It is a great American tradition to celebrate the Fourth of July in grand style, especially at Jacobs Camp! In recent summers, we have dubbed the day Americafest!, a day-long "Special Day" to commemorate our nation's birthday. (Take a peak at our 2011 Americafest festivities.)

This year, though, Americafest is going to be even bigger, because we are going to be joined for the day by Camp Darom. Camp Darom is the first and only Modern Orthodox summer camp serving the Southern United States. Founded in 1976 (our nation's bicentennial year - coincidence?) by Rabbi Rafael Grossman of Baron Hirsch Congregation of Memphis, Tennessee, the camp has long been held at rented facilities in North Mississippi. Although the two camps practice their Judaism very differently, our missions are very much the same: to serve Jewish youth in the Deep South.

For both camps, this is our first inter-camp program day, and we are going to do it up! The afternoon will include a Fourth of July Parade featuring everyone from both camps, followed by a carnival. Then, in the evening, we will all enjoy an awesome concert by Dan Nichols, capped off with fireworks.

Special thanks to the Foundation for Jewish Camp for providing some funding to help make this collaboration possible.

We think this is a pretty big deal, so be on the lookout for lots of coverage on our website, blog, and social media platforms.