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Jim Singer – 1967
My last year as a counselor at Avoda was 1972 (My first year as a camper was 1962). I graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 1974 and Northeastern University School of Law in 1978. I am presently a partner in the law firm of Rudolph Friedmann, LLP with offices in Boston and Marblehead where I concentrate in civil litigation.
I am married and live in Newton, MA. My two sons Michael (22 years old) and Jon (age 18) both began as campers at Avoda at the same age I did, 10 years old. Jon will be a second year senior counselor next summer and Michael’s last year was 2005. (Michael won the leadership trophy in 2000, and I believe we represent the only father/son combination). Mike will be graduating NYU this spring and will be working as an investment banker analyst at Bank of American in New York. Jon is a freshman at the University of Delaware.
In 1994, after being separated from the Avoda community for several years, I was asked if I would be interested in joining the Board of Directors. David Barnett (the Judge’s brother) had passed away, and the Board was looking for another attorney for the Board. I have been on the Board ever since holding various positions including, Secretary, Clerk, Vice President and legal counsel. In 2005, Tom Leavitt, then Board President, resigned and I assumed the role of Acting President. In October 2005, I was voted President of the Board of Directors.
Camp has brought many friendships to both me and my sons. I have greatly enjoyed working with the Board, the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, and of course, Paul Davis in all of our collective efforts to improve Avoda. The Alumni Association has developed tremendously and has become an integral part of Avoda.
I am still in regular contact as clients and/or friends with Carl Goldberg, Phil Greenspan, Neal Goldman and Kenny Wilensky. From my Bunk 14, I have over the years been in contact with Steve Woolf, Richie Osnoss (who has 2 sons at Avoda), Richard Samuels and Ira Rosenberg. (No Harris Tulchin sighting though).
While Avoda has changed (e.g. rope course, climbing wall and street hockey court), it is still in many respects the same (check out the cabins). I am fortunate that Avoda has been, and always will be, a significant part of my life, as well as my sons’.
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Tom Leavitt – 1970
By the time I was in college, it became a real challenge. During those summers, friends would travel, get jobs on Cape Cod, intern in some sort of real-life job situation, or stay on campus - but no one went to camp anymore. You just didn’t. So how did I meet the challenge to explain to friends I was going back to “camp?” Back to camp again. And that I knew I would go to Avoda for as long as I could. I know I wasn’t the only Avodian who has given thought to becoming a teacher simply to return for more Avoda summers.
How could I verbalize to friends and family that I had been seduced by the “Avoda Spirit,” that I wasn’t returning just to be a staff member, but that I was part of something larger - I was part of the “Avoda Tradition?” How could I explain to a non-Avodian that something intangible and indescribable had gotten hold of my soul, my heart, and my summers? And how could I explain that this was something that mattered? Ultimately, I simply decided to no longer attempt to explain it.
Later in life, with the distance and the long-view of retrospection that comes with the passage of time, I came to understand what the Avoda experience was for me. It was the synergy of shared experiences, intense friendships, those who unwittingly served as mentors, and the value systems inherit in a Jewish environment. Outside of my home, the Avoda experience was the major contributor to my growth as a man, a friend, a family member, a businessman, a community leader, a philanthropist, and as a Jew. And not surprisingly, my Avoda experience—the ones from the 1960’s and the ones which continue today—still plays a major role in my life and what I value.
My tenure at Avoda started in 1965. Thanks to Ruth Kumin (a fellow Brocktonian and camp registrar), I was able to attend (and as I found out much later in life, was granted a scholarship to help offset tuition) and avoid the waiting list that existed for Avoda at that time. I began in Bunk 2 with soon-to-be best camp buddies Barry Dennis, Gary Horblit, Peter Bailet, and David Satloff. As I worked my way from one side of the field to the other, in 1970 I landed in Bunk 14. I was mentored by men such as Paul Balmouth, Peter Varga, Steve Matfis, Barnet Horowitz, Bob Sokolov, Jonny Guttell, Steve Wolf, Jim Singer, Fred Landy, Ira Rosenberg, Neal Goldman, and others. As a CIT and JC, I remember great days off adventures with Murray Lukoff. Later, there were to be terrific days off with good friend David Goodman. As a senior staff member and eventually Assistant Director, the mentoring continued by Paul Davis, Stan Miller, and others. After the summer of 1977, I faced the reality of a life which operated on a schedule of 12 months a year vs. 10 months and 2 for Avoda summer each year.
After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1977, I worked in Washington, DC for a member of Congress. I returned to the Boston area in 1979 with the intention of either attending law school or business school. Through a series of coincidental events, I took a job for 5 months (before I was to start graduate school) at a small print shop. That one year turned into a more than 20 year career in the commercial printing industry.
