A message from Uncle Tom, Director of GSC

CAMP 2008

The camp season of 2008 has finally arrived and I am glad to report that we are off to a strong start. The staff spent 5 days at orientation getting to know each other, training, and preparing themselves for camper arrivals. Now that the campers have arrived, the knowledge they gained during orientation is being put to good use.

The campers have been here since June 24th and on the first day noticed changes within the camp program. Our Wiffleball Stadium has been a great success, along with the lacrosse program. Our upper ball field has not seen so much action in a long time. Of course, the campers are enjoying all the activities we have to offer here due to the hard work of so many volunteers throughout the years. It is a joy to see our campers making new friends and bonding so quickly with their counselors.


We are sending 4 bunks of campers to the Holocaust Museum in DC on July 3rd. I have met with these campers and they are very excited and look forward to this trip. Once they get back, check out our blog for their stories. Speaking of our blog, I hope you take the time to visit our website. There are literally thousands of pictures already posted from this summer. Some of the pictures are being taken by campers in our photography elective.

Thank you for the opportunity to share the summer of 2008 with your children.

Tom O’Neill
Director GSC

Tuesday, July 1 recap

Today is the first day of July and we are in full swing. William Ladynak is on pace to shatter records at the lake, as he has caught 26 fish so far with 2+ weeks left in the summer! Last night was Leagues Night, with a round robin of activities hosted by Uncles Spoon and Chad, and it appears to have been a huge success. Tonight is Night at the Races, where our campers and counselors compete in various races and the rest of the camp tries to predict the winner of each race.

Meals have been hearty: yesterday we had french toast for breakfast and chicken strips for lunch, and today we had eggs for breakfast and chili for lunch. I can't wait to see what we have for dinner tonight!

We're working on editing some more podcasts and will post them as soon as they are ready. In the meantime, check out our Golden Slipper Camp pictures or follow our Golden Slipper Camp Twitter feed!

Sincerely,
Uncle Brando

Counselor Hunt & First Weekend (and Podcast 04)

Hello Family, Fans, and Slipperites!

The weekend is behind us, and it was full of fun times! Saturday's Welcome Back Dance lived up to its hype, with lots of good music and dancing. Some highlights include Uncle Tyrone and the Bleacher Choir singing "All My Life" by K-Ci & Jo Jo, Uncle Corey Davis beating a waiter in a dance-off, and Uncle Greg leading the whole camp in the "Listen To Your Heart" dance, a relatively new Golden Slipper tradition! All in all, it was a great start to a summer of dances!

Uncle Bill Kovnat, a former counselor and spirit award winner and our current photographer, came on Sunday to take bunk photos. I had the opportunity to sit down with Bunks 8 and 9 and talk to them about The Welcome Back Dance and camp in general. The podcast of that conversation is available by clicking on GSC Podcast 04.

Last night was the Counselor Hunt. For this activity, many counselors hide throughout camp and the rest of the camp tries to find them. Each counselor is worth a different amount of points (Uncle Spoon will announce the point tallies today at lunch). Uncle Jack Ross, who declared himself the greatest hider in Golden Slipper Camp, offered a prize to any bunk that could find him. Bunks I & J found him and will be receiving a prize; Uncle Spoon also shared last night that Uncle Jack was the only counselor worth negative points! The general feedback from campers and staff is that the Counselor Hunt was a lot of fun. As Nate in Bunk 2 said: "That was so much crazy fun...and we didn't even find anyone!!!"

The hunted counselors

It was a perfect weekend...almost. We were able to hold off the rain all weekend until about 11pm last night, but that ended Bunks 5 & 6's campout a little early =( Today is beautiful so far, with a clear blue sky and temperatures in the mid-70s.

Finally, we have created an email address for you to send ideas regarding the podcast, blog, or camp program. For all other inquiries -- like if you have questions about a specific camper or staff member, or camp business -- please call the camp office at 610-660-0520 (Bala Cynwyd office) or 570-629-1654 (Stroudsburg office).


Podcast 04 - First Weekend First Encampment

Until later...
Uncle Brando

Podcast - Staff Orientation and The Welcome Show

I just finished editing a new podcast featuring the sounds of Orientation and The Welcome Show. Hopefully this captures the atmosphere of camp and the magic we all share. Enjoy it, and I welcome your feedback through the comments section of the blog (click comments at the bottom of this post!).

Also, be sure to check out the blog post with our campers' first podcasts!

Click here for the Staff Orientation and Welcome Show podcast!

Camper Podcast - Meet the Morning Electives Group: Podcasting & Photography

With podcasts becoming increasingly more popular, Golden Slipper Camp has decided to provide our campers an opportunity to participate in this emerging technology. During the Summer of 2008, Aunt Jen and I will be teaming up with campers during electives (and throughout the day) armed with smiles and Zoom H4 recorders. Our campers will write, record, interview, edit, and publish podcasts so that they can listen to them after the summer and access them when they get older.

