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Heart Of Camp
Over 110 years, Tamarack experiences
result in many lasting romances.
Gabe Neistein
Special to the Jewish News
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March 15 2012
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amarack Camps has taken on
different meanings for many
generations of campers in its
110-year history. And while many have
fallen in love with Tamarack over the
years, others can say they have fallen
in love at Tamarack.
Summer camp romances are as
much a part of camp as campfires or
bug juice and, while many summer
relationships last only a few months,
some special relationships have
endured.
One of the true Tamarack romances
occurred in 1966, when 22-year-old
Arnie Collens, a veteran Tamarack
staff member, took on a new role with
the camp. Little did he know that soon
his life would change forever.
"The summer after I opened Camp
Kennedy, I was asked if I'd like to head
the Teen Trips in 1966, which would
include touring the Eastern states for
three weeks and a four-week Western
trip," Collens said. "When I said I'd
accept and that I wanted my girlfriend,
Dorothy, to be the female counselor,
Sam Marcus, who was the camp direc-
tor at the time, said that he could only
allow her to join my staff if we were
married.
"Needless to say, Dorothy and I
got married and honeymooned with
40-some campers during that summer
of 1966:'
The Collens' days as campers are
prolonged by their participation in
Bubbie-Zaydie Family Camp, which
has allowed them to share the gift of
camp with their grandchildren. It is
through this meaningful experience
that many camp couples' relationships
have come full circle over the years.
Camp courtship comes in many
forms, but the feeling camp couples
have for their meeting grounds evokes
a similar theme.
"Saying the words 'Tamarack
Camps' immediately elicits a special
feeling of pride said Dorothy Collens,
who has been married to Arnie for
more than 45 years. "Because of how
we started our married life, traveling
has been an important part of what we
do, many times off the beaten path."
Jim and Ruth Grey also met at
Tamarack in the mid-1960s and attri-
Arnie and Dorothy Collens with their
grandchildren Asher, Elana and Max
Collens
bute much of their now 45-year mar-
riage to their time at camp.
"Tamarack is a special place that we
share as a couple Ruth Grey said. "We
saw a side of each other that we may
never have seen had we not met while
working at camp:'
Alex Altman and Kari Guttman met
at Tamarack in 2001, when they were
Specialty campers. They have been
together ever since and, just this past
fall, Alex proposed to Kari at Rodecker
Beach at Camp Maas in Ortonville.
"Given our history at Tamarack,
there's nowhere else I could have
imagined this special moment to
happen," Altman said of his proposal.
"For months, I thought about where
else was even an option, and it felt
like I was reaching into an empty box.
No place would have been nearly as
meaningful as Tamarack"
The love that generations of
Tamarack alumni share for their camp
has undoubtedly allowed the camp to
maintain its own strong relationship
with the Detroit Jewish community all
these years. Alumni support, whether
financially, by sending their kids
and grandkids to Tamarack, through
volunteerism or leadership is the life-
blood of the agency and it is clear that
these Tamarack-inspired relationships
themselves are its heartbeat.
"Generations come and go, and all
of them leave feeling they have grown
emotionally and religiously:' said
Altman. "There's an indefinable charm