In the early 1980’s, I was asked to join the Avoda Board of Directors (BOD). By the mid 80’s, I had successfully lobbied my board colleagues to accept the establishment of the Camp Avoda Advisory Board (CAAB). This was to be a group of alums to serve as a resource for the BOD, as well as to serve as a pool from which to draw future BOD members. Well before the internet, I remember sitting in my Stoughton kitchen with Michael Roth searching through old paper documents and index cards to create a mailing list for the CAAB. A newsletter was started and there was a meeting of about 20 alums to organize the CAAB.
At about the same time, I organized an alumni reunion at camp in 1987- the sixtieth anniversary summer of Avoda. By all measures, it was a successful day filled of memories and fellowship. I remember Arnold Zieff recalling his Avoda days in the ‘30s and I marveled at the turn-out of some of the guys who were my role models, my mentors. Shortly after the reunion, the CAAB evolved into today’s Camp Avoda Alumni Association.
The printing business afforded me many opportunities. By 1999, I was spending more time working with greater Boston area charities than I was working at my business. In February 2000, I left my business to spend more time working within the philanthropic community. I had the good fortune to participate with many worthy non-profits for more than 5 years. In April 2005, for health reasons, I moved from Boston to Atlanta. I remain in Atlanta today and spend time with my nephew, his wife, and their two children.
Summer Avoda memories are too many to mention, though I must admit it is a bit disconcerting that while I can’t remember where I park my car most days, I can sing the complete version of the 1970 Blue Invaders Alma Mater. Every summer was “my best summer.” However, the summer of 1975 when I was CIT Director to Lou Dennis, Eric Yaffe, Steven Cohen, David Zieff, Phil Lukoff, and Gary Epstein remains the one which was “more best” than the others.
I still have Avoda mentors today. I still look-up to them, though today they are younger than I. They are men whom I have come to know—such as Michael Roth, Michael Ross, Lou Dennis, Gary Epstein, David Goodman, Russell Sherman, Ken Shifman, Bobby Zuker, Jason Rubin, and Jeff Keselman to mention a few—whom I admire for the lives they now lead and the friendship they have shared with me.
As Lou Dennis wrote in the Fall 2006 Avoda Alumni Newsletter, “Avoda really is the greatest place on earth.” I would only add,
Avoda is a place from which we journey far, but never leave.
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Robert Coppel – 1971
When I look back on winning the Leadership Award, I realize that most of the time it's a popularity contest, but that's true of many awards in life. But, it's really much more than that. It stands for setting a good example, letting your actions speak louder than your words and that's how I've tried to live my life since Avoda.
I am currently in a Leadership position at my work as I am a Training Attorney for the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office in Miami, Florida. I am on the verge of playing more of a leadership role with the office in 2007 as I will soon be named the Training Director for the whole office, an office with close to 200 attorneys.
I am married to Judy, who I met when I went through a career change in the 1980s. We have been married for 12 years and I am the stepfather to her children (all adults now) and a grandfather of three (a young grandfather, mind you).
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Jonathan Bamel – 1972
I never strayed very far from Avoda as I now sit on the Board of Directors with my father Herb. My 10 year old son Harrison has been at Avoda for 3 years and will be a lifer. There is no other camp like Avoda as evidenced by the returning staff year after year. I often speak to alumni and constantly hear of their connections to their contemporaries from camp.
Winning the Leadership trophy was important to me in an internal way. It just felt right and it has deepened my connection to Avoda as I have gotten older. I really enjoy standing up during Banquet night and being a part of the leadership trophy presentation – it is a unique honor to be part of such a small brotherhood great individuals. As far as memories, my 15 summers at Avoda were all, every one, amazing.
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David Rubin – 1972
My final summer at Camp Avoda was in 1972 when Jonny Bamel and I were co-winners of the leadership trophy. Although I was planning to return as a CIT, I was enticed by my basketball coach to accept a position as a counselor at Camp Clark where he had become director. I later moved on to Camp Tel Noar where I continued as counselor and then Boys Head counselor through my first year at Law School.
I started my legal career in Colorado, and later moved to Rhode Island to join the firm of Hinckley, Allen and Snyder, LLP where I presently serve as chairman of the real estate department. My wife Marjorie and I are blessed with two sons, Zachary (13) and Jake (11).
It seems wherever one goes, you can find an Avodian. When in Colorado, I met up with Lew Satloff (and Chubes Epstein on a visit). I spent some time with Steve Kaplan this past year in Las Vegas and have bumped into Neal Goldman at Kernwood Country Club, Jim Singer in downtown Boston and my cousin Jason Rubin (at least at Passover every year). My close friendship with Jon Bamel and his family has been a constant over the years.
My favorite memories revolve around the break of Color War (the fake breaks as well as the actual ones) and then the emotion at the conclusion of Color War when the camp was united once again.
