Special Sections

First-timer’s camp jitters turn to lifetime bond

Ryley Katz at camp in 1994

I always thought it was cliché when someone said “one decision changed the course of my entire life.” That is, until I said it myself. When I was 11 years old, my mom decided to give me respite from hot Arizona summers by sending me to summer camp. She… Read more »

Camp forged local woman’s career, identity

(L-R) Maya, Shelby, Randie and Joel Collier (Shaun Roby)

Probably not many people have attended Jewish summer camp for as many years as Randie Collier. She spent 13 summers at Steve and Shari Sadek Family Camp Interlaken JCC. Camp Interlaken is in Eagle River, Wis., a five-hour bus ride north of Collier’s hometown of Milwaukee. When Collier aged… Read more »

Trend-spotting: 10 ways Jewish camp ritual is changing

Nostalgia about summer traditions notwithstanding, Jewish camps have changed dramatically from a generation ago. Camp’s value for Jewish education and identity-building is now a major focus of communal attention. Major Jewish foundations, federations and organizations are investing heavily in the sector. Many camps have become more intentional about incorporating… Read more »

Wisconsin summers still lure Tucsonan

(L-R) Shailah, Alexandra and Jordan Lowe, granddaughters of Tucsonans Anne and David Lowe, at Camp Young Judaea Midwest.

All three of my children went to Camp Young Judaea Midwest in Waupaca, Wis., where Young Judaeans from Tucson still go. At the time we lived in Milwaukee, so the camp was about a two and a half hour drive from our home. Jonathan, Caren and Ethan loved the… Read more »

Tucson teen’s pop music CD started with camp connection

Tucsonan Gabe Lehrer, left, and Sheldon Donenberg at Camp Ramah in Ojai, Calif., in 2011

Tucsonan Gabe Lehrer is not quite 16, but he is already working on his second professionally recorded CD, as half of the singer-songwriter duo Sheldon and Gabriel. Gabe met Sheldon Donenberg at Camp Ramah in Ojai, Calif., in the summer of 2011. Gabe, the son of Mimi Algazi and… Read more »

UA students continue camp tradition as counselors

Jamie Klein

While many college students see summer as an opportunity to take on internships or find a summer job that can help pay for their expenses during the academic year, University of Arizona communications sophomore Amanda Silverman only sees summer as one thing: time to go to camp. “I don’t… Read more »

Shabbat at the lake is a special memory

JCC Camp Interlaken has given me many memories, from the Maccabiah games to the beauty of Lake Finley. I truly love every moment I am there. I know that I have made long lasting friendships and my best friend is from Interlaken. Camp Interlaken is my home away from… Read more »

Israeli breast cancer survivor filling a niche with nipples

KFAR SABA, Israel (JTA) — Michelle Kolath-Arbel squeezes a nipple, rolling it in her fingers with a look of mild disgust. This model, which Kolath-Arbel ordered from China two years ago for $50, is thick and crude and took three months to arrive in the mail. “It was hard,… Read more »

Bridal show at Jewish History Museum brings back splendor of bygone eras

Models pose at the home of Catherene Morton prior to the Jewish History Museum’s bridal style show on Jan. 1. (Athol Cline/JHM)

Exotic gowns in red, purple and gold as well as the traditional white are on display at the Jewish History Museum’s sixth annual ketubah (Jewish wedding contract) and wedding dress exhibit, which continues through March 30. The exhibit features gowns from the 1500s to 2010, with origins from New… Read more »

Seattle couple gets married … and married … and married

(JTA) — In less than a year, Dane Kuttler and Rowan Parker exchanged vows in 10 different wedding ceremonies at 10 different venues on two coasts under nine different marriage canopies. In what Kuttler calls “Wedding Tour ’13,” the introverted Seattle couple wanted to share their celebration with as… Read more »

Local expert keen on new Calloway driver

One of the new technological wonders in golf, says Scott Gregoire of Van’s Golf Shop, is the Big Bertha Alpha driver coming out next month from Calloway, a company that had been struggling in recent years. Over the last two years, Calloway’s new CEO, Chip Brewer, “turned Calloway around… Read more »

At 91, Harvey Pollack still NBA’s leading scorekeeper

Harvey Pollack

Fittingly, Harvey Pollack was the one who scribbled the number 100 on the most famous photograph in basketball history: Wilt Chamberlain holding the piece of paper signifying his astounding point total in a 1962 game for the then Philadelphia Warriors. After all, Pollack is basketball’s ultimate numbers and public… Read more »

Glass not yet full for oldest PCC graduate

Enriqueta Fassler

Enriqueta “Neneng” Fassler is a 71-year-old dynamo who earned her third college degree in May. She was the oldest graduate of Pima Community College, earning her post-graduate certificate — with honors — as a paralegal. Fassler holds two college degrees in education: one in physical education from her native… Read more »

Tucson home design trends for 2014: industrial is in, but shabby chic still works

Vintage brass pieces look fresh again. Left, 1980s brass vase by J. Johnston. Right, mid-century candlestick by Ben Seibel (Jenni Steinberg Pagano)

As the last calendar page falls away, and the urge to make New Year’s resolutions emerges full force, it’s nice to move forward with a clean slate. Away go the holiday decorations and extra calorie-laden snacks and home go the relatives. Suddenly, the house is emptier and we may… Read more »

Israeli opening a window onto energy conservation

Prof. Evyatar Erell with a prototype of the Seasons window.

“We spend most of our lives in a controlled environment,” says Evyatar Erell, associate professor of desert architecture and urban planning at Ben-Gurion University’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research. “We live and work under conditions that are different from those outside. When it’s hot, we turn on our… Read more »

Writers emerging from shadows of mental illness

Twenty-five percent of adults in the United States have a mental illness — from depression and anxiety, to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia — according to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, “Mental Illness Surveillance among Adults in the United States.” The percentage of Jewish adults with… Read more »