DETROIT, July 26 (JTA) — Following the death of a Tamarack Camp director, Jeff Grey, the staff has grappled to review details of the tragedy and help campers and counselors who witnessed the accident cope and grieve together. Grey, 26, of Oak Park was killed July 17 when a tree fell on his tent during a thunderstorm in Algonquin Provincial Park in northern Ontario, where six Camp Kennedy staff members and 17 campers — including Grey’s cousin — were spending the night. According to Tamarack’s executive director, Jonah Geller, Grey died instantly from the impact of the fallen tree, which also injured Aaron Lebovic, a 19-year-old counselor from West Bloomfield, who was hospitalized with back and leg injuries. After a July 24 visit to Lebovic at a Toronto hospital, Geller said, “Aaron is doing well. He has had two successful surgeries and has been released from intensive care. They are making plans to have him home within a week to get additional care and further his recovery.” Camp Kennedy, based in Shingleton in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is an outpost camp for 15-year-old campers seeking wilderness camping experiences. The accident occurred during an offsite camping trip. The Kennedy group had been divided into three sections, each with five or six campers and two staff members. Only the group overseen by Grey and Lebovic were at the site when the tree fell and in the hours following the accident. With electricity and phone lines at the park out because of the storm, Geller said, “Two campers canoed for help from park rangers. They also met up with a man and his son who were camping, who came to the site and stayed with the group and Aaron.” During the several hours before park rangers were able to bring help, Geller said, “The campers and staff were absolutely wonderful. Campers filled and heated their water bottles to line Aaron’s body to keep him warm. “The emergency procedures Jeff went over with the campers and staff before the trip likely helped. And while they were waiting for emergency assistance to arrive, Aaron coached the campers on how to care for him.” Meanwhile, Grey’s cousin said Kaddish for him. All three groups were taken to a ranger station where those in the other groups were informed of the situation. Geller, who was at the camp’s Ortonville office at the time of the accident, called all of the parents. He also called the Grey family, whom he has known through their longtime involvement with Tamarack Camps. Algonquin Park authorities provided immediate access to grief counselors and a trauma support team for the group. Campers and staff returned home following the accident, two weeks before the end of camp. “We decided not to even have them go back from the campsite to Kennedy to collect their things,” Geller said. “Our decision was that they should be with their parents. “The buses that brought the group back to West Bloomfield were met by our mental health professionals.” The group and their parents met with camp social workers and a Jewish Family Service grief counselor and bereavement specialist. A plan was set for campers to return to Kennedy this week for a three-day trip, partially to pack up their belongings. “There was a surge to go back up for closure for the close-knit group,” Geller said. “While they are there, they will build a memorial to Jeff.” Grief counselors will also be on hand. In his fifth year with Tamarack, Geller said to his knowledge there has been one other death ever among Tamarack staff — a drowning in the 1960s. He is unaware of the death of any camper. A longtime Tamarack camper who joined the staff five years ago, Grey spent the past two years as director of Camp Kennedy. In a bio he wrote for the Tamarack Web site, Grey described his love of the camp. “I realized that my own personal strengths in leadership, confidence and Jewish identity had come largely from my summer experiences,” he wrote. “In the spirit of many great leaders before me, including my own family members, I put my heart back into the Tamarack world as a trip leader, counselor, supervisor and director. Teaching the next generation of leaders has given me immense satisfaction. Spending my summers at Camp Kennedy has helped me find great meaning in my own career and has connected me with an amazing community.”
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