I have the fondest memories of Camp Avoda and often think how fortunate we all have been to be part of this rich tradition. At Avoda, each person is appreciated for his individual talents (whether it was on the athletic fields, on the stage, in the arts & crafts cabin, or winning a debate during color war). I will be forever grateful to the founders of Avoda and those who have dedicated so much time and effort over the years to make Avoda a place where young boys grow up to become responsible men and realize the benefits of the mentors and friendships that will stay with them their entire lives.
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Gary Epstein – 1974
- Co-owner of Timeless Antiques, Watch and Jewelry Co. in Brockton MA
- Status – “always on the hunt”
- Nicknamed “Cubba” in 1968 by Steve Mussman, changed to “Chubes” in the mid 1970’s
- At Avoda from 1968 to 1981
- Color War Captain for the White Cobras
- 3 time Athletic Director
- 3 time Bunk 14 counselor
- One of 4 Brookline Leadership winners along with Carl Goldberg, Jerry Hill and Gary Lichtenstein
- Slept with camp version of Avoda Leadership trophy the night he won the award (doesn’t everyone?!)
- Brought “Pink Flamingos” to Avoda along with brother Jay Epstein and Danny Bauman
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Michael Ross – 1977
I am married, living in Wayland, MA, with my lovely wife, Brenda and our almost five-year-old daughter, Rosalind.
It is difficult to both describe and emphasize how important Avoda has been to me. My identity as a Jew, a life of Mitzvot, understanding of what it is to be a true leader: all emanates from my time at Avoda and involvement since departing as a regular summer participant after the summer of 1981. Since that time I have remained very active as an original member of the Avoda Alumni Advisory Board - serving as its president for six years - and have been a member of the Board of Directors for the past four years. I hope to maintain and enhance the Avoda tradition for the generations to come.
I work for IBM specializing in Security Solutions, and also dabble in Storage and Automation solutions.
The Leadership Award, like the All Around Camper Award, let me know somebody out there likes me. It is not the leadership award per se that makes you a leader. The Leadership Trophy is a goal to strive for as an Avodian while pursuing Avoda ideals. I was simply fortunate to achieve the goal. Had I not, Avoda's impact would have been the same. I would like to think Avoda teaches you that it is not all about winning the trophies, more about being the best person you can be, being an Avodian.
My favorite memory of Avoda is not easy to choose, there were so many great memories. One recollection I will always cherish was during my CIT year, dispatched on the Avoda pick-up truck to bring back to camp a piano, couch and TV. During a traffic jam on Rte 9, Michael Schindler, the original Schinny, jumps onto the back of the truck and plays a few tunes with those in traffic listening, singing and humming along. All seemed right with the world. So what if we stole a scene from Five Easy Pieces.
Without Avoda, I would not be the person I am today. My closest friends of thirty plus years, my identity as a Jew, my perspective on leading a life of Mitzvot. I owe them all to Avoda.
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Michael Roth – 1978
Married - yes, to Sue for 16 years.
Kids - Three of them: Jessica (12), Sam (10), and Zac (6)
Job - Senior Director of Sales, Eastern Region for Wright Medical Technology, Inc. (Orthopedic Implants)
Avoda Influence - Loyalty. At Avoda, I learned that when you get something great out of an experience that positively impacts your life always remember to give back so others have the same opportunity.
Leadership Award - I've always been connected to Avoda, so I've never lost touch with my feelings for the Award. It's never been something I'm outwardly proud of...instead, for me, it's a personal marker, or reminder, that I have the ability to take a leadership role. I guess it became a "line in the sand". Over the years, when faced with an opportunity to lead I tend to take the wheel and embrace the challenge.
Favorite Memory - Tie between my 1976 year at Avoda as a member of Bunk 10...great bunk...awesome counselor, and returning to Avoda as a counselor in 1981 after taking a year off...felt like I was coming home.
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Bruce French – 1981
I live in Dublin, Ohio. I am married with two children (Ethan, 6 and Cydney, 5) with a third on the way. I am the Chief Medical Officer of the Orthopedic Trauma Surgery Program at Grant Medical Center, a level 1 trauma center in downtown Columbus, Ohio. I am pretty sure I got the job because of previous experience running the waterskiing program at Avoda…
Long term memory loss (formerly known as STML) has blurred many of the details, however, I do remember gluing my fingers together with superglue in a vain attempt to fix the key to the boat and maybe something about beverages in the chef's cabin, color war and perhaps a poorly ventilated weight room.
I suppose, more than any event, ultimately, what I remember is the Avodian community. Those summers were a unique opportunity to meet people of similar backgrounds and interests - the events of the day providing a backdrop to the real pearl of the experience - friendships made.
