The initial part of this segment are sections from the first draft of Lou Ehrenreich’s The History of Camp Kawaga which he completed only two days before his death, December 25, 1974. Lou had been asked to prepare a history of Camp Kawaga for the American Camping Association. In so doing, he documented the founding and early development of Camp under the guidance of his father, “Doc E,” who founded Kawaga in 1915. He also paid tribute to the ideals and philosophies which remain the backbone of Kawaga’s influence on campers and staff.



The ‘saga’ of Kawaga began in 1878 when an immigrant family landed at Ellis Island. In addition to the Mother and Father, there were three children in this Ehrenreich family – a six year-old daughter, a son Bernard, and a baby brother. The parents, speaking only German, settled in an area where they could converse with compatriots. Their trials and tribulations were many; poverty and austerity was their way of life. Yet from this most humble beginning the one son, Bernard, became a Rabbi; the other son, Herman, a Doctor of Medicine.



From his very early years, Bernard had a keen interest in the youth of his country. His attendance at the City College of New York was made possible by working as one of the first Playground Directors for the city of New York. He graduated from City College in 1898 and in 1900 received his degree as Rabbi from the New York Theological Seminary.