T

he return home from summer 
camp might be marked by 
laundry piles, family visits and 
haircuts but even when the duffels are 
stored and the new friends are texted, 
“if you know you know,” camp never 
really ends.
Beyond the more than 72,000 Jewish 
overnight summer campers*, it goes on 
in winter camp, family camp, FaceTime 
calls, out-of-town camp friends’ b’nai 
mitzvot, becoming the camp nurse 
or doctor, and in camp reunions and 
fundraisers. 
And it continues through memories, 
both in the mind and as tangible 
mementoes, like the 50-plus-years-
worth of rubber-banded, yellowed, 
faded notes and cards unearthed 
recently by my mom, whose authors 
span three generations. 
My own camp letters were 
descriptively detailed, several pages 
long and sent individually to each 
member of the family, including one 
addressed and written to “Fluffy 
Liebman,” the cat. 
In contrast, the ones written to my 

husband and me by our own kids, 
decades later, were largely fill-in-the 
blanks or short sentiments scribbled in 
huge print on tiny paper. More recent 
ones from the grandkids typically hold 
requests for “things” their parents don’t 
think it’s necessary to send. One recent 
letter was a request for a hammock. 
Another had merely the words: “Send 
soup.” 
Our niece remembers receiving mail 
from her son with no message at all, 
just an envelope that she pre-addressed, 
that held absolutely nothing, later 
defended as his way of fulfilling camp’s 
requirement of sending mail to parents 
as a ticket to dinner. 
A recent one from my grandson, 
Eitan, had an appeal, not for a package, 
but for permission. He wrote simply: 
“Can I pretty, pretty, pretty please get a 
buzz cut? Please.” Apparently, a camp 
staffer had an electric razor and a 
lucrative second job at $15 a pop. Eitan 
did not get a buzz cut.

MAIL FROM CAMP
The camp envelope is proof that for 
many kids this is their first letter-
writing experience. We’ve received mail 
with notes that began on stationery and 
was continued on the envelope. A few 
pieces arrived with the stamp on the left 
corner, on the back and, surprisingly, on 

42 | DECEMBER 7 • 2023 J
N

CAMP GUIDE

Jewish camp brings memories, 
forever friends, soup — and a goat.

It’s Always

Somewhere

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

LEFT TOP: Eitan Schon, now 11, of West 
Bloomfield and Huntington Woods, with 
his brother, Jake, now 14, on a visit to a 
Tamarack Camps’ lake in Ortonville in 
2019. LEFT BOTTOM: Jake Schon, 14, 
with his brother, Eitan, 11, at Camp Stone, 
summer 2023.
continued on page 44