It's a funny thing: growing up, moving away, supporting a family - suddenly you realize that you haven't a single person in your day to day existence who knows you other than that guy who fixes bones - almost as if what happened previously was a different lifetime; maybe Peter Pan had it right. For those who have managed to keep in touch, congratulations...the effort is worth it. To my long lost friends, I hope all is well
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Alex Sherman – 1982
It’s been nearly 25 years since I was honored with the leadership trophy and I remember the evening very well, it was one of the prouder moments of my life. Since then, as I have been busy with life, I have always kept Avoda close to my heart. I have been blessed with three incredible children from my marriage of 12 years. Jeremy (11), Ariana (10) and Sophia (6). And though I got divorced about a year and half ago, I was able to move across the street from my ex-wife and am proud of the co-parenting partnership we have developed. It's been a very emotional but very wonderful year. The kids are doing well and appreciate the proximity of their two very separate households. They are at an age now where I am able to borrow from my many years as a counselor. (Sorry to all those campers who were the subject of my early training). I know the passion I have today for spending time with my kids stems from my years at Avoda 'counseling' and nurturing the boys and the amazingly rewarding feedback derived from those relationships.
My closest and dearest friends are those I met and grew close to at Avoda. As you all know there are very few places where one can foster unconditionally loving relationships like those formed at Avoda. I take lessons learned at Avoda every day on the job. The camaraderie of a team, the intensity of rising up to meet a challenge, the thrill of competition and the hard work spent hitting a big deadline – like preparing for color war or opening day on the waterfront. I'll never forget a few years back when I was pulling together a very big pitch for the advertising agency where I worked. I had about two weeks to rally the team, research the opportunity, write strategies and rehearse the teams' pitch. It all came down to two meetings. There were only two possible outcomes; either I was going to the lake or I was hanging my head in shame - re-hashing, for days to come, what I should have done differently and how it would have felt if we won. Fortunately, we won and I was lakebound.
The fact is, Avoda is a great leadership training ground for anyone who grew up through its ranks and stayed on as a staff member. Avoda employs the "Its Your Turn Now" school of management. I remember sitting by, since age 9, watching those ahead of me take their turn in the leadership roll. Each Bunk 14'er having his opportunity to captain an evening activity, each emulating what he saw from prior years and putting his own mark on the roll. And then finally when it's your turn, it seems so natural and so obvious as to what needs to be done. And suddenly you feel empowered and confident in the leadership roll. Where else does a 15 year old have that type of training and practical experience? The training continues through your tenure as a staff member. JC's learning from SC's, evolving from a lake-hating hubba dubba wubber to a swim instructor and finally to running the waterfront. The progression was natural. The training was solid and the steps so clear that taking the reigns became second nature. This type of experience is possible when you are surrounded by good people with common goals and a ton of mutual respect. I will always remember Avoda for providing that type of environment and for helping me recognize other organizations that possess these tremendous qualities.
Its fun to think back on those days so thanks for the opportunity to catch you up on where I am. Russell and I are still here in Connecticut so if you ever come through on your way from Boston to NY be sure to let us know so you can take a quick bathroom break (at Russell's house, of course) along the way. It'd be great to hear from those of you who don't regularly attend the Alumni events so please send me a note at alex@pipesol.com
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Jay Yampolsky – 1983
Thank you for creating the “Where are they now” story about past Leadership recipients. I was immediately thrust back into 1983 with vivid memories from that summer.
Vital stats: Height: 5 foot 8 ½ inches. Weight: 158, 6 pounds more than I weighed in Bunk 13, 23 years ago
Hair: graying, receding, and growing every where else but on my head, most notably, on my back. Note: other Avoda men have this problem, could this have caused by all of those years of swimming in the lake?
Biggest Regret of Camping experience: Not taking small craft electives like kayaking, sailing, and skiing. I was not the most aquatic guy in the world but of course a key contributor to the Athletic Staff and former AD.
How has Avoda Influenced my life? Avoda not only influenced my childhood summers, but as many of you know, I stretched my Avoda career into my thirties. Avoda is not just a place to send kids in the summer, its place that forms life long friendships. The friends I made there have been a part of virtually all of my life’s milestones.
How has Leadership influenced my life? Whenever I think of where I was at my best, Camp always fits in near the top of the list. This refocusing on positives helps me get through current challenges both personally and professionally. Though I have grown a lot since age 15, the honor of leadership as a boy challenges me today to be a leader as a man.
Life Update. I am currently living in Cornelius North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte. My wife, Anne and I have a 1 year old daughter, Lily. She’s blond with blue eyes and long legs. Don’t even consider having your sons approach her at a social, if we decide to send her to Pembroke.
Work Update. I currently work for Public Consulting Group, Inc., a management consulting firm charged with selling and implementing software solutions to school districts.
Sports Fan. Once you get south of the Mason Dixon Line, college sports is all the rage. I am still a die hard Boston pro fan, and have come to find out that someone stole what I thought was my brilliant idea; opening a Beantown bar in NC. The bar, “Beantown Pub” is all things Boston and a great place to catch a Patriots game.