Additionally, the podcasts will provide you, our loyal readers/listeners throughout the Slipper world, another opportunity to feel like a part of the magic that happens during the Summer of 2008. We'll be putting up podcasts featuring interviews, Lunchtime News, evening activities, and much more. You can listen to the first GSC podcast, featuring Uncle Spoon and myself, which explains podcasts in a little more detail.

Right now, we are please to share a GSC first, something that keeps GSC at the head of the summer camp class: our first podcasts featuring campers! To listen to the GSC Podcast, featuring the campers of morning electives, click the GSC Podcast Logo below.

Podcast 1 - Meet the Morning Electives Group from Week 1


Also, below is our second camper podcast. In this episode, the morning electives group interviews the campers and counselors from the photography elective as they learn the ins and outs of podcasting.

Podcast 2 - Interviewing the Photography Elective

Day 4 and Going Strong!

Wow! It's hard to believe that we are approaching our first weekend of first encampment. So much has happened, and starting today we'll be blogging on an almost-daily basis!

Our first night was the Welcome Show, where our counselors and staff perform in silly skits to make our campers feel, well, welcome. Uncle Dylan from Ohio definitely stole the show, as he drew many laughs in "Eggs" and "Emergency Procedures." Uncle Jarad, the Kadden Village Leader, helped whip our administrative staff into shape as "Drill Sergeant," Aunt Steph, the Friends Village Leader, showed why we don't chew gum at camp, and Uncle Joey, the softball instructor, was covered in peanut butter, jelly, and water as Uncle Donte's stand-in in a skit aptly named, "Stand In." Click here to see pictures of the Welcome Show skits.

Day 1 of activities, Wednesday, was excellent, with campers achieving many firsts as they worked their way into the camp routine. Specific accomplishments will be shared throughout the summer right here on the GSC blog! Our new lacrosse program has been a smashing success, and Aunt Ellen is teaching many campers the basics of lacrosse. At the bottom of this page you can find pictures of lacrosse and campers in action. Our evening activity that night was Co-Village Campfires, where two villages paired up to hear stories, sing songs, make s'mores...and to meet other campers and counselors around camp! Uncle Spoon told his famous Purple Gorilla story to Vogelson/Strauss and Kadden/Friends.

It rained Thursday morning, but it takes much more than some rain to stop the fun at Golden Slipper Camp. Uncle Spoon, the Evening Activities Coordinator, hosted The Human Dutch Auction. The Human Dutch Auction is a camp tradition where the camp is divided into teams that compete in a variety of races and contests in the Wolfson Family Sports Pavilion. Click here to see pictures from The Human Dutch Auction. The theme for the activity was Sports, so the teams were Basketball, Football, Hockey, and Baseball, and the competition was fierce (but fun).

Thursday night was dry enough for Leagues Tug of War, so we all met on the lower ballfield and let the tugging begin. Click here for pictures from the Tug of War. Friends Village counselors won the village tug for the girls' side of camp, and Kadden Village counselors won for the boys' side of camp. The boys' side challenge was that staff from the two villages who lost had to wear dresses to lunch today (Friday). You can see pictures of Vogelson and Council Boys' Counselors wearing their finest women's wear by clicking here.

Finally, tonight was Slipper Cinema. Food for the past few days has been fantastic, with Uncles Tracey, Miles, and Gregg, and Aunt Crystal serving up delicious steak sandwiches, grilled cheese, and more! We also said our traditional prayers tonight to honor the Sabbath and look forward to tomorrow's cookout lunch.

Check back tomorrow for more updates from Golden Slipper Camp, as well as some audio clips from The Welcome Show! And, as always, we welcome your feedback on the comments section of this blog. To leave a comment, just click here.

Sincerely,
Uncle Brando

The Summer of 2008 is Underway

Hello Slipper Family!

It's only June 22, but the summer of 2008 is well underway. Currently, all 120+ members of our staff are here and making sure that GSC is ready for the arrival of campers on Tuesday afternoon! We have staff from many states across America -- Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Virginia, California, Texas, Florida, and Washington, D.C., to name a few. We also have staff from several different countries, including Israel, Germany, Czech Republic, Australia, Great Britain, and Sweden.

Friday night we played a Staff Trivia Game, and last night we had a Staff Campfire complete with stories, games, skits, and sung songs featuring Uncle Adam E. on guitar and Uncle Jarad singing. Myself and the rest of the staff have been having a great time here in Bartonsville, but we can't wait for Tuesday when the rest of you arrived.

Check this blog regularly for more updates on the world of Golden Slipper Camp, which will include news, questions, and other items created by our campers and staff, as well as podcasts featuring campers, staff, and evening activities. Also, be sure to check out Golden Slipper Camp's pictures, which will be taken by Aunt Katie from Australia this summer! Also, be sure to join our Camper & Family Social Network or Staff/Alumni Social Network (18 years or older, please) so you can follow our video updates.

In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment if you have any ideas or news you'd like to share with the Golden Slipper community!

Sincerely,
Uncle Brando