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February 27, 2004/Adar 5 5764, Vol. 56, No. 23
Camp Young Judaea comes to AZ
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
Camp Young Judaea Valley of the Sun, an overnight camping program for Jewish children entering grades three though eight, will open this summer in Prescott.
Young Judaea, the Zionist youth movement sponsored by Hadassah, has never operated a camp in the Mountain Region, according to Regional Director Karen Goodman. Most Young Judaeans in the Desert Mountain Region - which encompasses Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas - used to attend CYJ in California, until it closed five years ago. For the past five years, Young Judaeans have been attending CYJ in Wimberley, Texas, which, according to Goodman, often fills up with campers from Texas.
Last year CYJ started a pilot program in Oregon that utilized a 4-H campsite for its camping program, with the theory that by leasing, rather than purchasing, campsites, CYJ could expand around the country.
The national Young Judaea office contacted Goodman about possibly starting a Desert Mountain Region camp in the same vein, and Goodman began her quest for the perfect site - a search that ended with Embry-Riddle University in Prescott.
"It's a beautiful location," Goodman says of the 537-acre campus, which includes several grass fields, tennis and volleyball courts, a pool and a brand-new theater.
The three-week camp will be headed by Goodman and Dave Pactor, who has 10 years experience as a CYJ camp director. Athletic, educational, creative arts and nature and camp crafts will be offered, including fishing, a ropes course, astronomy, cooking, photography, rikkud (dancing), swimming, soccer, Jewish history, Israeli culture and more.
"In the regions where we have camps, they really anchor the (Young Judaea) program," says Goodman. "The kids who go to the camp want to go to the year-round program and the kids who go to the year-round program want to go to the camp. It expands the number of people those kids can meet and make friends (with)."
Goodman says she had more than 60 inquiries about the camp - prior to sending out a brochure last week - and interested families hail from every metropolitan area in the region.
The three-week session will be held July 11-Aug. 1, and will offer a religiously pluralistic opportunity, including a Sabbath-observant and kosher environment.
For information or to obtain a brochure, call Karen Goodman at 480-607-9411.
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