Camp Kinder Ring

Camp Kinder Ring is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), Jewish summer camp located in Hopewell Junction, New York, accredited by the American Camp Association[1] and run by The Workers Circle.[2]

Camp Kinder Ring
Front gate to Camp Kinder Ring (2006)
LocationHopewell Junction, New York
Coordinates41°36′20″N 73°44′23″W
Operated byThe Workers Circle
Established1927
Websitewww.campkr.com

History

Camp Kinder Ring was founded in 1927 by The Workers Circle (formerly known as The Workmen's Circle, Yiddish Der Arbeter Ring). Many families have been attending for up to four generations.[3]

Kinder ring (Children's Circle) was the name of a short-lived publication in the early 1920s.[4]

Description

The camp lies near the Catskills in Dutchess County, New York[2] about a mile from the town of Beekman, New York.[5]

The camp offers campers a wide array of activities such as sports, arts and crafts, and lake activities while also educating them about Jewish traditions and culture.[3]

The camp is broken down into boys side and girls side, with each having its own distinct set of staff. There are head counselors and assistant head counselors for both girls and boys. There are then 8 divisions, each led by a groupleader. The group leader has a staff of counselors, typically between 3 and 6 strong.

Traditions

Kinder Ring's traditions include July 4 carnival, KR of the Week/Year, Behind the Scenes, all-whites shtiller ovnt (Yiddish for "silent evening") to celebrate the Friday evening advent of the sabbath, and the setting of candles onto Sylvan Lake symbolizing the end of another summer. Other traditions include popular Jewish singers like Rick Recht. New traditions are created every year.

Traditional games include:

  • Maccabean Games: Maccabean Games, or Mac Games, are held every year in the first half of the summer. Campers are split into two teams named after important and influential Jews in history. Over the course of 4 days, campers compete against one another. The emphasis of Mac Games is team spirit, teamwork, and fun, rather than winning.
  • Olympics: Olympics are held every year in the second half of the summer. Campers are split into teams named for two countries. Over the course of 4 days, campers compete against one another. As always, emphasis is based on team spirit, teamwork, and fun, rather than winning. Olympics hold the most famous events in camp, the Rope Burn, the Decathlon and the Triathlon.
  • Torchbearer: This KR tradition was started in 1971. It is known as the greatest honor one can receive at Kinder Ring, showing one's love and dedication to Camp Kinder Ring. During the Opening Ceremonies for Olympics, past Torchbearers come back to camp to help pass on the honor. Every summer a Torchbearer is named before the entire camp and lights the Olympic flame, as in the real Olympics.

Notable alumni

Legacy

Camp Kinder Ring appears in many books on Jewish culture in America, including:

  • Raising Reds (1999)[8]
  • The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited (2009)[9]
  • Children's Nature (2010)[10]
  • Yiddishkiet (2012)[11]
  • The Remembered and Forgotten Jewish World (2018)[12]

Camp Kinder Ring also appears in memoirs, including:

  • The Way Home (2006)[13]
  • Goy Crazy (2006)[14]
  • Working for Peace and Justice (2006)[7]

See also

References
  1. "ACA Accreditation". www.campkr.com. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  2. Skolnik, Fred; Berenbaum, Michael (2007). Encyclopedia Judaica. Macmillan Reference. p. 215. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  3. "Summer Camp New York | Sleepaway Camp Northeast | Traditional Camp New Jersey". www.campkr.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-06. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  4. Kadar, Naomi Prawer (2016). Raising Secular Jews: Yiddish Schools and Their Periodicals for American Children, 1917-1950. Brandeis University Press. p. 114. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. Usher, Thom (2011). Beekman. Arcadia. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. Berger, Joseph (31 October 2002). "Less Socialist, But Still Social; Circle Is Link to a Yiddish Past". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  7. Wittner, Lawrence S. (2012). Working for Peace and Justice: Memoirs of an Activist Intellectual. University of Tennessee Press. pp. 20 (camper), 31 (counselor). Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  8. Mishler, Paul C. (1999). Raising Reds: The Young Pioneers, Radical Summer Camps, and Communist Political Culture in the United States. Columbia University Press. p. 89. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  9. Mendelsohn, Joyce (2009). The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited: A History and Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood. Columbia University Press. p. 111. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  10. Paris, Leslie (2010). Children's Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp. NYU Press. p. 92. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  11. Pekar, Harvey; Buhle, Paul (2010). Yiddishkeit: Jewish Vernacular and the New Land. Abrams. p. 201. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  12. Walkowitz, David L. (2018). The Remembered and Forgotten Jewish World. Rutgers University Press. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  13. Dunow, Henry (2002). The Way Home: Scenes from a Season, Lessons from a Lifetime. Broadway Books. pp. 21, 58, 139. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  14. Schorr, Melissa (2006). Goy Crazy. Hyperion. pp. 52, 162. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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