Strangest Thing about living in the South. This year I spent part of Yom Kippur in a church. The Jewish community is growing in Charlotte; in fact there are a few synagogues and a JCC. Where I live however, a church is the closest thing to a temple. At first I thought it was pretty creepy spending the holiest day of our religion in a room with a large cross and a stain glass mural of Jesus. Jesus was a Jew, right? As the service continued though, I felt warmth within this community and one where congregants bonded, perhaps out of need, but the rent-a-rabbi was pretty impressive.
5 Degrees of Separation. I recently moved to North Carolina and was invited to spend Rosh Hashanah with another recent transplant (from Indiana) and his family. I learned that his father was raised in Pawtucket RI. The father’s brother, Ira Levin was Head of the Waterfront at…Camp Avoda in the late 50’s for two summers.
Notable Camp Memories: Bunk 6 – 1980: Sunday night OD consisted of the CITs and such notable greats as Nat Phillips, Steve Perlman, and Mike Rutstein. My bunkmates and I would purposely get rambunctious to see how the CITs would react. Invariably the night would end with us being the lucky recipients of wedgies. We of course enjoyed the attention and would wear our fruit of the loom waist bands as head bands the next days signifying our toughness. Wouldn’t it be great if our waist size matched our head size now?
Additional timeless memories include: Benjga’s impersonations of Roger Daltry while singing the blessing after the meal. I can remember being in bunk 2 in 1978 and running the All-Camp Relay in Color War and getting the lead for my team, which won the race, but not color war, and my general Phil Lukoff giving me the high five and jumping like crazy as the team made our way to second base for a chant. Another fond memory of bunk 6 includes rainy day activities. My bunkmates along with bunk 5 used to make incredible forts by re-arranging the bunk beds and our bedding.
Memories on Winning Leadership. As we all know, it was unprecedented for someone not in bunk 14 to win leadership. I didn’t expect to win, but as I reflect on the last day of camp, I had received little clues that I had won. It started with the return of Adam Becker and Alex Sherman, who had just returned from Israel, after skipping their CIT year. They of course wanted to know who won which trophies. Alex was the most recent Leadership winner, and in the tradition of the Master’s golf tournament, passing down the leadership trophy was as important to him as that green jacket was each April to the previous Masters winner. We were on the Athletic field near the trunk house when Alex found out who had won. He was pretty psyched and amazed. Of course Russell and I were trying to work Adam and Alex over to find out who had one. They didn’t tell us, but Adam put his hand on my shoulder and gave what I consider a proud nod.
Fast Forward to the Leadership presentation at Banquet Night. I believe that it was PGD who was presenting and I remember looking around the mess hall and catching eyes with Peter Glovin, then a JC and a waiter that night. He gestured with his hand, pointing at me, winked and turned a way. Later I found out that most counselors were looking at me. If they were doing so for the reaction, they got a good one, as I cried.
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Jon Cohen - 1988
- Are you married? No not married, in a serious relationship
- Kids? No kids, but one day
- Job? Director of Global group sales for the Hilton Checkers Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles
- Tell us how, if at all, Avoda has influenced your life and how the Leadership award has impacted your life. AVODA will always be a great memory for many different reasons. Most of all I learned to be a very ambitions man who always wanted to grab the next, “Flag”. Life is not easy but if you take everyday as a learning experience everything turns out right…. I didn’t grab my first, “Flag” until bunk 3A. I didn’t give up…just found a way to adapt and get the, “Flag” at my pace. AVODA showed that
- Favorite memory of Avoda? Hitting a last second shot to put us in the championship game against Bournedale in the Avoda Basketball Tournament. Our team fought through injuries and off shooting and as that last shot took a nice bounce for me, I turned with fist pumped and I remember the feeling of a team and a camp coming together at center court…I am not sure if I have been as complete as that day. It would have been easy to say the day I won leadership or color war captain was my favorite memory but I still remember the day I went to a camp function in Massachusetts and the video shown had that moment…should have been a movie.
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Ariel Waldman - 1989
These days, I'm living in Washington, D.C. with my fiancée Rachel Levinson. We're getting married next year. We're both big music fans and like to watch bad comedies together. We met in law school six years ago.
Work-wise, I'm practicing law in D.C. at the firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. I have a litigation and counseling practice, focusing on federal court litigation. We have a large Boston office, and I hope to get up there some and see some guys from the 1989 Bunk 14.
Life in D.C. is treating me well. The hours are brutal, but otherwise, I like my work and crew here, D.C. is a very livable place, and I get a big kick out of my weekly pick up hoops game, where I try and apply the point guard tricks Ken Shifman imparted on me 20 years ago.
I'm involved in the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and serve on the Board of Directors of Music Bridges International, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting U.S. music abroad and vice versa.
Avoda-wise, I've been in touch recently with Mike Alter, Alex Sherman, and Mike Weiss. And, several weeks ago, I met Robbie Satloff at a talk he gave supporting his new book (“Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands”). Avodians truly are everywhere.
