|
Kashmiri Overseas Association, USA
Annual Koshur Camp 2008
"One
of the 10 Great Places to Gather the Family" - USA Today
YES,
that is Sunrise Resort,
in the town of Moodus, Connecticut.
On
behalf of KOA, we are pleased to inform you that Annual
Koshur Camp 2008 will be held at Sunrise Resort from Thursday
July 3, 2008 to Sunday July 6, 2008. We invite you all to attend this
camp and get an opportunity to connect with your friends and
family.
Please start making plans right now. You can also visit
Sunrise Resort’s website at http://www.SunriseResort.Com and
check it out.
KOA’s
ANNUAL KOSHUR CAMP 2008
SILVER
JUBILEE YEAR
The
Koshur Camp will be held at Sunrise Resort, which is located
in the town of Moodus, Connecticut, from Thursday July 3rd, to
Sunday July 6th. This year we will be celebrating the 25th
anniversary of our camping event in the U.S.
Updates
so far
Certain
gestures by others make you feel proud in life. Recently, many
community members called us offering to help with organizing
the camp. It has made us very proud of our community. From all
those who offered to help, two teams have been put in place.
Let me assure you that they are working very hard to make this
years camp a memorable event for years to come. One team is
made up of members from NY & NJ area and the other team is
from CT & MA. Bela and I went to NY to meet with the team
members there and then we met with local Bostonians at our
home. The organizing team consists of:
Team
members from NY/NJ area: Hari & Nimee Bhat; Akilesh &
Kalpana Fotidar; Anil & Pami Kachru; Rakesh & Neetu
Kaul; Umesh & Anju Kaul; Vinod & Deepika Raina; Ashok
& Chandra Sultan.
Team
members from MA/CT area: Arvind & Arti Kaul; Deep &
Usha Kaul; Inder & Sunita Kaul; Raj & Jyoti Kaul;
Lalit & Rachna Koul; Sandeep & Bhawna Sadhu; Vikram
& Deepa Salman; Ravi & Sulochna Tickoo.
Our
Youth/Young Adults are working hard on their own to promote
youth participation and to encourage youth activities at the
camp. We have come to know about some of them who are putting
in efforts to make this camp a success, including: Sunny Bhat
(NY), Viney Bhat (MD/VA), Jaani Kaul (MA) and Sid Tickoo
(NY/NJ).
Every
effort is being made to provide you with an exciting weekend
with lots of interesting activities. Many suggestions have
already been discussed; following are some of the details:
Artist:
Neerja Pandit is coming this year to perform at the camp.
She is going to launch her latest music album at the camp.
Neerjaji will be in the USA for 5 weeks. After the camp she is
available to go around the country and perform for our
members. Rahul Ganju – a young adult and a new find with his
melodious voice will be performing. Sunita Dhar, who is
visiting from India, will be presenting her Veena–Vadan.
Regular performers Rakesh Kaul and Neeru Ganju will provide
their glow to the cultural program. Our local cultural icon
Arti Kaul will be performing with her Boston Group. Above all,
many-many more talented community members (names held back to
keep it as an element of surprise) will be performing.
Additionally, two very famous community members (brothers) are
putting a “Stand-up Comic Act” together.
Community
Representatives and Political Personalities: Some
community leaders from around the world were invited to join
us at the camp. Two have already, consented, obtained visa,
and finalized their travel plans.
Ashoke
Pandit (writer/producer/director/cultural activist) is coming
to the camp. Ashwani Kumar Chrangoo, president Panun Kashmir
Movement, is coming to the camp. Last December/January,
Ashwaniji started his “Sankalp Yatra” in India to educate,
promote, and garner support for our struggle. He is taking his
Sankalp Yatra overseas and bringing it here. Both of them will
be available to share their experiences with the community,
talk about our struggle so far, and to share with us what lies
ahead. Please don’t miss this interactive session for
anything in the world.
Cultural
Icon: Anupam Kher has been approached to join us at the
camp. As and when it will be confirmed, you will be informed.
Religion
& Spirituality: His holiness Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
will be in NY/NJ area around 4th of July Weekend.
