Camp Anawana, later known as Kutsher's Camp Anawana, was a summer sleepaway camp overlooking Anawana Lake in

Monticello, New York Monticello ( ) is a village located in Thompson, Sullivan County, within the Catskills region of New York, United States. The population was 7,173 at the 2020 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan Count ...

History

Camp Anawana was originally owned by Mrs. Anna Kahn. The camp's main building was destroyed by a fire on June 29, 1946. In 1955, the camp partnered with

Clair Bee Clair Francis Bee (March 2, 1896 – May 20, 1983) was an American basketball coach who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939, as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles in ...

to host Kutsher's National All-Sports Camp, associated with the nearby

Kutsher's Hotel Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club in Thompson, Sullivan County, near Monticello, New York, was the longest running of the Borscht Belt grand resorts in the Catskill Mountains region of New York State. While the region was open to any and all v ...

. After the development of a sports-focused sleepaway camp, Kutsher's Sports Academy, the Kutsher family purchased Camp Anawana. Kutsher's Camp Anawana operated through the summer of 1992. Following the end of the summer camp program, the camp has been used by the hotel as Club Anawana, offering water sports and beach activities.

Programs

Activities at Camp Anawana included drama, Girls' Sing, intercamp sports, and

color war Color wars is a competition played in summer camps, schools and some social organizations (such as sororities, fraternities, or small businesses). Participants are divided into teams, each of which is assigned a color. The teams compete against ea ...

. Later in the camp's history, Monday nights were movie nights. The last three days of a camp session included an awards night, a camp prom, and a banquet followed by a lakeside candlelight ceremony. The camp's sports focus included sponsoring the Anawana Invitational Tournament for both

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and a Biddy Basketball Tournament for younger boys Another favorite event was to attend the

Maurice Stokes Maurice Stokes (June 17, 1933 – April 6, 1970) was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Cincinnati/Rochester Royals of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1955 to 1958. Stokes was a three-time NBA All-Star, ...

Game, an annual exhibition of professional basketball players held by Milt Kutsher.

Notable alumni

Matisyahu Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979), known by his stage name Matisyahu (; ), is an American reggae singer, rapper, beatboxer, and alternative rock musician. Known for blending spiritual themes with reggae, rock and hip hop beatboxing soun ...

, musician *

Neal Shusterman Neal Shusterman (born November 12, 1962) is an American writer of young-adult fiction. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book ''Challenger Deep'' and his novel, ''Scythe'', was a 2017 '' Michael L. Print ...

, author

Notable staff

*John Beake, NFL coach

References

External links

Kutsher's Camp Anawana Alumni
* {{Summer camps in New York 1921 establishments in New York (state) 1992 disestablishments in New York (state) Youth organizations based in New York (state) Catskills Defunct summer camps Jewish summer camps in New York (state) Jews and Judaism in Sullivan County, New York