being said, we had an awesome first few days of program, riding horses and bikes, screaming down the zip line, and jammin’ it up with some ultimate frisbee on the sports field. We had an AMAZING all camp capture the flag to close out our first few days of evening programs, congrats to the red team (not playing favorites at all) on their absolutely dominating victory.

Our first Shabbat today was so full of people, and full of soul. The community that comes during Session 3 is a special one – very invested into camp and its myriad of unique traditions – and whether its chanting in the Chad, or morning Degel, or bumping tunes during Shabbat services, this crew really brought the energy to our first Shabbat weekend and I can’t WAIT to see where it goes from here.

So excited for what this coming week will bring. Enjoy the photos, stories, and journeys your campers take as we rock into the rest of Session 3!

JCC Ranch Camp’s Sports Track allows our sports loving campers to fully embrace their passions through various different athletic activities. Not only do campers get to experience new forms of athleticism, they also learn new skills and improve their coordination. Together and with a fun spirit, the sports track campers play all kinds of games. These games consist of capture the flag,  basketball, and even water kickball! Some of our more exciting sports include lacrosse, soccer, ultimate frisbee and many more! Ranch Camp’s sports staff really enjoy the Sports Track because of its flexibility in scheduling and because they feel like they have more fun than all the other tracks! Kids gain the unique experience to also learn from staff from all over the world during the sports track. They are able to learn different games from many different cultures and can take this knowledge back home with them! In addition to learning various games, kids are able to learn many valuable traits. These traits include team work, good sportsmanship, communication, and Ruach (Hebrew for “Spirit”). These are not skills specific just to games, but are applicable and beneficial to their daily lives. With a variety of games, absorbing knowledge of varying cultures and perspectives, plus gaining valuable life skills-what more could a sports loving camper want from a program?