We have already approached Art of Living Foundation and are
working on exploring the possibility of his Holiness to come
to our camp for a very brief visit. A meeting with the
organizers of Guruji’s event in NY/NJ has been set-up to
discuss its possibility. Stay tuned. If this materializes, you
don’t want to miss this for anything in the world.
Food:
Kabob & Curry of Providence, RI is catering the event.
All organizing team members, working together, have selected
an excellent menu. In addition, “Koshur Roath,”
“Mathi” and may be “Kashmiri Kulcha” to be served
along with “Kehwa” during the cultural programs.
Cultural
Programs: A Kashmiri Skit by the Boston Group is under
works. Children’s cultural events will have an element of
competition this year. Cash Awards will be given: - Cutest
Performance award for kids 0-7: Prize $50; - Best Performance
(solo) for ages 7-10: 1st Prize $50, 2nd
Prize $30, 3rd Prize $20; - Best Performance (solo)
for ages 11-13: 1st Prize $50, 2nd Prize
$30, 3rd Prize $20; - Best Performance (solo) for
ages 14-16: 1st Prize $50, 2nd Prize
$30, 3rd Prize $20. A team of 5 Young-Adults will
judge these performances.
- winner’s pictures would be on the KOA Newsletter/Magazine.
- cut off date for registration should be about 2 weeks before
the competition date so that we have an idea of the
competition.
Competitive
Games for Children: Will be held for age groups 5 to 14 on
Friday, July 4th. A drawing competition will also
be held.
Fun
Activities for Children: Funtastic Inflatables LLC will
bring, set-up and organize few children's play items,
including: 1. Duck Tank 2. Seventy-foot bouncy obstacle
course. (Covered, so that it does not get too hot).
Other
Games: Kho-Kho, Tug-of-War, Cricket, Volleyball, and
Basketball. Get ready to show what you got.
Show
and Tell: For this
camp, we are pleased to introduce a new activity "Show
and Tell". This activity, as many of you would be aware,
allows the participant to share a skill or an experience with
the audience. All age groups are welcome to participate
although the focus will be on our youth & young adults.
Interested members are required to inform the camp organizing
team well in advance about their intent to participate and the
nature of the activity. The participant will be required to
bring their own tools (if required) to present, however, the
organizing team will be more than willing to provide help with
tools if such tools are available on-site.
HAWAN:
Our annual hawan will be held on Saturday, July 5 followed
by hawan-prassad.
ACCOMMODATION:
Initially we had reserved for our group forty cottages and
fifteen motel-type rooms. All these have already been
taken. However, Sunrise Resort has provided additional
cottages, those are still available – for reserving
cottages, call Sunrise Resort at 1-800-225-9033 or
1-860-873-8681 (Cost = $79 /cottage/night; + 12% tax).
There are plenty of Tent Sites and are available. You need to
reserve those directly through us, just let us know in your
registration form.
ACCESS:
The nearest airports are Hartford, CT, and Providence, RI
(both within 40 minutes' driving time). From Boston Airport
the drive to Sunrise Resort is less than 2 hours long.
CAMP
REGISTRATION: Do not procrastinate; finalize your plan to
attend the camp. All attendees need to fill out a reservation
form and mail to us. Registration Form is available at: http://koausa.org/camp2008/doc/Registration%20Form-2008.pdf.
For your ease, a pdf copy of
the form is attached. Send in
your registration before May 31 deadline. After that a penalty
applies.
PROGRAM
HIGHLIGHTS:
1st
Day: Welcome & introductions, followed by evening
musical program – “MILAN KI SHAAM.” Special 1-hour long
movie from all previous camps is being put together.
2nd
Day: Children’s fun activities; Cricket; Pool activity;
Boating; Children’s cultural program; Discussion; KOA’s
G.B. Meeting; Evening musical program – “ORGINIZOR’S
MUSICAL NIGHT” - Arti Kaul & Boston Group.
3rd
Day: Hawan; Children’s competitive sports; Cricket;
Volleyball; Kashmiri-Dress-Photograph for couples;
Group-Photograph; Children’s cultural program; Awards; Meet
and hear the invited leaders; Evening musical program –
“YEH SHAAM MASTANI” – Neerja Pandit performance.
We
would like to see you as part of the Annual Koshur Camp 2008.
