Tamarack Camps
Encyclopedia
Tamarack Camps is a Jewish summer camp organization run by the Fresh Air Society in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
, USA. The Fresh Air Society began in Michigan in 1902, and recently celebrated its 100 year anniversary in the summer of 2002. Tamarack operates three major camps, as well as teen trip programs. These camps are Maas, Agree, Kennedy, and Western and Alaska
trips.
, off Perryville Road. Camp Maas 1500 acres (6.1 km²), named for the Detroit area's philanthropist Benard Maas, caters to children from grades 2 through 9.It is made up of eleven villages, ranging by age and gender. Each is lead by a supervisor and cabins subdivided with 2 counclers each. The villages, which are named for the sole or major donors of that specific village, are:
Junior Side:
Mid-side:
Senior Side:
TSS-Going into 11th grace co-ed
As a Jewish camp, Tamarack campers participate in Jewish programming focusing on Israel
, the Torah
, Jewish holidays and the Holocaust. Prayer services take place on Shabbat evening and morning. All meals served at the Tamarack Camp facilities are prepared and served in accordance with the Jewish Kosher Dietary Laws and are under rabbinic supervision.
, the Agree Outpost Camp is home to 9th and 10th graders who have a love for camping. It is limited in number and strives to cultivate a sense of community. Agree is located between Wawa, Ontario
and White River, Ontario
and offers two programs. Canadian Wilderness is for 9th grade boys and girls. Ultimate Agree is for 10th grade boys and girls. There are two sessions per summer lasting 4 weeks each.
Canadian Wilderness consists of a five-day hiking trip in Lake Superior Provincial Park
and a five-day canoeing
trip. Ultimate Agree consists of an eight-day hiking trip, and a kayaking
trip.
Each camper receives a canoe paddle to personalize as a memento of the summer and to use on the canoeing trip. The first week of camp consists of programs like camp craft that promotes the Leave No Trace
approach, canoe skills and other community building activities as well as plenty of time to work on paddles or other projects. When at the base camp, campers pitch in after breakfast to keep Melvin and Matilda (the outhouses) smelling fresh, kitchen duties and other chores that keep camp running.
Agree is also home to the Teen Tripping program, in which staff going into 12th grade or their freshman year of college train to be outpost staff by facilitating trips of campers from Mass' Pioneer village. The trippers also go on multiple trips without any campers, which allow them to hone their staffing skills.
and a canoeing trip in Algonquin Provincial Park
in Ontario
, Canada
.
and one in Yosemite National Park
. Western trips also travel and hike through places such as Zion National Park
, Bryce Canyon National Park
, Yellowstone National Park
, Badlands National Park
and other locations. They visit cities such as Aspen, Colorado
, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The trip is culminated at Camp Kennedy.
to do day hikes in the area, after which the campers take a ferry to Alaska. A staple of the trip is hiking the Chilkoot Trail
.
Though the itinerary changes each summer, previous groups have hiked the Pinnell Mountain Trail and Kesugi Ridge. Ice climbing on the Matanuska Glacier
, salmon fishing in Seward
and a kayak trip other such activities are common on the Alaskan trip itinerary.
The trip has its final banquet and debriefing at Camp Kennedy.
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, USA. The Fresh Air Society began in Michigan in 1902, and recently celebrated its 100 year anniversary in the summer of 2002. Tamarack operates three major camps, as well as teen trip programs. These camps are Maas, Agree, Kennedy, and Western and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
trips.
Camp Maas
Camp Maas, the major residential camp of Tamarack Camps, is located in Ortonville, MichiganOrtonville, Michigan
Ortonville is a village in north Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is within Brandon Township, although some development near the village lies within adjacent Groveland Township...
, off Perryville Road. Camp Maas 1500 acres (6.1 km²), named for the Detroit area's philanthropist Benard Maas, caters to children from grades 2 through 9.It is made up of eleven villages, ranging by age and gender. Each is lead by a supervisor and cabins subdivided with 2 counclers each. The villages, which are named for the sole or major donors of that specific village, are:
Junior Side:
- Applebaum - 2nd and 3rd grade boys
- Shiffman - 2nd and 3rd grade girls
- Deroy - 4th and 5th grade boys
- Fishman - 4th and 5th grade girls
Mid-side:
- Levison - 6th grade boys
- Sheruth - 6th grade girls
- Hermelin - 7th grade boys
- Berman - 7th grade girls
Senior Side:
- Pioneer - 8th grade co-ed
- Ruach - 8th grade co-ed
- Specialty - 9th grade co-ed
TSS-Going into 11th grace co-ed
As a Jewish camp, Tamarack campers participate in Jewish programming focusing on Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, Jewish holidays and the Holocaust. Prayer services take place on Shabbat evening and morning. All meals served at the Tamarack Camp facilities are prepared and served in accordance with the Jewish Kosher Dietary Laws and are under rabbinic supervision.
