March 2022 News from the Camp Chi Family
Spring is on the horizon, which means that camp is just one season away! As we’re busy getting camp ready for our 101st summer, the Camp Chi Family is busy doing incredible things out in the world. There’s a particularly high number of newsworthy events this month, so get ready for another great round of News from the Chi Family!
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As Spring is a season for new life, we want to start off by welcoming all the new additions to the Camp Chi Family. Hillary Maxwell & Jeremy Elkins welcomed Audrey Jean, Apolonia & Jason Speropulos welcomed Rory Johanna, Molly Yeh & Nick Hagen welcomed Ira Dorothy, Rachel Handmaker & Zac Huffman welcomed Brynnlee Grace, and Savana & AJ Biagioni welcomed Cooper James. We can’t wait to have these little ones join us at camp one day!
We asked you to vote and you did not disappoint as Jordy Blenner and his sketch comedy group, Late Night Shenanigans, were voted in Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago for Best Sketch/Improv Troupe. Congratulations to Jordy and the whole troupe!
We’ve known that Lawrence LeVine is mensch for years and now he is being recognized with the Kavod Award from Congregation Beth Shalom Men’s Club. Mazel tov Lolo!
Anyone who has been to Chi can attest to the fact that we have some serious talent at Chi. You can see that for yourself as Emma Preston takes the stage in Deerfield High School’s production of Fiddler on the Roof and Ilana Felix is part of the cast of Carmel High School’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
We are so happy for longtime Chi nurse Trish Baltazar who recently passed the exam to become nurse practitioner. Hopefully you can congratulate her in person this summer at the Atkins Family Health Center!
There are also so many happy couples ready to start their new lives together this month. Recent newlyweds include Louis Stromberg & Beverly Greenstein, Polly Cheeseman & Randy McKenzie, and Gavin Poole & Shari Richards. Wishing all of you lifetimes of love and happiness.
With marriage just a little bit down the road, we also have multiple engagements to announce, including Allie Werner & Jon Hoffman, Shai Bibas & Shir Weis, and Laura Goodsite & Kevin Vrtiak. Mazel Tov to everyone!
College decision season is upon us and we have a lot of future college students who have made their choices. Sophie Keyser is going to Washington University in St. Louis, Hannah Lieberman is heading to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, while Brooke Robbins is off to the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and for those seeking warmer climates, Shayna Jann will be at the the University of Arizona, and Lindsey Neiman is going to be only 100 miles away at Arizona State University.
Getting ready to graduate this spring, Scott Harris was nominated for the School of Education Senior Leadership Award at the University of Kansas. We can’t wait to hear if Scott is one of the 10 winners who will receive the award at graduation. We’re rooting for you Scotty!
The SITs of 2021 are getting recognized for their talent and passion and we are so proud. Charlie Temkin was selected as a Youth Ambassador and is serving on the Chicago Mayor’s Youth Commission. Alexa Turner was selected as a finalist for JCFS Response for Teens’ Extraordinary Adolescent Award, which celebrates major accomplishments made by young people ages 12-24. She was honored this past weekend along with the other 3 finalists during the JCFS Response for Teens 50th Anniversary Event. Way to go Charlie & Alexa!
There is a great group of Chi alums on Keshet’s annual benefit event planning committee, including Shelley Klass Stolman, Ken Stolman, Michael Waitz, Lindsey Canel, and Adam Kessler. They are working with Jamie Lake and Jennifer Starr Phillips to plan Voices of Champions, a virtual event that took place last week.
And last but not least, we heard Ari & Greg Rosen did an outstanding job at their B’nai Mitzvah. Mazel Tov!