National Mosaic Event Trip Report

Five members of the Mosaic Outdoor Club of the Capital Region joined over 200 participants at Camp White Pine in Haliburton, Canada for the Annual National Mosaic event Labor Day weekend.

Our group made us proud- for a small number we made a huge contribution to the success of the event. All of our local attendees showed the group what interesting, fun, talented, warm and friendly people make up our chapter!

Our secretary, Kati Illouz, served as the contact person for our chapter. She coordinated transportation for our group, and assisted the event organizers in numerous ways including creating and analyzing the exit surveys. At the event, Kati led a mountain bike ride, started the hora (along with Liza) at the end of a spirited Shabbot service and the Saturday night concert. Kati's favorite activities included swimming Hurricane Lake, and kibbitzing for 8 hours in the car with Alan, Liza and Mike, each way!

A group of 50 were enthralled by Alan Wechsler's slideshow presentation of his solo bike trip to Pakistan. Alan has offered to repeat the presentation for our group. Stay tuned for details- you won't want to miss it! Alan also stepped up to the plate by leading a mountain bike ride in Haliburton Forest at a moment's notice. Alan's favorite activities included mountain biking and the nightly campfires- where he introduced us to the "tin foil s'more" technique!

Eric played hero to another camper who was terrified on an eco-tour that involved traversing wobbly catwalks suspended 50 to 70 feet high in a forest. He also entertained a crowd of 60 around a campfire as part of an improv comedy team. His favorite activities were waterskiing and Scrabble, although not simultaneously.

The nightly campfires would never have gotten going without our resident fire-starter, Michael Vinci, who expertly lit the fires for s'mores, songs, games and entertainment. The activities he most enjoyed were the Ropes course, (which he skillfully completed like Spiderman!), canoeing, and visiting the wolf habitat in Haliburton Forest.

A loyal following enjoyed stretching, meditation, and chanting "Shal-Om," in the yoga classes led by our co-president, Liza Feldman. Liza met with other Mosaic leaders and has returned with lots of ideas to help our chapter grow. Her favorite activities were the "Walk in the Clouds"- a suspended canopy tour of Haliburton Forest and kayaking on Hurricane Lake.

All of us enjoyed spending time with each other, meeting Mosaic members from other chapters, and the variety of activities offered, which also included hiking, rock-climbing, star-gazing, and tennis. We all agree that the only really disappointing aspect was the camp food! We have been assured that superior meals will be provided next year, and we all hope to be there again!