The Social Hall
The Social Hall stood between the road to the hill bunks and the top of the
hill, down the road from the infirmary. Checkout the map:
http://www.kinderland.org/sylvanlake/maps/map100.htm The second floor contained: a) Seven living spaces. Three living spaces on each side under the covered porches and one room in the center back. b) Three workshop rooms as follows: one room on the east face of the building, right off the outside steps. It contained a hinged, slanted worktable of considerable length, where Seymour Schwartz prepared all the signs and banners. A large center room which was used for arts and crafts activity, and a third room at the front of the building, which was used for special art projects by gifted camper volunteers, such as the creation of murals and outdoor scenery for pageants. The first floor of the Social Hall was one large room. Underneath the first floor, at ground level, and cutting into the rising hill, was a earth-floored storage space divided into two rooms. Most years, they were used to store random equipment. Between the 1951 season and the 1952 season the social hall had a fire. All that remained after the fire was the fieldstone foundation. By the middle 50s only the chimney remained. |
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Recollections
Camp's first dining room, for children only, was in the Social Hall. Sarah Suchman was kitchen manager. It was there until 19xx when it moved to new
theater/dining room/casino.
1936 and 1937: Sports staff (ie. life guards sports director and Abe Wohl,
bugle/drum corps teacher) lived on the top floor. On Sunday mornings before
parade we had to polish the bugles. Jack "Feigy" Feigenblatt, then a lifeguard,
had Herb Freeman bend over the railing of the top floor to get punished with a
cut-down oar, for trying to steal the bell (it may have been a siren then) on Kinder Tog dawn.
1941 & 1942: The upper story of the Social Hall also contained the Kinderland
Library, presided over by a shule teacher whose name was Nokhem Weissman. The
most popular book among Second Group boys was Mike Gold's classic, "Jews Without
Money" prized for its chapter on East Side prostitutes.
In 1943 a group know as “Seven/Eleven” composed of members of the sports staff,
life guards and camp artist, cleaned up one of the rooms and the bottom floor
and threw a party for the then director Shmuel Davidovitch and two others, ?
Cohen and Moishe Gross. It is a secret to this day as to where the salami and
rye bread came from.
In 1944 and 1945 Mel Greenblatt was Bugle and Drum Corps Director; he used the
bottom floor for Band rehearsals and equipment storage.
In 1946 the "Seven/Eleven" cleaned out the space and used it as their own
headquarters.
It was officially approved of, when Lakeland's manager, assistant manager,
cultural director, and Kinderland's director celebrated its opening with a
dinner in honor of old-time shule teacher and poet, Nochem Weissman, for his
65th birthday.
The Social Hall was the organizing site of the Nu-Nus, a feminine version of the Yackles.
At one time the two rooms are ground level were known as Casbah #1 and Casbah
#2.
Arts and crafts and dancing, among other activities, took place in the Social
Hall. There were animals, more specifically; terrariums (turtles?) and cages in
a corner room.
The Social Hall had the following people in residence:
1944: Mel Greenblatt, Ike Siskind, Arts and Crafts director Marx Wartofsky.
1945: Mel Greenblatt, Leon (Lamby) Lambert, Ricky Meltzer, Gloria Weiss,
Arts and Crafts
director Sy Schwartz.
1944 or 1945: A dorm for female sub-counselors.
1946: Seymour Schwartz
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