Camp Tel Noar, located on Sunset Lake in Hampstead, NH, is a co-ed camp with a close-knit community serving a total of 400 campers each season. With many of the camp’s cabins built in clusters with central living areas to encourage interaction between the age groups, Camp Tel Noar has fostered a community living experience since its founding in 1945. These unique living quarters cultivate a camp culture of acceptance and friendships with campers and staff of all ages. Everyone in the Tel Noar family is interested in everyone else’s accomplishments and cares about each person as an individual. The camp’s physical setting also is close-knit. You can stand in one place at Camp Tel Noar and practically see the entire camp. In starting Camp Tel Noar, Eli and Bessie Cohen sought to create a community for children to develop themselves, experience the joy of their Jewish heritage, and play. The goal of Camp Tel Noar is to help children build character, self-confidence, and spirit in a fun, safe family environment.
Everyone in the Tel Noar family is interested in everyone else’s accomplishments and cares about each person as an individual.
Camp Tel Noar is a community of new friends and old friends of different ages, counselors and coaches connected by a common heritage – a Jewish feeling that is enriched by the comfortable opportunities for sharing backgrounds and experiences. This is highlighted daily through blessings in the morning and before and after every meal. We celebrate a spirited Shabbat each week with an unforgettable tradition of Israeli Dancing and Singing.
Camp Tel Noar packs a seemingly never-ending list of activities into a very manageable space. Everywhere you turn, there is something fun to do. Campers participate by skill level, so sports and arts and the waterfront are not only fun, but also challenging. Campers are scheduled for instruction in many areas but have the opportunity to choose activities in their specific areas of interest. In addition to the daily routine, Camp Tel Noar has surprising evening activities and special days each session too.
To further enrich the Jewish experience and help children to transition to become leaders, the Cohen Foundation offers the Dor L’Dor Leadership Program, a counselor-in-training program for returning campers entering the 11th grade. It encompasses learning as well as fun with a 4 ½ week trip to Israel. Leadership development continues formally in a staff member’s Junior Counselor year and throughout the summer for all counselors. Accredited by the American Camp Association, Camp Tel Noar is proud of its continuing staff development and camper to counselor ratio.
Camp Tel Noar has a rich history, celebrating its 61st anniversary season in 2006. The Tel Noar summer experience has helped campers create their own special memories and bonds that will last a lifetime. These memories often turn to new deeds and even new self-awareness that make the summer both fun and meaningful.
Camp Tel Noar is constantly seeking to improve the quality of the program it provides while staying faithful to its rich history and tradition. Tel Noar campers, past and present, are passionate about their summer home which brings them into a community that will always be a part of their life, a community driven by life-long friendships, learning and a daily connection to their Jewish heritage. On June 18, 2005, Camp Tel Noar celebrated its 60th anniversary with a reunion at camp. Generations of campers and staff returned to rekindle their connection to Camp Tel Noar and everything it stands for and launch a year-round active Tel Noar Alumni program. Camp Tel Noar Campers and alumni cherish their camp memories all year long because they feel an important part of camp and camp has become an important part of their lives.
