Herzl Hospitality
March 27, 2011 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts.
By: Jeff Usem
So, if you’re half way across the country, what would you expect from your old Herzl friends? To touch base on the phone and say hello? To meet for a quick cup of coffee? To grab lunch somewhere to catch up? Maybe to invite you over for dinner? Well, in this case, mine suggested that we get together and invited me to stay with him and his family! This just occurred this past weekend when I sent Marty Kloner an email that I’d be in Los Angeles for work, and it would be nice to get together if he had some extra time. While this may have happened to you somewhere too, I don’t think it’s the usual reaction when old friends are passing through town on business.
I could have met him briefly somewhere and moved along to a hotel for the night; but staying with someone gives you an opportunity to rekindle old friendships in a casual, personal way that only happens when someone opens their home (and life) to you. I was re-introduced to his lovely wife, Tara, who was equally welcoming and interested in getting to know each other, and met his adorable kids, Dylan & Jackson, in an at-home, comfortable setting that just wouldn’t have been possible anywhere else. I’d like to think I even bonded a little with Bruno, their huge, white dog (notice how well he obeyed me when I told him to lay down for the picture – ok, maybe I got a little help from Tara for that). We shared old stories and looked through his old Herzl albums, trying to remember all the names of the much younger (some skinnier and hairier too) people in the pictures. The picture with the gray, goofy fishing hats that we bought on one of our many days off with Ricky Bloomfield and Steve Gottlieb triggered some good memories (I still have mine in the basement, of course). Fortunately, Randy (Harpo) Feldman and Paul Muchnik were sitting at a table in the picture of them dressed up in a coat & tie at staff final banquet. It was like we had just all been together, not like nearly 29 years had gone by since camp, and probably 9 years since we had seen each other last.
Another bonus during my trip was getting together with Cheryl Kloner (actually Marty’s cousin), another friend from our Herzl days in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s. She quickly found and brought along a pile of pictures that we went through with fond memories. Even more amazing was that she had a cassette tape (remember those?) of talent show and final banquet skits, which were hysterical (I never knew there were so many versus to “The Cat Came Back”). It was a little hard to hear, but there were even some final words to the staff of ’80 from Andy Halper – words to live by, I’m sure. I brought those pictures back with me, so maybe some of them will be of decent enough quality to scan and include on the website or in our archives. Thanks for saving all that stuff Cheryl, you’re the best!
Anyway, enough of the reminiscing. There’s nothing quite like Herzl friendships! Thank you so much to Marty and his family for opening their beautiful home to me, and letting me become part of a small piece of their lives. My relationship with his kids will never be the same after sharing chocolate-chip pancakes together in our PJ’s. (I hope Dylan’s birthday party sleep-over went well after I left.) So hang on to those friendships, and don’t hesitate to pick up the phone or reach out to those old friends when you’re going to be in town. Who knows, they may even invite you to stay with them?
Here’s to Dear Old Herzl… and Herzl Hospitality!!