By COLlive staff
Camp Gan Israel of Parksville, one of Chabad’s oldest overnight camps for boys, is exploring the possibility of opening this year as a day camp.
The camp is located in Parksville, in the New York Catskill Mountains, and is unable to open this year due to Governer Andrew Cuomo‘s decision to prohibit overnight camps from opening this summer in the state. Day camps have received the green light to open from June 29.
“Over the past 24 hours we have had some inquires about a day camp option,” Rabbi Yossie Futerfas, the camp director, said.
“We have a very devoted staff that feel extremely motivated to make it happen and be able to give the kids a chance to spend most of their week in Gan Yisroel.”
Rabbi Futerfas says that since this is a brand new idea, they need to know how many parents would be interested in this option before making the final decision to open as a day camp.
The day would start at 10:00am and end at 9:00pm, Sunday through Thursday and half day on Friday, giving the boys a true full day of camp, he said.
The boys would be served 3 meals a day plus snack. Camp would start on July 6 and run through August 26.
It would be for boys in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade.
The boys would have a full program of learning classes, a variety of sports and leagues, swimming, boating, biking, arts and crafts, cookouts, and even experience a Gan Yisroel color war and lots of in house entertainment.
“We are looking into offering bus transportation from 3 or 4 central locations in the Catskill area,” he said.
“If there are any boys that may have non-immediate family that live upstate for the summer perhaps they can stay with them,” Rabbi Futerfas suggests, so that as many boys as possible can attend.
“We are working feverishly on all the details of how to make a smooth transition from overnight camp to day camp. It really depends on how many families are interested in order to make it work. Again, we stress how we will need a few days to see how many people get back to us and confirm that they are indeed interested and than we can open registration for Gan Yisroel day camp,” Rabbi Futerfas says.
If you are interested in this please email: [email protected]
“Best camp in the mountains”