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Robert Zuker – 1990
After winning the Leadership Award in 1990, I became a CIT and then a Counselor. I was the Head of Athletics and the 1997 Bunk 14 Counselor. Years later, I was invited to join the Alumni Association Board and then the Board of Directors where I currently serve as the Assistant Treasurer and Vice President of the Board.
I was married in 2001 and live with my wife, Molly; son, Charlie (3) and dog, Fenway in Brookline, MA. We are expecting another child this spring.
After Camp, I started to work in the family real estate business, Chestnut Hill Realty (CHR). In early 2000, I became the Director of Investments and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in April of 2003. Today, I sit on CHR’s Executive Committee and supervise the Human Resources, Information Technology, Administrative Services and Brokerage Departments. I also work on acquisitions for the company and development projects for both the company and myself.
Since receiving the Leadership Award, I have continued to be a leader through my charitable endeavors in the greater Boston area.
An active member of Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, I currently serve on its Board of Directors as Chairman of the Budget Committee, and for many years also chaired the Youth Committee.
I was honored in 2005 by Brookline GreenSpace Alliance as an “Environmental Leader.” The Environmental Leadership award is in recognition of an individual and a group who have made a significant contribution to parks and open spaces in Brookline through dedication and volunteerism.
Also in 2005, I received the “The Maxwell Burstein Volunteer Award” from the Jewish Big Brother Big Sister Association of Massachusetts as the volunteer of the year.
Currently, I am working with Children’s Hospital Boston to help them create short-term housing for their patient families.
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Jeff Goldblatt – 1992
When my parents sold the Framingham house that I grew up in, I gave them permission to get rid of all my old clothes, my youth sports trophies, and pretty much everything else from my old room. But there were two things I said they absolutely could not get rid of. The first was my baseball card collection – because I hoped the cards would someday have some monetary value. The second was my Avoda Leadership trophy – because the idea of having it thrown away made me realize just how much sentimental value it had to me.
I am presently 29 years old, single, living in Atlanta, Georgia and spend my days as President & Creative Director for The Rejection Hotline® & RH Brands LLC
My Life After Avoda. I headed down to Emory University in Atlanta where I graduated with a triple concentration in Journalism, Marketing, and Philosophy – and had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my post-college life. I got a pretty cool job in a management training program at Turner Entertainment (TNT, Cartoon Network, TBS, etc.) but that’s where I caught the “entrepreneurial bug” and I left after a year to give it a shot running my own business.
I started a few humor-related, web-based ventures including www.AskTheCollegeGuy.com (a nationally-syndicated advice/humor column for college students, which ended up being read by students on hundreds of college campuses and eventually led to the publishing of a book, The “Best of AskTheCollegeGuy: Parental Guidance NOT Suggested”). But my biggest venture ended up being something that I started completely as a joke…
I created The Rejection Hotline®, the humorous fake phone number people can give out instead of their own number. I started it as a joke, but my friends thought it was funny, they told their friends, and it blew up, spreading virally via word-of-mouth. Next thing I knew, I was doing interviews with CNN, FOX News, and radio stations and newspapers all across the country. Now we have Rejection Hotline numbers in 80+ cities, receiving 3 Million calls/month nationwide, and it’s evolved into a new media/marketing company that has spawned several other random/fun ventures including “National ‘Get Over It’ Day” which launched last year and was featured on Good Morning America and ESPN SportsCenter.
After 5 years of running all my entrepreneurial ventures on a tight budget, this past year I took a round of investor funding and then made the best decision of my entrepreneurial career: I fired myself as CEO of my own company (an awkward conversation to have with yourself). This allowed me to bring in a more experienced business exec to run the company and handle business development, while my time was freed up to focus on the creative side of the company. We’ve recently moved into larger office space in Atlanta, hired a staff, and we are primed to take all our ventures to new heights in the coming year.
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Jason Kurtz – 1993
Late August, 1993…The exact date, I can’t exactly remember. The night, though, I’ll never forget.
I sat in the Mess Hall, as the banquet drew to a close.
I listened and watched as hardware was handed out:
All-Around Athlete - Jeff Schoman
All-Around Seniors - Jeff Goldberg, Jeff Goldman
All-Around Campers - Naz and Steckel
With only one trophy left, it had become apparent that I’d either be receiving the vaunted Avoda “shaft,” or the Leadership trophy. The former would be a nightmare, the latter, a dream come true. The question was answered only moments later, when Stu Glass was called to the podium.
For better or worse, all of Avoda knew about my bond with “S. Glass,” and his guest appearance at the microphone now erased any doubt.
As he described the 1993 Camp Avoda Leadership Trophy Winner, I quickly felt an undeniable weight pressing down upon me, as seemingly the entire gaze of the room shifted in my direction. Stu described my initial years at camp, using words like “chubby,” and “wise-guy.” His speech was not meant to belittle me, rather, to show how I’d grown.
