Lag B'Omer Is Celebrated at Strawberry Park

The Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer is celebrated on the 33rd day between the second day of Passover and the holiday of Shavuot. The restrictions of this time period are suspended for one day of merriment, with dancing, singing, and games. Each year Solomon Schechter Academy celebrates Lag B'Omer with a field day held at Strawberry Park in Preston. Sixth grade team leaders, choose their team color, and all team members dress in that color. This can sometimes include a pink wig, fuzzy orange hat, or green hair. The games begin with team cheers, written and choreographed by the captains. Then, the teams compete in games including a relay race, puzzle completion, and jumping hurdles. After the games is a much-deserved snack break, but there's a catch: all team snacks must be the team color. Then the older students play a game of baseball, while the younger students go on a hayride adventure. Everyone meets again at the mess hall, where Schechter parents have been manning the grills to prepare a hotdog lunch. Lunch is followed by a trivia game emceed by our head of school, Karen Rosenberg. Immediately afterward is Israeli dancing led by teacher Jerry Fischer and our Israeli emissaries. The day at Strawberry Park is wrapped up with a bon fire and ice pops. Everyone then piles back onto the bus, exhausted yet smiling from the endless fun celebrating the holiday of Lag B'Omer with friends, teachers, and parents, and already looking forward to returning next year.