About 50 former Camp Milldale campers descended upon Bill Bateman’s Bistro in Reisterstown this past Saturday to reconnect and reminisce about their years at the popular Jewish day camp in Reisterstown that was absorbed into Jewish Community Center’s camp programs two years ago.
The Camp Milldale reunion was organized by campers Carly Cierler Greenberg, Cara Jacobson Metzger, Jenifer Sirkis and Shelby Sirkis Dorich after a number of campers expressed the desire to have a reunion.
Those who attended Camp Milldale from 1990 through 2000 were invited. Many have kept in touch and remained friends over the decades. Children who attended the camp often grew up and became staffers, extending their stays from age 8 to 18.
“Everyone kind of picked up where they left off,” Greenberg said. “They caught up with each other, with the memories and the same kind of feelings of the good times and the stories and our favorite things that we all remember from camp.”
Campers came from as far away as New York, but most were from around the Baltimore region, Columbia and Frederick. Greenberg said people recalled fondly the special birthday cakes “Miss Alma” made in the camp kitchen and visits from entertainer Kinderman. Her fondest memories included staff parties at the end of the summer and celebrating Shabbat together on Friday.
While there are no plans yet to hold another reunion next year, Greenberg said the group would like to have a reunion back on the camp grounds, now part of the Pearlstone Center campus.
“That would be a dream one day to go back and have it there,” she said.
For more information on the reunion group, visit facebook.com/Camp-Milldale-Reunion-2017-1732064103715031.
