Camp BB Riback 2025: A summer to remember

by Maxine Fischbein

(AJNews) – The summer of 2025 will go down in Camp BB-Riback history as a notable one.

Thanks to improvement projects, one of the Jewish community’s most cherished institutions is looking good.

Most camper cabins have been refurbished, and the few remaining ones will be completed come fall. Upgrades have happened at the pool and the waterfront, including an extension of the pier. Foundation work and reroofing will breathe new life into the LTP Village washrooms. A three-year project generously supported by Lenny Shapiro will see the construction of a new doctor’s house and infirmary.

Despite the cost of these and other capital projects—funded by benefactors too numerous to mention—the camp has retired its debt.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused attrition that lingered into subsequent years, the first session of 2025 was filled nearly to maximum capacity with 191 kids from Alberta, Saskatchewan and beyond. Approximately 75 campers attended second session.

Helping Camp Director Stacy Shaikin to give kids the best possible summer was a staff composed of 30 local and 40 international counsellors and specialists.

Shaikin loves working with people who love working with kids, and he is proud of having diversified and professionalized the camp staff.

Some of that work has become more challenging over time because children have, in Shaikin’s opinion, grown more anxious. He chalks much of it up to cellphone addiction and the withdrawal when kids are asked to leave their phones behind.

Campers are not permitted to bring phones to BB-Riback, and for good reason. Shaikin says most kids become different people when they take a break from social media, get out in nature and relate to one another without distraction.

Homesickness is another challenge for some campers. This has led Shaikin to tweak camp protocols so that camp counsellors remain overnight in camper cabins on a rotating basis.

Except for Wonderweek, which gives BB-Riback’s youngest campers an age-appropriate taste of what the camp has to offer, BB Riback has historically offered two three-week camp sessions. Because this does not meet the needs of some campers and parents, Shaikin advocated change. Parents can now work with the camp to customize the duration of their children’s stay.

“I want every kid to leave here wanting more,” says Shaikin.

First session was action packed. The arrival of 11 Israeli staff members and two CITs was a source of celebration. It was not certain at all that they would make it to Pine Lake due to attacks by Iran on Israel and fears of a wider Middle East war. Two Israeli staffers did not end up serving at the camp, one of them returning to their IDF unit.

The resulting gap left the camp short of a music specialist. While this meant that the annual camp musical had to be scuppered, Shaikin and his staff shifted focus to film and dance and re-instituted the Discovery Program, which helps campers to develop outdoor competencies.

A fishing rotation was added when the camp was able to acquire a boat thanks to the support of Dave Rothstein and a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Calgary (JCFC).

The JCFC once again ran its popular Youth Philanthropy program, giving older campers insight into the work of charitable organizations and engaging them in an allocation exercise that culminated in grants to Hillel—the organization serving Jewish post-secondary students—and Na’amat Canada Calgary.

Shaikin always makes a point of telling campers that the JCFC and its fundholders are instrumental in supporting Jewish causes and organizations that make a difference in their own lives, including the camp itself.

When AJNews visited Camp BB Riback last month, both the kids and Shaikin were coming off a high following Maccabiah, where the camp is split into teams that compete in sports and other fun challenges.

Shaikin was still sporting a sweat-stained ballcap emblazoned with the name of his favorite rock band, Phish, which figured prominently in the beloved event.

Because the summer of 2025 will be Shaikin’s last as camp director, he asked and received permission from his staff to choose the themes for this year’s Maccabiah teams, which are typically named for famous Jewish people.

Shaikin has earned it after spending a good chunk of his life on the shores of Pine Lake as a camper, a staffer and, since 2018, camp director.

The music of Phish and the Grateful Dead are the playlist of Shaikin’s youth, when he formed lifelong bonds with fellow BB campers Darren Bondar, Jared Shore, Perry Jacobson, Rob Verbuck, Micah Libin, Mark Halpert, and Oren Litman. They still get together a couple of times a year to attend concerts by their favourite bands.

Studies have shown that Jewish summer camp and day school experiences are key factors in the development of future Jewish leaders, so it is no surprise that Shaikin, Bondar (also a former Camp BB director), Libin, and Shore have all served as leaders in the Calgary Jewish community.

Phish and the Grateful Dead may not immediately jump to mind as Jewish content, but Shaikin dedicated the teams in honour of Phish bassist and vocalist Mike Gordon and Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart, both of whom are Jewish.

A poster competition yielded some tremendous art by Team Mickey Hart members Kat Van Leeuwen, Elle Delaney, Dorin Lamberg, Isaac Ausfresser, Lian Zohar, Raphie Simantov and Violet Lupo; and Team Mike Gordon members Minka Knoetze, Louisa Hunt, Shira Rabin, and Adam Parker.

While Team Mickey Hart prevailed in both the poster competition and Maccabiah, everyone was a winner. The posters will now hold a place a place of honour in the Hadar, along with past Maccabiah-worthy celebrities, including Israeli Prime Ministers, movie stars and Jewish community leaders.

Shaikin makes a point of telling campers about the lifelong friendships he continues to enjoy because of fun times spent in each others’ company at Camp BB.

“We feel super fortunate that after 40 years we still get together. Our wives are friends, our kids all know each other. We have this community,” Shaikin said. “It’s all about the people you spent time with. That’s what you remember the most.”

Everyone eventually leaves the camp, but the camp does not leave them, says Shaikin, because the magic continues in those unshakable bonds.

Some former campers have even gravitated back to Pine Lake to celebrate milestones. During Shaikin’s time as camp director, a Bar Mitzvah, a bachelorette weekend, and a 30th birthday party took place at camp.

Though Shaikin will soon exit the camp gates for his last time as director, he will not be leaving it behind. He has offered to continue managing camp business until the camp board hires its new director ahead of summer 2026.

“I’m in a transition of my own,” says Shaikin, who is already managing his own business but is still willing, to mentor his yet-to-be-hired successor.

Shaikin leaves on a high note, proud of what he and his team have accomplished on the shores of Pine Lake.

“Yes, the job’s hard…but it has been a great eight summers, and I feel very gratified at what we’ve been accomplishing,” Shaikin said.

The sentiment is echoed by Camp Chair Jessica Miller Switzer, who attended Camp BB as a kid, is the mother of two campers, and has served on the board of the camp for six years.

“Stacy has been a great camp director. He’s really put his heart and soul into camp the last eight years. We’ve been really lucky to have him as long as we have,” Miller Switzer said, lauding Shaikin for helping the camp achieve a “much healthier financial position.”

Though the camp’s financial house is in order, work on necessary improvements continues at a time when an increasing number of families are seeking camper subsidies, said Miller Switzer, adding that the support of individuals, families and community organizations remains critical to the camp’s future.

In addition to the capital projects that happened on his watch, Shaikin proved a successful fundraiser, forming relationships with local donors and securing grants from J-Camp 180—an initiative of the Massachusetts-based Harold Grinspoon Foundation—and Rogers Birdies for Kids.

Shaikin built and empowered capable senior leaders, some of whom have worked shoulder to shoulder with him for the past four or five years. He credits them with helping the camp to rebound from the COVID drought and become what it is today.

“This camp is in excellent shape,” says Shaikin who, having walked down memory lane, goes back to the future: “I love this place, and I want my kids and grandkids to be here.”

Maxine Fischbein is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.