Former campers and counselors gathered for the Camp Menorah Reunion Sunday at Ithaki Mediterranean Cuisine in Peabody.
Jodi Gropman Moran and Marcy Jacobs DeMelis organized the brunch that brought together many Chelsea, Everett, and Revere residents who attended the popular summer camp in the 1970s.
Each day a bus would leave from the Chelsea Y.M.H.A. on Crescent Avenue and head up Route 128 North to the campsite on Lake Chebacco in Essex.
Gropman said about the reunion, “I couldn’t have had a better co-coordinator in getting this together than Marci [DeMelis]. She and I received many calls and texts for this reunion that started when Lisa Giller, who lives in Las Vegas, was going to be in Massachusetts for a surprise birthday party for her brother-in-law. It was wonderful seeing everyone.”
Recalling her fun-filled days at the camp, Jodi added, “Summers were carefree for us city kids going to rural Essex daily. Camp Menorah holds a very special place in our hearts, and it always has and always will.”
Nina Swartz said Camp Menorah was “the best time of my life.”
“I attended Camp Menorah for ten years,” said Nina. “It molded my childhood in the fondest ways. We enjoyed great summers there. I cherish those memories.”
Lisa Mullins, who called Nina “my best friend” at Camp Menorah, said she spent all her summers at the camp. “I had a great time at the camp,” said Lisa.
Andrea Pompeo Gustin, a cousin of Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo and classmate for one year at Pope John High School of Susan Pompeo, said, “I made all these new friends at Camp Menorah and it’s nice to see everyone again.”
Among those attending the reunion were former Everett High tennis star and successful realtor Eric Glassoff, musician Larry Novak, the personable Eric Frank, and Marla Vigoda, president of the Chelsea High School Class of 1981 who went on to graduate from Boston College.