feature story
Kids at the Golden Slipper
Camp in the Poconos are
enjoying a mask-free summer
in 2022.

A Post-COVID Day at
Golden Slipper Camp
in the Poconos
18 JULY 28, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
in the outside world. It’s just like camp used to be
before 2020 — and throughout the fi rst 70-plus years
of Golden Slipper’s existence.

“I say at the beginning, at orientation, and I’m sure
I stole it from someone over the years, that camp
is just trees and land and some buildings. But that
energy, that vibe, that’s us, that’s the staff , that’s peo-
ple returning year aft er year,” said Matt Freedman,
Golden Slipper’s special events coordinator.

Freedman attended the Jewish camp as a camper
and counselor from 1990-2002. Last year, though, the
schoolteacher returned to take over the role of special
events coordinator, primarily organizing evening
activities. During his fi rst summer back in 2021, Freedman
saw the trees, the land and the buildings. Th is year,
though, he sees camp.

“It was physically back (last year). It’s emotionally
back this year,” he explained.

Monday, July 25 was a rainy morning at Golden
Slipper. Th e outdoor fi elds were soggy, and the walk-
ing path was marked by puddles.

Th ere was not a camper or counselor to be found
around the grounds ... until you walked up to the
hybrid basketball court/evening activity hall that you
will fi nd at almost any sleepaway camp. Th e facility
with a roof but no walls, to let the fresh air in, was
ideal for a morning activity on a rainy day.

And so everyone, all 80 or so campers, their coun-
selors, the head staff members, Freedman and camp
Director Justin Guida were gathered there for an a.m.

version of “night at the races,” an evening activity in
which bunks compete in games like relay races while
riding pool tubes.

Freedman bounded around the stage, blasted
upbeat music and made campy jokes about how much
he was enjoying his power. On the court below, kids
raced up and down, cheered each other on and went
wild when their bunks won. Guida watched from the
side and smiled.

A girls’ cabin called themselves Team Ireland and
kept repeating a chant about the European country.

An older male camper informed the Jewish Exponent
that his nickname was “the alpha Jew.” All of this
went on for almost two hours.

“We can actually feel everyone’s spirit and joy
Photo by Jarrad Saff ren
D riving through the Poconos to get to Golden
Slipper Camp, you won’t see a business
or residential area for miles. Just winding
roads and trees, and then more winding roads and
trees, until you roll up to a security booth with an
offi cer in it and a sign up ahead that tells you that, yes,
you are now at camp.

Like at so many other Jewish sleepaway camps,
the bubble feeling is real here. Summer is a place to
escape into mountains, nature and a self-contained
world of spirit and connection.

And this summer, aft er two years in which a real-
world problem, COVID-19, pierced that bubble, the
feeling is fi nally back.

Golden Slipper’s 80 or so campers, boys and girls
between the ages of seven and 15, can walk around
without masks, social distancing requirements and
fear. Th ey do not have to think twice about interact-
ing with others.

COVID is still present in the form of the negative
tests that are required for walking up and around this
Stroudsburg hill. But once you are in, you can forget
about the pandemic and everything else happening
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER