Part 2
After the parade ended, Chatniss retreated to her bunk for a
quick change of clothes only to be stopped by fellow campers Pete Mellarkowitz,
a shy and semi-athletic boy from Great Neck, and Gale Horowitz, a 16 year-old
strapping young man who was the object of affection of female campers,
counselors and administration alike.
Pete, whose parents owned the Roslyn Bakery, approached Chatniss with an
offer to help. Chatniss remembered this
generous boy who, on visiting day, took pity on her by giving her a mini
Cupcake by Melissa when her family ran out of their own. “I’ll join you Chatniss…we can win this
together,” Pete whispered in her ear.
“It’s okay Pete.
You’ve done enough for me. Those
cupcakes were delicious. I’ll never
forget that,” replied Chatniss.
“Then I’ll throw all the events I’m in for the next five
days. I promise you won’t have to go
home,” pleaded Pete.
After Pete went back to his bunk to read his Archie comics,
Gale, the camp hunk, grabbed Chatniss by the arm and brought her behind Bunk
26. “Chat, I’m going to fake an injury
so I don’t have to participate in anything athletic. I’ll just work on the banner and maybe the
camp fight song,” explained Gale.
“That’s a great idea, Gale.
No one in camp would ever suspect that you’re freakishly un-artistic and
can only write on a third-grade level.
Have you even written to your parents at all this summer?” asked
Chatniss.
“Once, but it was the letter where I just had to check off
boxes so I’m not sure if that counts.
You expect me to be handsome, athletic AND smart?” Gale shook his head. “Who cares…
tonight, I’m going to jump down from my bunk bed and land on Jake Gerstein’s
Diablo and sprain my ankle. I won’t be
able to play anything for the next few days.”
“It’s a plan, Gale. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Chatniss whispered as
she went back to her bunk.
That evening Chatniss was taken from her bunk to meet up
with her Color War advisor, Haymisha Abernaski, a now retired camp director
who, as a camper, came within a broken string on his guitar during the All-Camp
Sing to winning Color War in 1958. His
breath stinking of sugary bug juice, Haymisha laid out the path that would lead
to a victory for Chatniss. “Let’s look
at the events you can win, like Freshman Girls softball instead of the ones
that you have no chance like Counselor Tug of War,” pontificated Haymisha. “And
tomorrow morning when there’s a mad scramble for sports equipment, food, and
clothing, you’re going to go straight for the bow and arrow for archery, that’s
your bread and butter; then grab some goggles, you can wear them for swim,
basketball, and lacrosse; and make sure, and I can’t say this enough times, get
blue spray paint for your hair to show your team spirit. Without that, the
judges won’t believe that you’re trying.”
The next morning, the mad scramble went almost as planned
with Chatniss picking up the archery equipment, goggles and a baseball glove
but no hair spray paint. Disappointed,
she started the day over in lower camp swim meet and easily won in the
pool. Then she went over to Senior Boys
baseball and eked out a 1-0 win, followed by a spanking in kickball delivered
to the Upper Juniors, boys and girls.
The camp team, led by senior counselors Rebecca Fishkin of
Dix Hills, NY and David Goldberg of Marlboro, NJ, was dominating in the events
that Chatniss couldn’t get to.
The Boys side swept nearly every single event in her absence
except for the ones that Pete had his hand in.
The camp’s biggest win was in the Senior Boys Basketball A Game where Jeremy
Goldstein scored a camp record 54 points against a team of chairs placed in
random spots on the court. Goldstein, a
5’2” rising high school freshman who was cut by his middle school basketball
team in Bergen County, was pleased by his stellar performance. “There was no one there to stop me. I dominated both ends of the court. I stopped at 54 because it’s triple chai.
This camp gives me the false inflated self confidence that I’m going to need if
I expect to make the high school team next year.”
Feldstein echoed Goldstein’s sentiments. “By showing the kids that they can be
successful, we’re enabling them to thrive when they get back to the real
world. We just hope they go to school
with mostly Jewish kids so they can at least be semi-competitive.”
Over the course of the next few days, Everstein handily won
the archery competition, the Apache Relay, the upper and lower girls track
meets and the mega-point value Rope Burn setting a record scorching time of 24
seconds. Very strategically during the
track meet she was able to yell out to one of several camp videographers, Nigel
Jones, “Hi Mom, send me some Color War Stuff!”
As the final day approached, Chatniss was exhausted, beaten
down from four days of intense competition.
Over twenty campers had gone to the infirmary over that time suffering
from heat exhaustion, sprained ankles and bruises, while some of the more lazy
and spoiled campers went just to enjoy the air conditioning. With only one event before the sing,
all-camp Gaga, she prayed to the heavens for something that would revive her
and give her the boost she sorely needed.
Only moments later, a FedEx jet screamed across the sky and parachuted
down a small package to Chatniss from her mother. She hurriedly ripped the box open and found
blue sweatbands, a blue tutu, blue face paint, and a blue Mohawk wig! Her prayers had been answered.
Only hours after beating the entire camp in a special square
mile Gaga pit, Chatniss entered Horowitz Hall for the big sing. Dressed in all blue, she was revitalized as
she sung her heart out to made up songs featuring the music of Air Supply and
Survivor. Chatniss had done the
impossible. She had made it through five
of the most intense, physically demanding days of her life. There was nothing more she could do. Her future at Camp Huron Lake was in the
hands of the judges.
Director Marty Feldstein, took the stage moments after the
camp sang its final song to the tune of Peter Cetera’s “Glory of Love”. “Here are the results of the 2013 Camp Huron
Lake Color War!!!! Chatniss, 1,836
points. The Camp, 1,836 points! We have a tie!!” The entire building went silent. Marty walked over to Camp Athletic Director
Sydney Flickerman for a brief conversation then came back to the stage.
“AT CAMP HURON LAKE, EVERYONE’S A WINNER!!!!”
The hall erupted with cheers. It was pure mayhem. Pete and Gale picked Chatniss up on their
shoulder and carried her down to the canteen for a frozen Charleston Chew.
For accomplishing quite possibly the greatest feat in the
long, storied history of Camp Huron Lake, Everstein’s parents will get a 5%
discount on next year’s camp tuition if paying by cash or check on or before
November 15th.
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