My story starts in 1994, when I finished my military service in Israel and heard that a Jewish agency was sending Israelis to work at summer camps in the United States after their army service. Since my experience as a counselor in the Girl Scouts and as an officer in the military were very relevant — I decided to try my luck and applied.
Happily, I was accepted and got assigned to Tamarack Camps as a tripper.
In June 1994, I got on a plane with four other Israelis on our way to Michigan. Back then, there were no Israeli campers, and we were the only Israeli staff members.
First session, I worked as a tripper and got to lead the Upper Peninsula and Mackinac Island trips. Second session, I worked as a counselor in Fishman Village, so I got to enjoy both the in-camp and out-camp worlds.
Camp was an unforgettable and life-changing adventure for me.
During camp, I met Kevin Miller, who worked in DeRoy, we became good friends. We even met again in Florida a few years later, but lost contact… until this past spring.
In April 2024, I decided to take my kids on a trip for my son’s bar mitzvah. We went to the east coast of the U.S. — including Florida. I remembered Kevin but had no idea how to reach him. My son, Alon, suggested I reach out to camp for help, which I did…and believe it or not, an angel from Tamarack, accounting assistant Claira Sudduth, helped me find Kevin. We met in Orlando after all these years, and it was amazing!
Meanwhile, I had been telling Alon about Tamarack for all these years, and he had been tracking camp on Instagram.
Then — everything came together perfectly: Alon was 13, we traveled to the U.S. and met Kevin, Alon’s English got much better — and he felt it was the right time for him to go to his own “life-changing adventure.” So, I contacted camp with our special story, asking if Alon could still join this summer — and again — the angels from Tamarack said YES!
The challenge now was to get Alon to camp… we had no choice because of the situation in Israel and the non-direct flight to Michigan. The only way was to fly with him all the way to Michigan, rent a car and get him to Ortonville.
When I dropped him off, Claira and Gabe, the chief advancement officer, were amazing and showed me around camp. Though it was not the same site from 30 years ago (at Brighton), I was so excited to see the facility! And believe it or not, we found the paddle with my name on it from 1994, hanging on the wall in the tripping center!
Now, after 30 years, my son Alon is at camp in Grosberg Ruach Village, and I got to meet the perfect staff of Tamarack Camps 2024! I hope we can come again to camp next year for the summer of 2025!
