THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, August 9, 1985 45

41,

Text by Alan Hitsky
Photos by Neal Duchin

Days or weeks of anxiety. Par-
ents nervously watching the mailbox
for those treasured, uninformative,
infrequently arriving letters. Kids
having such a good time at camp
that they forget to write, or they
worry their relatives and friends
with hints of loneliness and
homesickness.
These annual rites of summer
always end in a joyous, raucous,
sometimes tearful homecoming.
Week in and week out during the
summer, the happy reunions are re-
enacted as the children return from
camp.
For Detroit's Fresh Air Society
camps, the Jewish Community Cen-
ter parking lot in West Bloomfield
becomes the focus for anxious par-
ents, brothers, sisters, grandparents
and assorted family pets. The park
ing lot ritual begins 30 minutes be-
fore the kids' arrival. Lines of rela-
tives march past rows of waiting,
partially-alphabetized duffle bags,
footlockers and, assorted collections
of dirty laundry. Color-coded
nametags try to bring order to the
confusion as trunks and bags are
wrestled back to the waiting auto-
mobiles. The ritual continues as the
ever-growing crowd waits im-
patiently at the curb for the first
sign of the familiar green buses.
But the campers have a way of
letting everyone know who is on
center stage. The sounds of camp
songs are faintly heard even before
the buses can be seen, and in mo-
ments the parking lot is filled with
happy family reunions. Hugs, kisses,
"How are you?" and hundreds of
questions about camp eventually
give way to a careful appraisal by
the parents of whether their camper
has actually grown during the
bitter-sweet separation.
The joyous, milling scene ends
quickly as the parking lot empties
its precious cargo. But the memory
of camp will linger on. The campers
have their photographs, arts-and,
crafts projects, address books, auto-
graphed pillow cases and their
memories. For the parents, there is
all that dirty laundry.

Clockwise from left: Counselor
Jody Winkelman has a swinging
goodbye for camper Jacqueline
Rose; two friends bid each other a
tearful farewell until next
summer; Gerry Keller searches for
a missing bag; and Marisa
Edelman and Brian Gurwin have
a special greeting for Mandy.

.

letters From Camp

The Jewish News would like to
publish some of those funny, sad,
boring, complaining, adventuresome
letters from camp. To be considered
for publication, by Aug. 23 send us
your camper's original letters. Place
the camper' name,. parent's names,
address an telephone number on a
separate eet and mail to: Kids'
Letters, he Jewish News, 20300
Civic enter Dr., Southfield, MI
48076

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