“may we be blessed, as we go on our way”
June 15, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Bryan Grone
Many a Friday night song session came to a close with these words. I was blessed to hear them sung by one of the most soothing voices I have heard, and ever will hear, Flip Frisch. I was honored to be able to sing them to campers and staff for my numerous years at camp. And I find solace in knowing the tradition of that amazing moment lives on and on in the woods of Webster.
In writing this blog, I wanted to share how I have personally been blessed by all things “machaneh”, as I have gone on my way from the 54893.
Music is the center of my life, and it ALL started at camp. I was, at one point, a scared, geeky middle-school kid who “sang” Girls by the Beastie Boys at a talent show in the Ulam. I sat in Cabin Aleph with my friends Michael Winston and Doug Baldinger, struggling to pick out my first few notes on the guitar. And then it all began for me. The fireplace stage in the Chadar became my training grounds. Everything I did at camp prepared me for a life filled with music, from playing song sessions and creating music with kids, to generally increasing my comfort level of being on stage and thinking on my feet.
Flash forward to 2010, and all of these lessons learned are helping me in my current career in music. Though my 9-5 has me dealing with the business side of music, I spent the last year leading music for K-6th graders at Temple Israel of Hollywood on the side, thanks to a wonderful connection from Sarah (Raful) Whinston. Though it is nothing like a rowdy mega lunch song session at camp, its still very cool for me to see kids get in a single file line, hands on each others shoulders, parading around the room singing “Bunch, Bunch, Bunch…”, or getting questions from staff on where that amazing Psycho Killer-Eretz Tzavat mash-up came from.
Another Herzl-related blessing in my life manifests itself in my group of friends, a group spread out all across the country (not unlike all of yours), which finds itself always ready to pick back up where it left off. We have had two very large group trips in the last 14 months, each with over 25 in attendance, and nearly all of them Herzl alumnus. The driving force behind these trips has been to get as many of us as we could in one place to spend time with our close friend Michael Winston. As many of you may or may not know, Michael was diagnosed with ALS (commonly known as Lou Gherig’s disease) in October of 2008. Since that time, an amazing grassroots support system has developed in our community called Winning for Winston, a non-profit that works directly with the ALS Therapy Development Institute to help fund the search for a cure to this disease. I’d like to take this opportunity to plug the Winning for Winston site where we have raised over $140,000 so far!!
So thank you, Herzl camp, for all the things you taught me, all the ways you continue to play a role in my day to day life, and for all the ways you will affect me in the future.
“May this be our blessing, amen.”