K
Let The
Games
Begin?
Camp directors
differ on the
benefits
of color wars.
USA BRODY
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
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here has probably
never been a sum-
mer where camp
hasn't ended with
tears and hugs and
' a campfire where
everyone sings,
"Make new friends, but keep the old
... One is silver and the other gold."
Many camps also believe camp
should end with the big bang of col-
or wars.
"A major part of our philosophy is
a giant Capture the Flag game that
is one day at the end of the summer,"
says Sid Friedman, owner of Camp
Tanuga near Traverse City. "It's
something the kids really place a lot
of value on, maybe because every-
body, from staff and advisers to the
youngest campers, is involved."
Color wars divide campers into
opposing teams for all kinds of com-
petitions. Often artistic elements will
be brought in with signs, T-shirts
and songs.
Proponents of color wars, which
may take various forms from Cap-
ture the Flag to intricately-themed
games, say they are terrific for chil-
dren's characters, teaching cooper-
ation, reliance and team spirit. But
for every proponent there is a camp
director who stresses that color wars
are dangerous for children's psyches.
"If I had to do color wars, I would
not have a camp," says Arnie Fish-
er, owner of Willoway Day Camp in
Wixom. "Often, in color wars, kids
do not try because they do not want
to look bad. It's the kind of competi-
tion of war. There are some kids who
glory in a color war, who get pumped
up from it, but is that the character
you want?"
Larry Stevens, owner of Camp
Walden in Cheboygan, agrees. 'They
are very divisive because children
in a bunk are divided up into differ-
ent teams. The notion of winning be-
comes so dominant that many
values are sacrificed along the way.
The feeling of getting your team to
the finish line becomes an obsession.
"It really comes down to athletics,
and many kids dread the embar-
rassment of being put in a position
of not being able to perform in front
of other kids."
Mr. Friedman of Tanuga ac-
knowledges that color wars are war
games, but emphasizes that the
competition is healthy. "It's putting
the whole summer into one day,
with themes, colors, formations and
songs. The closing song is a closure
to the battle, and the theme at the
end is always one of harmony and
togetherness. It's not unusual for
both teams to be hugging each oth-
er after the closing songs.
Dave Bale, senior director of
Camp Tamakwa in Algonquin Park,
Some Ask: Why Camp?
For The Experience
LISA BRODY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
uffels packed with 20 T-shirts,
knowing only one may be worn. A
zillion trips to K-mart for mini
flashlights and mini fans. Beloved
teddy bears nervously tucked into back-
packs, ready to catch lonely tears.
Believe it or not, behind the winter
cold outside our windows lurk the bright
bonfires of summer camp. But with
swim clubs and tennis courts every-
where, why send your children to camp?
"Camp is for children to have fun in
an environment where
they can grow, explore
and not compete, and
where they can try new
things in an outdoor en-
vironment and feel com-
fortable with themselves
and those around them,"
says Lorraine Fisher,
owner of Willoway Day
Camp in Wixom.
- "It's a wonderful
growth experience," says
Larry Stevens, owner of
Camp Walden in Cheboy-
gan.
Top: "War
"The idea is to send
Games" at
Camp Tanuga them to camp as an alter-
native to the highly mech-
divide
campers into anized, highly technical
teams.
life they're used to in the
city," says Dave Bale, se-
Above: The
nior director of Camp
Iron Alliance
Tamakwa in Algonquin
team flag.
Park, Ontario.
"I want my children to
be able to try things that are not avail-
able to them at home," says Nancy
Brown of Bloomfield Hills, whose daugh-
ters, Adrienne, 9, and Jessica, 7, will go
to camp — Adrienne to Walden and Jes-
sica to the Kingswood Day Camp.
D
Sid Friedman, owner of Camp Tanu-
ga, located 30 miles east of Traverse
City, points out that kids learn more
than swimming and arts and crafts at
camp.
"Besides the hundreds of activities
that camps have to offer, camp is for
making new friends, getting out of
cliques, going through adversity, devel-
oping self-reliance, and learning trust
and friendship, while being out of doors
and experiencing nature," he says.
Mr. Stevens says camp works on two
levels. "Youngsters learn how to over-
come basic fears, such as the dark, be-
ing alone, leaving their parents. But the
next level prepares them to deal with
other people, how to cooperate and re-
solve problems with peers and adults."
They'll also come home having
learned to take care of themselves a lit-
tle bit, as well as something about sail-
ing, swimming, horseback riding and
the rest.
"They learn cooperation," says Adri-
enne Ruby of West Bloomfield, whose
son Eric, 13, goes to Camp Tamakwa.
"It makes my son a little tougher and
better able to get alongin life."
"It's good for them to learn how to
stand on their own two feet without al-
ways needing Mommy and Daddy," says
Nancy Brown. "They learn self-suffi-
ciency, and they get to try out who they
want to be.
"It's a real freedom. And it's fun. I
have good memories of camp."
"They come to camp because they can
be themselves, and this enhances their
self-esteem," says Mr. Bale of Tamak-
wa. "Along the way, they're going to
learn some neat skills. Above all, they're
going to make friendships and memo-
ries that will last a lifetime."
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