Last Friday Service of First Session

Friday, June 29, 2012

The evening quieted as the chapel prepared to receive the campers for the last Friday night service of first session. Fresh flowers beautified the scene, although the Elmore Solomon Chapel needs little help with that. As the campers ascend the hill to the chapel they are full of joy and anticipation. Friday night services are full of song and dance and can fill the hardest heart with joy. This summer, preparation of the services has been handed over to Emily Schooler and  Zachary Sosna who are both working closely with our favorite Shabbat songstress Penny. Along with each of the camp leaders and unit leaders, this new approach has allowed much more involvement with the individual camps, staff members and campers in planning services.

Each week is assigned a theme and our final Friday’s theme was “Dream Big and Live Courageously” For the Senior Girl, Senior Boy Service, SG Unit 3 ran the program and a selection of the girls presented their original thoughts. Here they are for your enjoyment.

Cassidy Aronin, Carly Rosner, Chloe Cohen
Original Thoughts:

All:  Shabbat Shalom!
CC: This weeks theme is dream big and live courageously.
CA: We dream big by wanting to go more than four weeks, but we live courageously by dealing with  2 (or 11.)
CR:  As our last seven days in Senior Girls go by, we hold on to the moments we have made.
CC: From socials in HeRo to eating grilled cheeses at every meal, these are the incredible memories we cherish forever.
CA: All kidding aside, the unforgettable bonds we have made in the past seven years are the ones that will stay in our hearts forever.
CC:  Blue Star Camps will always be our forever home.
CR: When we return as counselors, we will look back at our past and recall the sisterhood that was formed in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
All: Thank you and Shabbat Shalom

Emma Goetzinger, Alexa Greenfield, Bianca Tacher
Original Thoughts: Dream Big, Live Courageously

The theme of this week is dream big live courageously. This means to step out of your comfort zone and do something you might not have thought of doing before.

We came to camp our first years as shy, reserved campers. Here we are, years later, reading on the bema with our best friends.

To create these bonds we have, we had to step out of our comfort zone and meet new people.
We would’ve never thought, back then, that our cabin mates would ever mean so much to us.

It pains us to leave next week knowing that it will be some of our sisters last year at camp. Although we will not all return for teen village, camp is never really over if we’re all still friends.

Blue Star has such a big impact on our lives. We don’t know what we would do if we weren’t here right now. And if We hadn’t dreamt big and lived courageously, we would have never gotten to experience some of the best summers of our lives. Thanks to all of the people who helped make our summers unforgettable.

Shabbat Shalom.

Emily Gracin, Samantha Hahn, Moriah Edelson
Original Thoughts

All: Shabbat Shalom
M: This weeks’ theme is Dream Big live courageously.
S: In the Blue Ridge Mountains, you may not realize it but you’re dreaming big and living courageously all the time.
M: Weather it’s conquering the leap of faith at rope
E: Or talking to that special someone at those crazy HeRo socials.
M: Dreaming big and living courageously
E: It’s not necessarily known as taking risks,
S: But also striving to be the best you can be
E: Like going for that extra lap around the New Lake even though you “sprained your ankle”
M: Or even picking up an extra handful of wood at the camp out even though the pile is already taller than you.
S: So in this last week of camp, keep in mind to always dream big and live courageously to make these last few days memorable.

Shabbat Shalom.