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
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