Sleepaway camps: Here’s the latest!

Here’s the early scoop on a handful of summer sleepaway camps! To make sure we had the latest info for you, we asked each camp two questions (and a third one just for fun!):

• What was special or different about your camp in the summer of 2022?

• What will be different at your camp in 2023?

• What is your favorite camp alumni success story?

• Following are the answers we received (not all camps answered all questions).

Camps Airy and Louise Camp Airy for boys and Camp Louise for girls in the Catoctin Mountains of Western Maryland

• Camp Airy campers last summer got to try out the new mountain bike trail. Camp Louise campers celebrated 100 summers of fun and friendships.

• Camp Louise is getting pickleball this year, and Camp Airy will have new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities and the return of culinary activities.

• We have 100 years of alumni. We are hosting many events this year to celebrate 100 summers of memories.

Camp Galil Ottsville, Pennsylvania

• The addition last summer of an auto-belay climbing tower offered a new option for free time.

Campers could choose to climb the 25-foot tower right in the heart of camp, separate from our high-ropes course in the woods. The fourtrack tower set the stage for a lot of fun climbing competitions last summer.

• Alumni are part of an extraordinary tradition of youth leadership at the camp. Youth have long set the agenda. From the youth leadership of Habonim Dror to the youngest campers getting their say at our Friday all-camp meetings, from our eighth graders planning “Aliyah Bet” to our counselors-intraining taking over camp for a day, you never know what’s around the corner. Every summer is different because of the passion and creativity of our youth leaders building the amazing, fun summer community they wish to see. Summer 2023 welcomes the next generation of leaders.

Golden Slipper Camp Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

• Last summer we added elements to our lake, expanded our archery area, had a camp-wide karate kid night and made shofars.

• This coming summer is our 75th. We will be celebrating with foam parties, havdalah making and much more.

• Our alumni stories are long and varied over the past 75 years of campers and staff experiencing all we have to offer. One recent success story is that an alumnus who became a teacher after his experiences at camp became a member of the Golden Slipper Club and Charities,