The success of the camping event in the US is one of the most
tangible achievements of our community. It has, and will
continue to serve our community in many ways. Your support,
encouragement and participation are needed. Come meet your
friends & relations and make new friends at this camp.
We encourage you to organize family re-unions and catch-up on
old times. We hope to see you there. All information
related to this camp is also available at the KOA website:koausa.org/camp2008.
For
further information, we can be reached at (781) 893-4982 or
via e-mail at koshurcamp2008@yahoo.com.
With
warm regards,
Sanjay
& Bela Kaul
And
the camp organizing team
ANNUAL KOSHUR CAMP
2008
SILVER JUBILEE YEAR
This year is the 25th anniversary of our
community’s organized annual Koshur camping event in the
U.S. To celebrate its silver jubilee, we are pleased to inform
you that Koshur Annual Camp 2008 will be held at Sunrise
Resort, which is located in the town of Moodus, Connecticut,
from Thursday July 3rd, to Sunday July 6th.
Our first-ever camping event took place in
1984 at Poconus, PA. Just a few families started it and the
purpose was simply to socialize. Later, our organization made
sure that it happened every year. Slowly it assumed a meaning
of its own for our community. As its popularity started
growing among our members so did its significance to our
community in this country. Number of participants started
growing slowly, it took us thirteen years to reach 50 mark but
only another three to cross the magical number of 100 plus in
terms of families participating.
Bela and I were part of the organizing team in
1999 (Last Camp of The Millennium) and we are proud to bring
you the Silver Jubilee Year Camp. Koshur camp is the biggest
gathering of our community every year in this country. Maximum
community participation, so far, of 138 families (540 persons)
was reached in 1999. We are aiming and hoping to cross 150
mark this year. To encourage more participation, following
community members have agreed to help the organizing team: Dr.
Inder Bhat & Kamini Bhat of VA, Ashok & Chandra Sultan
of NJ, Hari & Nimi Bhat of NY, Ravi & Sulochna
Tickoo of MA, Ashok & Neera Ganju of Toronto. The
organizing team will do our best to make your stay comfortable
and enjoyable, and we will try to make it a memorable event
for all of us.
The camping event provides an occasion to meet
your friends & relations and make new friends and build
new relations. Every effort will be made to provide you with
an exciting weekend with lots of interesting activities.
Many suggestions have already been discussed;
following are some of the details:
LOCATION: Sunrise Resort, Moodus,
Connecticut. Sunrise is a beautiful resort with an excellent
location and a very good layout that provides us an exclusive
area. It is a fun place for everyone with about 400 acres set
in the rolling countryside of rural Connecticut on the banks
of the Salmon River. Some of the attractions are:
• Giant-size swimming pool for kids and
adults • Hot tubs and whirlpools • Boating facilities that
include canoes and rowboats on the river • Horseback riding
• Tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, and a huge
softball field • Walking trails and bike trails • Separate
play area for small children and a fun house for teenagers •
Horseshoes and table tennis
ACCESS: Moodus is an ideally located
place; the nearest airports are Hartford, CT, and Providence,
RI (both
within 40 minutes' driving time). For
international travelers, Boston’s-Logan airport and New York’s
–JFK airport are both about 2 hours away. Driving time is
less than 2 hrs. from Boston, Albany, and New York City, about
3 hrs. from Philadelphia and the NJ area, and about 6 hrs.
from Buffalo, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and the Washington D.C.
area. We hope that easy ground and air access will help in
attracting more families from every part of the country.
Please start making plans right now.
ACCOMMODATION: We have reserved an
exclusive camping area for our group along with forty cottages
and fifteen motel-type rooms. Early in the season we may be
able to get some more cottages if needed.
Allotment will be strictly on a
first-come-first-served basis. These cottages and motel-type
rooms will be held for us until June 1, 2008. Sunrise is a
very busy resort; once we have released any of the
pre-reserved cottages or motel-type rooms, it will be almost
impossible to get them back. We urge you to reserve your camp
site/cottage/motel room as soon as you can to avoid a
disappointment later.
ACCOMMODATION-COST: A three-night minimum stay
is required. The following rental rates were negotiated
for our members for a total of 3 nights starting on July 3,
2008.
Tent sites $100 for 3-night stay/tent site/for
2 adults and their dependent children. XP $5/night.
