Ari, Noah and
Marissa Cicurel
on their way to
Camp Maas.
The Camp `List'
The truth about what to bring to overnight camp.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Apple? ee Editor
I
t was the kind of scene even Stephen King
could not have imagined.
Ari Cicurel, 11, of West Bloomfield had just
arrived at Tamarack Camps' Camp Maas. It was a
beautiful day, and everyone was happy. Boys tum-
bled in and out of the bunk, calling to old friends,
greeting new ones. The staff was excited, ready with
a summer schedule of cookouts, swimming, arts and
crafts, sports and learning.
Ari, never suspecting what lay just ahead, tossed
his gear onto his bunk.
He opened his duffle bag.
And that's when he saw them: Rain boots.
No! No! No! Could it really be that his mother,
his own mother, had packed rain boots for him to
bring to camp? Could any-
thing, anything in
the whole world,
be as utterly dorky as rain boots at camp?
"My kids tell me every time, 'Mom, please. Don't.
It's so queer to bring rain pants and rain boots to
camp.' But how could I not pack them?" Ari's mom,
Sari, asks. "I do it every year. I go out and spend
$20. And every year, the boots come back in the
same package, unopened."
Like so many mothers and fathers, each summer
Sari Cicurel must cope with one of the most daunt-
ing challenges any parent can face: Packing chil-
dren's bags for overnight camp. Yes, there are lists
from the camps themselves. But as everyone knows,
these lists don't tell the whole story.
"They said to bring a baseball glove, but then the
camp provided them once we got there," camper
Mindy Schneider of Oak Park says of Camp Stone
in Pennsylvania. "And don't bother bringing
`Shabbat socks' because they're just going to get
ruined anyway. I didn't need the extra shoelaces or
the hiking boots because I wore my tennis shoes
everywhere.”
But do heed camps that advise sending along
insect repellent and sunscreen, extra blankets ("It
can get freezing in the nighttime," Mindy says) and
a canteen. Candy, though not on any camp list, also
is a must, preferably when sent in a package.
"They did feed us at camp," Mindy acknowledges.
"But sometimes, they don't have the stuff you want
[like candy].
Invariably, camp lists urge campers to bring at
least 20,000 or so pairs of socks (about five of
which will come home, completely muddy, if
you're lucky) and 50,000 pairs of underwear. Still,
"I always feel my kids will need more than what's
on the list," Sari Cicurel says. "I'm always packing
too many pairs of socks and underwear."
Though he did suffer the incomparable humilia-
tion of having rain boots in his bag, Ari Cicurel
acknowledges that he had plenty of good stuff along
for the ride, as well. Like shaving cream, a little
squirt of which can go a long way. Shaving cream
is very good for torturing counselors, he explains.
"Be sure to bring books, maybe a Game Boy,
a CD player, a portable video player, a small
football" and other favorite sports equipment,
Ari suggests. "And don't forget gum. They say
not to bring it, but everyone does."
Ari's sister, Marisa, 9 1 /2, says campers might
want to bring along a favorite pillow or blan-
ket. And if the camp holds a big party or
dance at the end of the session, consider pack-
ing a nice outfit, which won't be on the camp
) 5
Ryan Landau.
"We're starting
a revolution."
list unless you count the "Shabbat shirt" you're sup-
posed to bring, and "Nobody wears the `Shabbat
shirt,'" she says.
Marissa's little brother Noah, 7 1 /2 , says squirt guns
and water balloons are a must. "Bring candy, too,
but don't let your counselors see it."
Morn Sari rolls her eyes as she hears the list — the
gum, the shaving cream. "I don't teach my own kids
this stuff," she says firmly, then adds, "but I do tell
it to my niece and nephew" who also attend
overnight camp.
My, how times have not changed. Sari, who
attended Camp Ramah in Canada from 1976-1983,
remembers when the What-You-Really-Need-To-
Bring-To-Camp List included an entire set of cook-
ware.
"Back then, we took trunks; and we filled them
with a hot pot, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter.
There was a whole grocery store in our trunk."
Yes, she says, "camp food was that awful." But
wouldn't the good camper just have made peace
with what was served and observed the rules?
"Okay," Cicurel acknowledges, "I was a bad
camper.
Along with the food, female campers at Ramah
always brought the equivalent of a well-stocked hair
salon. Her daughter, Marisa, merely tosses a brush
into her bag when she heads off to Tamarack.
"But when I went to Ramah, we brought all kinds
of stuff because we were always doing our own
hair," Sari says.
"
Pajamas, By Day
At 14, Scott Jurewicz of West Bloomfield has had
many years' experience as a camper at Camp Maas.
His two words of wisdom for every camper: "Sleep
pajamas."
This translates to any pair of pajama pants that
could conceivably be worn in public, preferably dur-
ing the day. Yes, you can still sleep in them; but
according to Scott, PJ bottoms are what everyone
wears as clothing."
It's nice if someone in the bunk has a battery-
powered CD player as well; Scott brought, and
used, his CDs, he says.
As for all that extra candy? Well, bring it if you
want, along with a water bottle. But parents with
children at Camp Maas don't need to worry that
their little ones will be hungry. "They give you
THE CAMP LIST on page 40
12/10
2004
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