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



again, hear everyone’s voice again and be in this envi-
ronment where it feels like it is electricity through
everyone’s body,” said Jordyn Citron, a counselor of
Team Ireland who is in her 15th summer at Golden
Slipper. Citron’s campers added that, without restrictions,
they felt like they didn’t have to be fake. Th ey could
be their true selves, interact with other kids around
camp and make new friends.

“Th is is my fi rst summer with no masks,” camper
Arianna Lodge said. “I came last year and we had
masks, and I didn’t get to meet like anyone.”
Aft er the morning at the races, the campers rested in
their cabins for a while before heading to the dining hall
for lunch. Everyone ate at the same time, and campers
talked, laughed and even broke out in some cheers.

Guida, Freedman and other head staff members
continued improvising their way through the rainy
day that was upending their normal, mostly outdoor
schedule. Th e grass fi elds were still too wet to use,
but the rain was stopping and the sun was starting to
peek through the clouds.

Near the end of lunch, Freedman picked up the
microphone and announced the schedule for the
aft ernoon. Rest hour fi rst, of course, as everyone
needed to digest. But then back-to-back periods of
co-ed swim and preparation for “TikTok Night” later
that week, when each cabin would perform a comedic
skit. Half of the bunks would do one or the other, and
then they would switch.

In the pool, boys swam on one side and girls on
the other, with ropes in between, though there was
a middle section for them to swim together if they
wanted. Some boys and girls outside of the pool
walked out of their respective areas to meet and talk.

Counselors not on lifeguard duty jumped into the
water to splash campers, toss them around and carry
Team Ireland at the Golden Slipper
Camp’s morning at the races activity
Golden Slipper campers enjoy a morning
activity on a rainy day.

them on their backs. One male counselor walked
around singing the Ed Sheeran hit “Bad Habits” and
told a camper that he loved the song.

“You get to see smiles. Th at was missed last year,”
said Aaron Ransom, a second-year counselor who
was at the pool. “It just feels more alive. It feels like
camp.” But perhaps nothing felt campier than the prepara-
tions for “TikTok Night.”
One girls’ cabin was focusing on a “Dora the
Explorer” theme and, in particular, the main char-
acter’s famous “Backpack” song. Th e tallest girl in
the bunk played Dora while the smallest played the
backpack, contorting her body into a ball shape so
her bunkmate could lock arms with her and hold her
up on her back.

As they practiced this routine before Guida, who
was driving around to observe some practice ses-
sions, their bunkmates cracked up from the porch.

Th e director did, too.

Over on the tennis courts, the waiters and wait-
resses, or the oldest campers who help with meals,
practiced their own skit that portrayed drop-off day
at the start of the summer. “Parents” hugged their
precious “kids” and refused to let go, while the “kids”
tried to break away. Th ere was a single parent, a mom
and a dad and two moms.

“We’re progressive here,” a counselor said to Guida.

Aft er the “campers” had broken away onto their
buses, the director himself walked up to the “parents”
to shake their hands. Only it wasn’t Guida, of course;
it was a waiter playing him. He walked down the line,
nodded his head and shook every hand.

Th e real director and everyone else on the court
cracked up together.

“It’s kind of fun,” said Hugo Simonetti, the kid who
played Guida.

As the clock ticked past 4 p.m., the director
returned to his offi ce. Sitting on his desk was a thick
binder for the American Camp Association, which
would visit the next day to inspect and hopefully
certify Golden Slipper.

Guida said the binder contained “everything about
camp,” and that he was confi dent the inspection
would go just fi ne. It was probably his biggest concern
of the day along with the rain.

“We have to deal with, ‘It’s raining; what are we
going to do? It’s too hot; what are we doing to do?’”
he added. “Th ose are the real issues that aren’t real
issues, but they are camp issues. We have to deal with
them before we think about anything else.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 19