{{Short description|Jewish summer camp in New York, US}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox campground | name = Camp Kinder Ring | image = CampKRFrontGate.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Front gate to Camp Kinder Ring (2006) | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_label = | pushpin_map_alt = | coordinates = {{coord|41.605487|-73.739687|region:US-NY|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_mark = | pushpin_marksize = | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_relief = | pushpin_image = | location = Hopewell Junction, New York | coordinates_footnotes = | previous_names = | subsequent_names = | elevation = | type = Jewish summer camp | land = | campus_size = | campsites = | residences = | caravans = | restaurants = | parking = | annual = | facilities = | water = | fee = | fires = | season = | owner = | established = 1927 | closed = | slogan = | website = {{URL|http://www.campkr.com}} | footnotes = }} '''Camp Kinder Ring''' is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), Jewish summer camp located in Hopewell Junction, New York, accredited by the American Camp Association.<ref>{{cite web |title=ACA Accreditation |url=https://www.campkr.com/kinder-ring-experience/aca-accreditation |website=www.campkr.com |accessdate=6 June 2019}}</ref>
==History==
Camp Kinder Ring was founded in 1927 by The Workers Circle (formerly known as The Workmen's Circle, Yiddish ''Der Arbeter Ring'').<ref name=Judaica>{{cite book| first1 = Fred| last1 = Skolnik| first2 = Michael| last2 =Berenbaum | title = Encyclopedia Judaica| publisher = Macmillan Reference| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VkAOAQAAMAAJ| page = 215| date = 2007| isbn = 9780028659497| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref> On September 28, 2023, The Camp and The Worker's Circle announced that they were separating and that both organizations will continue to operate independently.<ref>[https://www.circle.org/news/workers-circle-camp-kinder-ring The Workers Circle and Camp Kinder Ring Announce Exciting New Chapter], The Workmen's Circle Website, accessed Nov 9th, 2023</ref>
Many families have been attending for up to four generations.<ref name="KRAbout">{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.campkr.com/kinder-ring-experience/about-us |publisher=Camp Kinder Ring |access-date=6 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606161103/https://www.campkr.com/kinder-ring-experience/about-us |archive-date=6 June 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
''Kinder ring'' (''Children's Circle'') was the name of a short-lived publication in the early 1920s.<ref>{{cite book| first= Naomi Prawer|last=Kadar| title = Raising Secular Jews: Yiddish Schools and Their Periodicals for American Children, 1917-1950| publisher = Brandeis University Press| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bJpjDQAAQBAJ| page = 114| date = 2016|isbn=9781611689884| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref>
==Description== The camp lies near the Catskills in Dutchess County, New York,<ref name=Judaica/> about a mile from the town of Beekman.<ref>{{cite book| first = Thom | last = Usher| title = Beekman| publisher = Arcadia| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OYZuJcia5nAC| page = | date = 2011| isbn = 9781439624197| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref> It offers campers a wide array of activities such as sports, arts and crafts, and lake activities while also educating them about Jewish traditions and culture.<ref name="KRAbout"/>
The camp is divided into a boys' side and a girls' side, each having its own distinct set of staff. There are head counselors and assistant head counselors for both girls and boys. There are then eight divisions, each led by a group leader who has a staff of counselors, typically between three and six strong.{{cn|date=August 2020}}
==Traditions== Kinder Ring's traditions include a July 4 carnival, KR of the Week/Year, Behind the Scenes, all-whites ''shtiller ovnt'' (Yiddish for "silent evening") to celebrate the Friday evening advent of the sabbath, and the setting of candles onto Sylvan Lake symbolizing the end of another summer. Other traditions include popular Jewish singers like Rick Recht. New events are created every year.{{cn|date=August 2020}}
Traditional games include: * '''Maccabean Games:''' The Mikhl Baran Maccabean Games, or Mac Games, are held every year in the first half of the summer. Campers are split into two teams named after important and influential Jews in history. Over the course of 4 days, campers compete against one another. The emphasis of Mac Games is team spirit, teamwork, and fun, rather than winning. * '''Olympics:''' Olympics are held every year in the second half of the summer. Campers are split into teams named for two countries. Over the course of four days, campers compete against one another. As always, emphasis is based on team spirit, teamwork, and fun, rather than winning. Olympics hold the most famous events in camp, the Rope Burn, the Decathlon and the Triathlon. * '''Torchbearer:''' This KR tradition was started in 1971. It is known as the greatest honor one can receive at Kinder Ring, showing one's love and dedication to Camp Kinder Ring. During the Opening Ceremonies for Olympics, past Torchbearers come back to camp to help pass on the honor. Every summer, a Torchbearer is named before the entire camp and lights the Olympic flame, as in the real Olympics.
==Notable alumni== * Dean Blandino (born 1971), former NFL vice president of officiating, now a Fox sports analyst * Barbara Boxer (born 1940), U.S. Senator from California<ref>{{cite news |last1=Berger |first1=Joseph |title=Less Socialist, But Still Social; Circle Is Link to a Yiddish Past |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/31/nyregion/less-socialist-but-still-social-circle-is-link-to-a-yiddish-past.html |accessdate=6 June 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=31 October 2002|url-access=subscription}}</ref> * Bill Freiberger, Emmy-nominated television writer * Adam Schefter (born 1966), ESPN NFL Insider * Lawrence S. Wittner (born 1941), American historian – camper and counselor<ref name=Wittner>{{cite book|first= Lawrence S.|last= Wittner|authorlink1= Lawrence S. Wittner|title =Working for Peace and Justice: Memoirs of an Activist Intellectual|publisher=University of Tennessee Press| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7DyQnovrkqIC| pages = 20 (camper), 31 (counselor)| date = 2012|isbn= 9781572338951| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref>
==Legacy== Camp Kinder Ring appears in many books on Jewish culture in America, including ''Raising Reds'' (1999),<ref>{{cite book| first= Paul C.| last= Mishler| title = Raising Reds: The Young Pioneers, Radical Summer Camps, and Communist Political Culture in the United States| publisher = Columbia University Press| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MFAflY4nSyQC| page = 89| date = 1999| isbn= 9780231110440| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref> ''The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited'' (2009),<ref>{{cite book| title = The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited: A History and Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood| first = Joyce| last = Mendelsohn| publisher = Columbia University Press| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3IU6AQAAIAAJ| page = 111| date = 2009| isbn = 9780231147606| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref> ''Children's Nature'' (2010),<ref>{{cite book| first= Leslie| last= Paris| title = Children's Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp| publisher = NYU Press| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UFwTCgAAQBAJ| page = 92| date = 2010| isbn= 9780814767825| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref> ''Yiddishkeit'' (2012)<ref>{{cite book| first1 = Harvey| last1 = Pekar| first2 = Paul| last2 = Buhle| authorlink2 = Paul Buhle| title = Yiddishkeit: Jewish Vernacular and the New Land | publisher = Abrams| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YPMeyxDwN4MC| page = 201| date = 2010| isbn = 9781613122280| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref> and ''The Remembered and Forgotten Jewish World'' (2018).<ref>{{cite book| first= David L.| last= Walkowitz| title = The Remembered and Forgotten Jewish World| publisher = Rutgers University Press| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gz6-DwAAQBAJ| page = | date = 2018| isbn= 9780813596082| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref>
Camp Kinder Ring also appears in memoirs, including ''The Way Home'' (2006),<ref>{{cite book| first = Henry| last = Dunow| title = The Way Home: Scenes from a Season, Lessons from a Lifetime| publisher = Broadway Books| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xvOuIE0O3loC| pages = 21, 58, 139| date = 2002| isbn = 9780767907347| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref> ''Goy Crazy'' (2006)<ref>{{cite book| first = Melissa| last = Schorr| title = Goy Crazy| publisher = Hyperion| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=x4ArAQAAMAAJ| pages = 52, 162| date = 2006| isbn = 9780786838523| accessdate = 18 August 2020}}</ref> and ''Working for Peace and Justice'' (2006).<ref name=Wittner/>
==See also== * Camp Boiberik * Camp Hemshekh * Camp Kinderland (breakaway)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.campkr.com Camp Kinder Ring official website] *[http://www.circle.org/ The Workers Circle / Der Arbeter Ring website]
{{Summer camps in New York}}
Category:1927 establishments in New York (state) Category:Buildings and structures in Dutchess County, New York Kinder Ring Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York (state) Category:Tourist attractions in Dutchess County, New York Category:Yiddish culture in New York (state)