One Happy Camper
Fair's organizer is true believer in fun,
educational summer experiences for kids.
LYNNE SCHREIBER
Special to the Jewish News
E
laine R. Sturman has
been a camper all her
life. It makes sense,
then, that she would
enjoy running Super Summers For
Kids, an annual fair to advertise
available camps and activities to
area families.
A dozen years ago, when her
kids attended Camp Walden in
northern Michigan, camp director
Neal Schechter wondered why
Detroit was one of only a few cities Elaine Sturman
that did not host a camp fair. Then
development director for the Merrill-Palmer Institute at
Wayne State University in Detroit, Sturman brought the idea
to her boss, who told her to run with it as a fund-raising
effort. When she left the agency three years ago, he told her to
take the event with her.
"Camp is the most wonderful, social and educational
opportunity for children away from their families," says
Sturman, whose father was an assistant director at Camp
Tamarack before she was born. "They gain social skills, par-
ticipating with peers outside of the traditional educational
environment."
This year, Sturman, of Bloomfield Hills-based Elaine S.
Events, expects as many as 4,000 people to stop in at the
Birmingham Public Schools Conference and Training Center
between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 4, to
check out videos and posters that will line the hallways.
Of the nearly 80 camps represented, three Jewish camps
— Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit,
Tamarack Camps and Camp Young Judaea — will strut their
stuff at full displays. Tables and booths will fill the hall and_
the main room, which is like a carpeted gym.
The fair features day and overnight camps as well as pro-
grams in Canada, Australia and other overseas locations. The
camps cater to youngsters and teens ages 2 to 18. All the
camps at the fair are licensed by the American Camping
Association or the state. Specialty programs include teen trav-
el, overseas trips, horseback riding, computers, music, art and
drama, sports and special needs;
Randy Topper, Camp JCC assistant director, will be
there with a 21-page brochure, registration materials and
answers to questions. More people ask for information than
sign up at the fair, but "a lot of people find out about us
this way," he says.
Founded in 1935, ACA-accredited Camp JCC has 50 dif-
ferent offerings for children of all ages. They provide door-to-
door busing in the metro area. Programs
include four-week camps, teen travel pro-
grams and Camp of the Arts as well as
"Imagitivity," one-week arts and science
camps, and week-long Maccabi Pro Sports
programs.
Susie Zaks says Tamarack Camps will
bring bells and whistles to the fair, includ-
ing a video and brochures. Founded in
1902, Tamarack is a sleepover, nonprofit
kosher camp in Ortonville. Many of the
campers are affiliated with the Reform
movement, a third are unaffiliated and a
third attend on scholarship. About 2,000
. campers participate in a Tamarack pro-
gram each summer, including trips out
West and to Alaska.
"It's good for us to be [at the fair] because we're part of this
community," she says. "We do get some campers from this."
Ben Sadek, director of Camp Young Judaea in Waupaca,
Wis., will also represent his camp at the fair. Run by
Hadassah since 1969, it is a kosher, shomer Shabbat, Zionist
overnight camp.
His second year at this fair, Sadek will show pictures,
posters and a video of the 140-kid camp. Children from
about 25 Detroit families attend one of Camp Young Judaea's
two four-week sessions. "It takes time to build a base in any
community," Sadek says.
"Families have two working parents more and more, and
they want to find good outlets for their children in the sum-
mer when they're not occupied in school," Sturman says.
"Camp solves all those issues. It gives them the chance to be
with peers in an environment where it is not school and
they also know their children are safe, learning something
and having fun."
❑
If You Go
Super Summers For Kids: A Camp and Activities Fair
will take place Sunday, March 4, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m.,
at the Birmingham Public Schools Conference and
Training Center, 31209 Evergreen, adjacent to
Groves High School, in Beverly Hills. Admission is
free and includes a reference directory of the camps
and programs. Event cosponsors are the Observer
Eccentric Newspapers and Metro Parent magazine. For
information, call (248) 851-7342.
After the fair, Camp Young Judaea will hold a rally
at the Hadassah House, 5030 Orchard Lake, in West
Bloomfield, 5-7 p.m.
.
Slatkin, Citrin
Chair Countdown
Susan Citrin and Robert Slatkin will
chair the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit's 2001 Annual
Campaign Countdown March 25-29.
Campaign Countdown is a series of
events, meetings and phonathons focus-
ing on the community's efforts to close
the 2001 campaign, the Federation's
annual appeal.
Citrin, current chair of the Jewish
Community
Archives, has
served on
numerous com-
mittees of the
Federation
Women's
Campaign and
Education
Department,
Robert Slatkin
including the
Lion of Judah
Affinity
Committee, the
Women's
Department
Board of
Directors and
the Women's
Department
Endowment
Susan Citrin
Committee. She
has served as an
officer of the United Jewish Foundation
and on the executive committee of
Federation's Board of Governors. She is
a member of the Birmingham Temple.
Slatkin, president of Slatkin Corp., is
past president of the United Jewish
Foundation. He is past president of
Federation's Young Adult Division and
past president of the Jewish Community
Center. He has served on Federation's
Young Leadership Cabinet and received
the Frank A. Wetsman Young
Leadership Award. He is a member of
Temple Israel.
From March 25-29, volunteers will
make calls throughout the community
asking for pledges to the 2001 cam-
paign. Immediately following Campaign
Countdown, decisions will be made on
how campaign dollars will be allocated
to Federation-supported agencies in
Detroit and around the world.
Every gift increase over last year —
and every new gift — will be doubled in
value by the Schostak Family Challenge
Fund.
For information or to volunteer for
the phonathons, call David Contorer,
248) 203-1490.
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3/2
2001
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