We are excited to announce that our 2008 Early Bird enrollment has once again met with success.  We are pleased to report that families belonging to "221 Cali-Camp Children" enrolled during the early bird period and saved 17% - 21% on tuition fees. For current rates, call our office at (310) 455-0404.

Our always popular horse back riding program is for boys and girls ages 6 to 14. All campers enrolled in the program will have half of the day riding each day balanced off with three other popular day camp activities, including swimming. Children must enroll for a one week session, Monday through Friday. Campers also have the option of participating in our traditional day camp program and then leaving that program for one week to enter Wrangler Camp.   Last year the waiting list for Wrangler Camp was five to nine campers deep for each week.  Don't be on the waiting list.  Enroll now!

Cali-Camp's "NEW" Special Events calendar is coming out soon.  We'll let you know in next month's newsletter, when it is up on our website. We are working on putting together another fantastic summer of Special Events with input from staff and campers.

Here's an opportunity for you, our Cali-Camper's, to be a part of Cali-Camp's 2008 Special Events Calendar. Do you have favorite weeks from the past you would like to see again?  How about something new you would like to see added?  We would like for you to give us your reaction and input into the choices for the weeks Special Events.

Click here and choose the weeks you like to see in 2008.

Hey kids, want to try your skill at a Thanksgiving Holiday Word search? 

or how about coloring a Thanksgiving picture?

or this picture!

Be a part of Summer 2008.  We want your input.  Click here and rate the possible weeks for this summer.

The first Thanksgiving feast was very much tied to the Pilgrim's first successful harvest. The origins of many modern world holidays go back to special times - like harvest time - during the annual cycle of the calendar. Planting and harvest times took on particular importance to early agricultural societies that depended on their crops for survival. They would mark the changing seasons with a feast or festival.

For example, in ancient England, the traditional harvest festival, called Harvest Home or Ingathering, was a time when great quantities of food were prepared and served. By the end of the 1800s, thanksgiving services were held in churches, and parishioners were often asked for donations of food. Colorful wreaths made of seasonal fruits decorated the village and the church.  Other cultures also mark the harvest with a special festival.

Hindu: The Festival of Onam
The festival of Onam celebrates the bounty of nature and a good harvest. Its 10 days are filled with feasts, boat races, songs, and dances. Onam usually occurs in August or September.

African: The Festival of Yams
In many parts of Africa, customs and festivals center around the harvest. The Ashanti, a tribe in West Africa, celebrate a two-day, first fruits festival called Festival of Yams. Most often the celebrations are at the end of October. Usually there is an offering of food, a ceremony, feast, and dancing. Newly harvested grain is made into porridge, which is then offered to the Spirits of the East and West.

Jewish: Sukkot
Sukkot, the Feast of Booths or Feast of the Ingathering, pays tribute to the bounty of the earth. The eight-day holiday usually falls sometime between mid-September and mid-October.

Chinese: Harvest Moon Festival
The Chinese Harvest Moon festival takes place on the 15th day of the 8th moon of the lunar calendar, a day when the ancient Chinese believed the moon was its brightest and fullest. The Harvest Moon festival is celebrated during the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox, which means it falls sometime between mid-September and early October.