Agree Outpost
Located in the woods of CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Agree Outpost Camp is home to 9th and 10th graders who have a love for camping. It is limited in number and strives to cultivate a sense of community. Agree is located between Wawa, Ontario
Wawa, Ontario
Wawa is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the Algoma District. Formerly known as the township of Michipicoten, the township was officially renamed for its largest and best-known community in 2009....
and White River, Ontario
White River, Ontario
White River is a township located in Ontario, Canada, on the intersection of Highway 17 and Highway 631. It was originally set up as a rail town on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885...
and offers two programs. Canadian Wilderness is for 9th grade boys and girls. Ultimate Agree is for 10th grade boys and girls. There are two sessions per summer lasting 4 weeks each.
Canadian Wilderness consists of a five-day hiking trip in Lake Superior Provincial Park
Lake Superior Provincial Park
Lake Superior Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks in Ontario, covering about along the northeastern shores of Lake Superior between Wawa and Sault Ste. Marie in Algoma District, Northeastern Ontario, Canada...
and a five-day canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
trip. Ultimate Agree consists of an eight-day hiking trip, and a kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
trip.
Each camper receives a canoe paddle to personalize as a memento of the summer and to use on the canoeing trip. The first week of camp consists of programs like camp craft that promotes the Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace is both a set of principles, and an organization that promotes those principles. The principles are designed to assist outdoor enthusiasts with their decisions about how to reduce their impacts when they hike, camp, picnic, snowshoe, run, bike, hunt, paddle, ride horses, fish, ski or...
approach, canoe skills and other community building activities as well as plenty of time to work on paddles or other projects. When at the base camp, campers pitch in after breakfast to keep Melvin and Matilda (the outhouses) smelling fresh, kitchen duties and other chores that keep camp running.
Agree is also home to the Teen Tripping program, in which staff going into 12th grade or their freshman year of college train to be outpost staff by facilitating trips of campers from Mass' Pioneer village. The trippers also go on multiple trips without any campers, which allow them to hone their staffing skills.
Camp Kennedy
In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is Camp Kennedy. Kennedy is the site of Governor Green's former hunting lodge. It is located off Adam's Trail in Shingleton, near Munising. Like Agree, Kennedy is limited in number to make an unforgettable experience. Kennedy has only one program, for 10th and 11th graders. Kennedy campers go on several trips, including a hiking trip at Pictured Rocks National LakeshorePictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It extends for 42 miles along the shore and covers...
and a canoeing trip in Algonquin Provincial Park
Algonquin Provincial Park
Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Central Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada. Additions since its creation have increased...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Western
Tenth graders have the option to go on a Western Trip. This trip is 5 weeks long, and travels by charter bus through the country. Western campers go on 2 backcountry trips; one in the Rocky MountainsRocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and one in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
. Western trips also travel and hike through places such as Zion National Park
Zion National Park
Zion National Park is located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles long and up to half a mile deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River...
, Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon which, despite its name, is not a canyon but a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau...
, Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
, Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park, in southwest South Dakota, United States preserves of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States....
and other locations. They visit cities such as Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The trip is culminated at Camp Kennedy.
Alaska
Eleventh graders can attend a trip to Alaska. This trip is seven weeks long, and travels by charter bus. The first week is in Canada and goes to BanffBanff, Alberta
Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....
to do day hikes in the area, after which the campers take a ferry to Alaska. A staple of the trip is hiking the Chilkoot Trail
Chilkoot Trail
The Chilkoot Trail is a 33 miles trail through the Coast Mountains that leads from Dyea, Alaska in the United States, to Bennett, British Columbia in Canada....
.
Though the itinerary changes each summer, previous groups have hiked the Pinnell Mountain Trail and Kesugi Ridge. Ice climbing on the Matanuska Glacier
Matanuska Glacier
Matanuska Glacier is a valley glacier in the US state of Alaska. At long by wide, it is the largest glacier accessible by car in the United States. Its terminus is the source of the Matanuska River. It lies near the Glenn Highway about northeast of Anchorage. Matanuska Glacier flows about per day...
, salmon fishing in Seward
Seward
-Family name:* Bronwyn Seward , San Joaquin League Female athlete of the year * Madelyn Seward , Warriors CIF Basketball all league forward* Adam Seward , National Football League player...
and a kayak trip other such activities are common on the Alaskan trip itinerary.
The trip has its final banquet and debriefing at Camp Kennedy.