Similar to the deeper waters of “Beautiful Lake Tispaquin”, the beginning of my Avoda career was somewhat choppy, even turbulent. I struggled to find my place within the Avoda fraternity, in the process alienating campers and counselors alike, as a “loud-mouthed” member of the “Framingham Posse.” Initially, my hometown-friends and I only ventured down Gibbs Road in time for the season’s second “4 Weeks,” a virtual sin in the eyes of the “Whole Summer” kids. By the time we arrived each year in late July, friendships had been formed. Instead of meshing with the rest of our age group, we essentially and inadvertently formed the Framingham Chapter of Bunks 5B, 6B, and 9. However, I opted against landing in Bunk 11.
Over the winter of 1991-92, I made the difficult decision to make my second-to-last season as a camper an “8-Week Affair,” landing in Bunk 12, and essentially laying the foundation for a run to the 1993 Leadership Trophy. That same summer, I found comfort in a “Framingham Posse Patriarch”: Stu Glass.
Battling homesickness in early July of 1992, I stood in my bunk one day (no doubt making my bed with perfect “hospital corners,”) feeling lost. Perhaps sensing my state, Stu, in his usual, well-delivered discourse, assures me: “Colonel, stick with me, you’ll be alright.” With his words, a weight is lifted.
What follows is a fabulous summer in Bunk 12 (Banana Bread never tasted so sweet!) Instead of being an outsider, I’m now comfortable in the inner-circle, forging friendships with the likes of Jon Kassakoff, Aaron Agulnek, Jeff Goldberg, Dave Leffler, and Josh Cooper, some of whom I’d never before met, others, I had never truly “known.” When my friends from Framingham arrive for August later that summer, all landing in the adjacent Bunk 11, I unknowingly serve as the common link between the “All-Summer Kids,” and the “One-Monthers.” To that point, it was my best summer ever in Middleboro, MA, and the 10 month countdown to Bunk 14 had begun!
For the first time in 7 years as a camper, I couldn’t wait to make that turn onto Gibbs Road. For the first time in 7 years, I wasn’t nervous, concerned, or even fearing homesickness. After a summer in Bunk 12, I was anxiously awaiting BUNK 14, with a newfound confidence, and a newfound “Posse” – all of us.
What followed was an indescribable 8 weeks, which I still day-dream about 13-and-a-half years later. My expectations heading into that summer were high. The reality surpassed my imagination. Victories as a Dessert War and Color War captain, the Bunk 14 overnight, the July 4th Bonfire…all memorable moments in a young kid’s life. However, the best part of that summer can’t be pinpointed to just one specific event or activity. Rather, it was merely the camaraderie felt between a couple dozen teenage boys truly growing up together; small moments having as big an impact as larger-than-life occurrences. Sharing laughter, and lessons, under the guidance of “Oobis and Blocker”, the 1993 Bunk 14 changed my life, and found me sitting in the Mess Hall, on that late August evening.
Since arriving at Avoda for the first time in 1988, I’d lost weight, but gained acceptance – concepts both touched upon in Stu’s speech. That summer night culminated my career as a camper, but began laying the foundation for much of the rest of my life: leaving home for Syracuse University, spending a semester abroad in Spain, chasing a Sports Broadcasting dream up and down the East Coast. When you challenge yourself, you ultimately can’t back down, and you then, have truly nothing to lose. What you can gain, however, is a lifetime of magical memories.
I thank Camp Avoda for that summer, the summers before, and the summers still to come, in hopes of others gaining what I have.
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Greg Lazaroff - 1997
Since finishing my 14-year run at Avoda in 2003, I've kept Avoda very close to my everyday life through the company of the close friendships that were created while at camp. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 2004 (at the time, there were 4 other Avodians who I "recruited" to attend college with me), I've been living in New York City. Directly out of college, I was put to the test with a great opportunity at Sports Illustrated to manage their Fantasy Sports and Fan Shop businesses for a year. Opportunity knocked in December 2005 and I chose to take a position at the NBA where I would manage the Sponsorship and Marketing Partner Activation Programs on NBA.com. I am currently at the NBA in the same role and hope that it will lead me to even greater things in the world of sports.
While my career is important to me, the experiences I had at Avoda and the friendships that were created there impact my everyday life more significantly than any job ever could. My closest friends remain my Avoda friends. My buddies sometimes joke and label me "Captain Avoda" because I'm always trying to get the NYC Avoda crew together (about 6-8 of us in town) on a weekly basis or simply just bringing back memories from our times spent at camp frequently.
My fondest memory of Avoda isn't one in particular, but a series of memories. In my mind, the best day each year at Avoda is the Avoda Basketball Tournament. It's a day each summer that the camp unites as one and gathers around its 2 basketball teams with the common goal of winning the tourney against our rival camps (Bauercrest, Bourndale, etc.). I played in 7 Avoda Tourneys, and coached in 5 more and it was a thrill every single year to be a part of such a rich tradition.
