Last winter, Randy "Grizz" Comensky joined the Camp Interlaken JCC team as our newest Assistant Director. Grizz has an extensive background in Jewish camping that started at Camp Sabra, the resident camp of his hometown St. Louis JCC.

This summer was Grizz's first summer in Eagle River, and we were so thrilled to work alongside him. "Camp is my happy place because of the people, the relationships, and the opportunities to learn and grow together," Grizz said. "Toni has created such a great culture at Camp Interlaken and I loved my first summer as a member of the Interlaken family; I can't wait for the next!" Read more.

I'm a junior at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and I absolutely love it here! I'm involved in lots of communities on campus, but the one that makes me feel most at home is comprised of all Interlaken friends.

On a Friday night in September, a group of Interlaken alum on campus got together for a Shabbat dinner. That first dinner has now turned into a weekly tradition! Read more.

Shalom. I have been married to Lynda for 34 years. We live in Los Angeles with our two Camp Interlaken JCC alumni kids, Sadie (25) and Max (22). I am a post-production audio sound mixer for film, TV shows, commercials, podcasts, and video games. I spent 12 consecutive summers from 1974-1985 at Camp Interlaken JCC, and there isn't a day I don't think about or rely upon the experiences or lessons I learned during that time. Read more.

I finally realized my dream to go to Family Camp this past summer at Interlaken. After so many years away, I took my husband and daughter, Micah (then 5), to Camp in August. We had the very best week, and I was so grateful to be able to do it. In addition to waterskiing, tubing, and making tie-dye on the athletic field, Micah also loved the singing, the prayers, and the campfire. She still talks about Family Camp, and we are still singing Motzi the "Camp Way." Most importantly, Camp is now a part of her story. Read more.

I've always believed that our staff is the heartbeat of camp. It is their love, ruach, creativity, and commitment that creates the community magic of the machaneh.

Over the last 10+ years, Camp Interlaken has been hiring specialists from all over the world to enhance our program areas. It's the most amazing thing to watch these specialists integrate into the Interlaken community. Read more.

Havdalah, or "separation," is one of the most sacred rituals that the Camp Interlaken family celebrates. This year, in many communities, our alumni said "yes" to hosting our first Havdalah Around the World. Families opened their homes to celebrate together in Madison, Milwaukee, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Denver, and Washington D.C. Read more.

In 2007, Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh (Andy Karsh to friends and family) published a book of poetry called Notes of an Urban Amish: A Collection of Poems. Within this collection is a poem called "An Ode to Ateret Cohn," which Andy wrote for his beloved Camp Director shortly after she passed away in November 2005. Read more.

Share your simchas with us!

Email Holly White at hwhite@jccmilwaukee.org

After lunch on the last full day of each camp session, we gather in Makhom Ha Lev (the amphitheater) to recognize the milestones our campers & staff have reached based on the number of summers they've spent at Camp Interlaken. After we count down our Top 10 Songs of Summer, we call our 3-year campers & staff to the stage where they receive their tee shirts, followed by our 5-year campers & staff who receive their long-sleeve tie-dye shirts. We then ask our 10-year staff or Ozrim to join us on the stage before we go around the amphitheater and acknowledge our campers that have spent 10 summers or more with us. Once our Ozrim receive their windbreakers, we recognize those celebrating their B'nai Mitzvah summer and they receive their 13-year bathrobes.

This summer, we had the privilege of honoring and recognizing one of our Assistant Directors, Tova Blasberg, as she celebrated her 20th summer at Interlaken! Tova began attending camp in 1999 as a fourth grader. Throughout the years, Tova was an Ozo, counselor, unit leader, and a Mama Ozo before joining the Camp Interlaken staff full-time.

Thinking of the perfect way to honor Tova's time at camp proved to be difficult, but after some searching, we found the perfect gift: a canvas with a "20" made up of words & phrases meaningful to Tova and her time at camp. Read more.