Camp Blog

Tuesday, August 15

DATE: August 16, 2023

Color War Day 1 –  Reporting live:

Here in Machane Stone there are only two places/times one does not feel Color War: during tefilah (focus is on our relationship with Hashem) and in the bunk (where everyone should feel comfortable and help one another). Otherwise, game on!!

Our two teams this year are HASKALAH (blue and pink) and MESORAH (black and green). Let me explain:

We have been learning about the various movements in the 17th and 18th centuries, as Jews encountered emerging modernity. Our teams represent one important way to capture the primary divide within the Jewish responses. Adapt to the modern world (Haskalah) or preserve and conserve tradition as best as possible (Mesorah). Innovate, embrace freedom and make Judaism accessible (Haskalah) or emphasize fidelity to tradition, continuity and religious commitment (Mesorah). Moses Mendelssohn and the Netziv are becoming household names! 

We appreciate and need both the values of innovation and tradition, of course, but in this modern-day version of the battle, there will have to be a winner!!

After our regular morning routine of mifkad, tefilah, breakfast and shiur, there were team meetings followed by two peulot of sporting events.  Each eidah by gender had its own competition on a field, at the lake, in the pool, at the climbing wall or on the court.  Points are being tallied until Wednesday night. Team marches followed mincha, and each team sang and cheered to impress the Roshei Eidah. More competitions took place in the afternoon, including a camp-wide game of machanayim (similar to dodgeball).  Tonight, after team meetings, more marches, dinner and maariv, we enjoyed (and laughed a lot) at an Olympiada in Indoor World, where there were relay races and funny minute-to-win-it challenges.

All day, campers were getting involved in the projects and presentations that will be shown tomorrow night. These two days are a great opportunity for everyone’s creativity and talent to be showcased!! One of the best parts of Color War is that the campers get points for teaching camp about their themes: in cheers, memes, divrei Torah, and even by painting a garbage can! A little competition is a great motivator for learning and internalizing new information.   

Go, go, go, go, go, go.

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

Win, win, win, win, win, win,

Go, Fight, Win!!

Registration for summer 2025 opens 10/1/24 for returning families, 11/1/24 for new families.

Please contact Randi Mashmoor with any questions at:

randi@campstone.org

or 440-465-5486. Thank You!

All Meet the Director events have been postponed until further notice. Thank you.

Staff application opens on 11/17.

New camper application opens on 11/1. Returning campers can register now.

Returning Camper Registration

Available positions for Summer 2024 are very limited! Click on the button below to apply.

Apply Now!

We are no longer accepting applications from current 11th graders.

For questions, please email:

staffapp@campstone.org

Registration for summer 2023 is now closed. There are a few select spots remaining.
Please contact Randi Mashmoor at:

randi@campstone.org

or 440-465-5486. Thank You!

About the Chanukah Raffle

Dear Camp Stone Community,

It is an incredible feeling to reconnect with everyone once again at the beginning of our 2021 camp season.

We are writing to you today, first and foremost, to express tremendous gratitude.

Hakarat HaTov, literally “recognizing the good”, is an important and fundamental principle in our community. We, at Camp Stone, want to express our Hakarat HaTov to everyone receiving this email for your unwavering support, especially this past summer. Whether you provided financial assistance through your donated tuition dollars, participated in Indoor World, or connected with the Camp Stone community in other ways, together we had an incredibly successful, albeit different, summer experience.

There is no substitute for being in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania, and this summer, B’ezrat Hashem, we will be back at Camp Stone, in person, in full force.

To achieve that goal, we must continue to ensure the financial success of our home away from home that we all know and love so deeply. The logo on top, featuring the slogan “Stone. Forever.” also features a Ner Tamid, an “eternal flame.” The year 1969, etched into the logo, is the year camp was founded. Symbolically, the overall image represents the idea that Camp Stone began many years ago and must endure forever, always burning brightly, and always an integral part of our collective conscience.

On that note, we are excited to announce that our annual Chanukah Campaign will be a raffle taking place over all 8 nights of Chanukah with prizes for both campers and parents/alumni!!

Please go back to the web page  to purchase raffle tickets and help us achieve 100% participation from our entire camp community!

Looking forward to being in touch with all of you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Yakov & Estee, Co-Directors