I have a great deal of respect for the Leadership Award and the amazing group of people who have won "The Trophy" before and after me. I still have the speech that my counselor Jeff Vetstein wrote when presenting me the trophy and it's something I'll cherish for the rest of my life.
(Editor’s Note – Greg and Jeff Vetstein now sit on the alumni board together – the Avoda circle now complete).
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Dave Pratter – 1998
I am living in NYC now, have been for the past two years since graduating from Penn State University. I live with my girlfriend who I first started dating when I was 15 (break or two here and there) and I will be 24 this March.
I work for a firm called Factset which is a financial software product primarily used in the investment management and investment banking fields. I just started a new role as a Portfolio Analytics Specialist in our New York Office.
To try and put into words what Avoda has meant to my life and my development would be tough to measure, other than it has deeply impacted the person I am today.
I guess the easiest way for me to see on a daily basis how important camp has been for me is that the guys I hang out with most in NYC are my camp friends.
As far as a favorite memory goes, I will go with my most vivid one. In 1998 when I was a color war captain for the Blue Rebels, our Deadzone evening activity that went into overtime. We were down at least one point, and I went on a rush with Wyckoff Nissenbaum. I had cleared the defense and was headed towards the goal-line, when Matt Elder tracked me down and tackled me from behind right before the goal line (to my defense Matt Elder destroyed the field in the all camp relay during the track meet...man was he fast). Anyway, it was clearly determined by the judges that he tackled me from behind and that I essentially had a "clear path" to the goal line, and I was awarded the flag, and we won the Deadzone. I remember going back to the lodge and addressing the team hearing "he's our captain chants" etc. Campers and staff members were in tears from this emotional night in the lodge, and that is something that I will never forget.
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Matthew Chella – 1999
Bunk 14 in 1999. Started going to camp in 1994. Avoda staff member for 5 years. Celebrated my Bar Mitzvah year at camp this past summer. Hopefully attending camp for one more summer this coming June. Living outside Chicago and attending Chiropractic College. One of the most important things I learned from Avoda is that you will receive only as much as you give.
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Michael Singer - 2000
After my Bunk 14 summer I stayed on at camp until 2005. I served as a bunk 1 counselor twice and as a member of Avoda's prestigious Athletic Staff. As a counselor I was fortunate enough to be involved in color war, and maintained a 4-0 Color War record as a staff member. I am currently a senior studying finance at the Stern School of Business at NYU and will be graduating in May. I will be working in New York after graduation at Bank of America in Global Investment Banking and Capital Markets where I will be an analyst in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Group.
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Sawyer Emmer – 2001
This will be my first summer without the solace of Avoda. These past few years i have been attending the University of Wisconsin in Madison, working to become a doctor. This summer i am forced to participate in an internship at Harvard Vanguard in Boston where I will be working under a radiologist. Without Avoda, this summer will be very different from the past but all the members of the 2001 Bunk 14 have kept in touch and we still get together a great deal. Being only one year removed I will try to visit camp as much as possible to see the campers that I once taught to swim and play soccer grow up into young adults and bunk 14ers.
Two of my most memorable moments from my camp experience were winning color war as a general last year and winning my senior football game on the Terror in 2001. Last year seeing my team run to the beach after the announcement the Blue Venom won color war was the best feeling of my life. Hearing my team chant my name as I jumped in the lake shot a tingle down my spine that I will never forget. Back in 2001, our senior football game was scoreless when I got a
safety on the opposing teams captain to win the game 2-0. Those two moments in my history stand out beyond all the others.
Thank you for your time in reading this and I hope that there will be many more leadership winners in the future who make camp a better place than it already is.
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Ben Bershad - 2004
My name is Ben Bershad - recipient of the Leadership Trophy in 2006. Avoda remains an integral part of my life to this day and the Leadership Trophy is an important part of that. Right now I am a senior at Mansfield High School and looking forward to attending college next spring. I am currently enrolled at the YMCA School’s Out Program as a Group Leader. I also have a job during the winter as a snowboard instructor at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. Avoda has been part of my life since 1996 when I first arrived at the age of seven. Avoda has been the greatest place in my life and holds many treasured memories. One of these memories was being selected as a Color War Captain and walking down “the path”. Color War week was one of the greatest moments of my life and words can’t describe the emotions that I felt leading my team, the Blue Buccaneers, into the Lake Tispaquin after our victory. Once my name was announced as the winner of the Leadership Trophy I thought instantly of the former Avodians who were winners and how I had looked upon these men as heroes. I only hope that future generations of Avodians will look up to me in that same way. Avoda has been a place where I have created the greatest bonds, as my fellow bunk 14ers are my closest friends.Back to top