Cottages $79 for 2 adults/cottage/night;
additional person (child or adult) shall be charged $12/night;
+ 12% tax. The cottages have 1 double bed and
1 bathroom; a maximum of 2 additional cots shall be provided
for each cottage.
Motel rooms $126/room for 2 adults/night;
additional person (child or adult) shall be charged
$20/night;
+ 12% tax (these are luxuriously furnished
rooms with 2 double beds and attached bathroom).
ACCOMMODATION-RESERVATIONS: Reservations
for the tent site is to be made directly with us.
Reservations for motel rooms or cottages are
to be made directly with Sunrise Resort at 1-800-225-9033 or
1-860-873-8681. You have to mention that you are a KOA member
and have to pay in full at the time of reservation. Payments
are refundable less $10 processing fee until June 1, 2008;
after that date, deposits for motels or cottages shall be
non-refundable unless Sunrise Resort is able to resell.
**
CLICK
HERE FOR THE REGISTRATION FORM **
CAMP REGISTRATION: All attendees (including
people making direct reservations with Sunrise Resort for the
cottages or motel-type rooms) need to fill out a
reservation form and mail to us. Remember, the last
date for registration is May 31, 2008. Cancellation date
without penalty: June 1 for motel rooms & cottages, and
June 15 for tent sites. Please do not procrastinate; act
now.
SOUVENIR: No guessing - A special souvenir
for the Silver Jubilee Camp is being developed.
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES: Our cultural icon in
this country Mrs. Arti Kaul of MA, and Mr. Rakesh Kaul of NJ
have agreed to help plan all the cultural activities. This
includes activities for our children and three evening musical
programs. One artist will be coming to the US to perform at
the camp.
DISCUSSIONS: A panel will be put together
to put some light on the issues facing the community in this
country. Our community leaders from various parts of this
country have and will be approached to come and take part in
it. All concerned members are being appealed to participate
and help resolve these problems. Mr. Maharaj Kaul of NY has
agreed to coordinate this effort.
BIGGER PICTURE - What do we want: It has
been eighteen years since our forced exodus from Kashmir, a
resolution of the Kashmir problem is not in sight, and more
and more of us are losing sense of direction (if we had any).
We will be inviting KP leaders from India, Europe, Canada and
the US to share their views with us and tell us what is good
for our community and share with us any plans they have to
achieve it.
FOOD: Four meals a day would be provided,
which includes breakfast, lunch, evening tea/snack, and
dinner.
Food is being catered by “Kabob & Curry”
of Providence, RI. They have promised to make extra effort to
provide authentic Kashmiri dishes.
COSTS: $100/person for the whole event.
Daily visitors $50/person. The goal here is to break even.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:
1st Day: Welcome & introductions,
followed by evening musical program – “MILAN KI SHAAM.”
Special 1-hour long item is being put together.
2nd Day: Children’s fun activities;
Cricket; Pool activity; Boating; Children’s cultural
program; Discussion; KOA’s G.B. Meeting; Evening musical
program – “ORGINIZOR’S MUSICAL NIGHT” by Arti Kaul
& Boston Group.
3rd Day: Hawan; Children’s competitive
sports; Cricket; Volleyball; Kashmiri-Dress-Photograph for
couples; Group-Photograph; Children’s cultural program;
Awards; Meet and hear the invited leaders; Evening musical
program – “YEH SHAAM MASTANI” dedicated to one artist
coming to perform from out of this country.
We would like to see you as part of the Annual
Koshur Camp 2008. Special invitation is extended to those
who were part of the first camping event in 1984. The seed
they planted is growing into a strong tree. Some of those who
were kids at that time are themselves parents now. The success
of the camping event in the US is one of the most tangible
achievements of our community. It has, and will continue to
serve our community in many ways. Your support, encouragement
and participation are needed. Come meet your friends &
relations and make new friends at this camp. We encourage you
to organize family re-unions and catch-up on old times. We
hope to see you there. All information related to this camp is
also available at the KOA website: http://koausa.org/camp2008
.
For further information, we can be reached at
(781) 893-4982 or via e-mail at
koshurcamp2008@yahoo.com
With warm regards,
Sanjay
& Bela Kaul
And
the camp organizing team
|
