Camp Interlaken JCC, formally The Steve and Shari Sadek Family Camp Interlaken JCC, is a Jewish summer camp located in Eagle River, Wisconsin, United States. It provides residential camping for incoming 3rd through 10th grade Jewish children from around the world. The camp has been affiliated with the Milwaukee Jewish Community Center; previously it was called Camp Interlaken of the Pines for Boys and operated as a private camp since 1935.
The camp welcomes transgender and gender-fluid campers and staff.[1] Jewish Living Magazine has ranked Camp Interlaken among the top Jewish summer camps in the country.[2]
History
editCamp Interlaken was established in 1935, when Herbert Magida bought the Interlaken Hotel in Hartland, Wisconsin to serve as a summer camp for boys. In 1938 Magida moved the camp to a location in Eagle River, home to a number of other Jewish summer camps, where it remains. In 1948 Magida sold the camp to attorney Arthur Morse (owner of the Chicago Stags basketball team) and Joe Kupcinet, football coach at Taft High School and brother of Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet. The Milwaukee JCC bought the camp in 1965.[3][4]
Activities
edit
Individual Sports: Tennis, Gymnastics, Golf, Disc golf, Tushball, Gaga, Archery, Cycling, Fitness, and Rock Climbing Wall.
Team Sports: Softball, Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball, Floor (Court) Hockey, High/Low Ropes with Zip Line. Ultimate Frisbee and Maccabiah.
Waterfront Activities: Waterskiing, Wake-boarding, Knee-boarding, Windsurfing, Sailing, Small Crafts, Swimming, Life Guard Training
Cultural and Creative activities: Ceramics, Fine Arts, YOGA, Aerobics, Modern Dance, Theater, Theater Tech, Israeli Dance, Bar/Bat Mitzvah Preparation, Woodworking, Crafts, Guitar, Photography, Video, Nature, Fishing and Shabbat.
Notable attendees
editFormer Hall of Fame NFL football coach Marv Levy spent several summers in the 1950s working at Camp Interlaken[5] when it was run by Joe Kupcinet, before it was owned by the JCC.[6]
In the summer of 1983, Israeli future Olympic marathoner Shem-Tov Sabag worked at the camp, developing a running program.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Gender Inclusive Practices & Policies | Camp Interlaken".
- ^ "Camp Interlaken named among 'Top 10' Jewish summer camps" Archived 2016-04-17 at the Wayback Machine, Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, February 8, 2008.
- ^ "Memories of Camp Interlaken", Chicago Jewish History, Summer 1999 p.10ff.
- ^ Irv Kupcinet, "Kup's Column", Chicago Sun-Times, October 14, 1994.
- ^ Patricia Hersch (1999). A Tribe Apart: A Journey Into the Heart of American Adolescence. Ballantine Books. pp. 137ff. ISBN 978-0-345-43594-1.
- ^ Marv Levy: Where Else Would You Rather Be?, Sports Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-58261-797-X
- ^ "Specialty camps offer variety of programs". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. May 6, 1983. p. 5.