Camp Massad’s 60th anniversary on-site reunion is just three months away. Dozens and dozens of former campers, counsellors, hanhallah members, eemot and board members will be attending the weekend event on August 24-26 for a trip down memory lane and a once in a lifetime opportunity to relive the magic of Massad.  

Camp Massad prides itself on tradition, and this tradition will be very much in evidence during the reunion weekend.

“I am always excited to return to Massad and re-visit the good times I enjoyed there,” says Jack Boroditsky, aka Prak, who was program director for seven years in the 1970s.

“I am looking forward to catching up on Massad gossip, hearing about the phenomenal staff members during my tenure as director, and just being "there" in the middle of the shetach,” he adds.

The reunion will begin on Friday evening with registrants receiving their cabin assignments and then gathering around the flag pole for Hatikva and a few heydads. Tefillah under the oombrella will follow, and then everyone will make their way to the chadar ochel for the famous Massad Shabbat dinner – essentially unchanged in 60 years - prepared by Marilyn Ingram, Massad’s chef extraordinaire for a remarkable 23 years.

Dinner of course will be followed by sheera and rikudei am and a lot of reminiscing, storytelling, laughter and fun. Saturday’s events will include chugim, or special activities, a camp-wide program like Capture the Flag or Meshugarama, sport, swimming, Café ben Leumi, Rikud Zar, a medura and of course, a few surprises. The reunion will wrap up Sunday afternoon with a final opportunity to sing Sheelgeeya and Yona Pa’amona, belt out an old cabin song, peruse Massad’s collection of 10,000 slides, remember when, and experience the sense of community, family and ruach that is unique to Massad.

“The program for the weekend will cover all the major highlights from a summer at Massad,” says Hart Jacob, who was the camp program director from 2005 to 2007.

Jacob, who is overseeing the programming for the reunion, is one of several former program directors, hanhallah and senior staff members who are attending the reunion. 

This list (which is ever increasing) includes Prak, Jeff  Ross,  Oozy Carroll, David Gale, Stephen Kushner, Elliot Leven, Marshall Carroll, Stu Slayen, Danny Gunn,  Jason Tapper, Jason Marantz, Jonas Chernick, Lainie Filkow, Bryan Borzykowski, Aaron Ingram, Ryla Braemer and Eli Gotthilff– representing every decade at Massad.

They will be joined on-site by the counselors that they worked with and the campers that they looked after. Alumni from as far away as England, New Jersey, Toronto, and Vancouver have registered and many are bringing their non-Massad partners with them.

Importantly, the reunion is also open to anyone who has ever wondered about what goes on at Massad, was envious of their friends who went to Massad, or wants to get a taste of what their children love about Massad

 “I can't wait to spend a weekend at Massad,” says Jacob. “Whether you went to camp in 1953 or 2003 you can come celebrate the camp we all love so much!”

“There are two kinds of people in this world,” adds Boroditsky, "Massadniks and non-Massadniks.  What else is there to say?”

If you were a Massadnik (or ever wished that you were) you should be at reunion!

The fee for the reunion is only $136 and there is both a special student price and a special one day price. 

Don’t miss out!  Come back to Massad, write a cabin song, find your name on the wall, rummage through cheder tilbashot, dance to Smeichim Anachnu, rekindle a romance, and remember how much you loved Machaneh Massad.

Register on-line at https://registration.campbrain.com/Portal/Login.aspx?H=massad&G=734
or download a registration form at www.campmassad.ca.
You can also check out the reunion Facebook page to see a partial list of who is attending (and a lot of old photos) at http://www.facebook.com/events/240096356065370/ and email [email protected] for further information.