Reunion Rescheduled to 2022

Hi all,

On behalf of the Saginaw Alumni Reunion Committee, and in collaboration with Camp Saginaw, I regret to inform everyone that we have elected to postpone the 2021 Saginaw Alumni Reunion to 2022.  While we likely would have been able to throw the reunion in some capacity, it would not have been the reunion that many are accustomed to.  Therefore, we have rescheduled the Saginaw Alumni Reunion to September 16-18, 2022. 

Please save the date and spread the word!  We have already begun planning what is expected to be the best reunion yet, filled with very long-awaited hugs, campfires, softball on Game Field, singing in the dining hall, beer-pong on Hill Court, and so much more; and will benefit the Herb Cohen Memorial Fund (HCMF) to help send underprivileged youth to camp each summer.  For those that have already registered, your registration will be rolled over to the 2022 reunion.  For those that have not yet registered, registration has already begun at the following link: https://saginaw.campintouch.com/ui/forms/application/person/App.  In the meantime, be on the lookout for communications from the HCMF for ways to stay connected over the next year leading up to the 2022 reunion!  Feel free to reach out to Brian Deming (bdeming12@gmail.com) with any questions.

Thanks,

HCMF Board and Alumni Reunion Committee

Saginaw Supes Walk-Up Reunion 2018 - Sponsored by HCMF

Top Row: Sandy (Rose) Sacki, Sandy Lipstein, Dave Wanikur, Bob Frankel, Eli Silverstein, Carl Silverman, Ned Korman, Richard Mandy, Joel Levin, Mickey Rothstein, Jim Korman, Jack Wilen, Marc Rosen, Jerry Blumenthal, Eileen (Jacobs) Feldman, and Hank Aberman

Middle Row: Sharon (Korman) Weiss, Nancy (Littman) Wanikur, Lillian Cohen, Maddie (Lavine) Zimmerman, Susie (Kotzin) Rosen, Shirley Chalick, Joe Gimbel, Leala Finkelstein, Lenny Finkelstein, and Iris Pevner

Front Row: Mike Goldstein, Kathy Aberman, Sarah Mandy, Francyn (Elion) Sacks, Jackie (Abelman) Cohen, Peep (Hayman) Cohen, Judy (Thomas) Lapping, Barbara (Perlin) Lowenstein, Nancy (Buckhantz) Kolker, Linda (Globman) Goldstein, and Karen Ball

Attending but not pictured: Connie Chalick, Jerry Phillips, Stan Weinstein, David Lipstein, and Beth Chalick

Through the concerted efforts of Hank Aberman and his willing cohorts a record crowd of 42 Saginaw Alums attended the Third Annual Saginaw Supes Walk-Up Reunion at the Marriott Waterfront Inner Harbor Hotel in Baltimore this Sunday.  Lots of new faces this year and plenty of renewed connections.   As you can see in the photo below they have all mellowed gracefully.

As has been custom, the day starts with lunch…

Enjoying the meal: Judy (Thomas) Lapping, Jackie (Abelman) Cohen, Barbara (Perlin) Lowenstein, Linda (Globman) Goldstein, Karen Ball, and Francyn (Elion) Sacks

Eli Silverstein, Joe Gimbel, and Dave Wanikur

Dave and Nancy Wanicur

Looking over old photos: Barbara (Perlin) Lowenstein, Sarah Mandy, and Richard Mandy

Shirley Chalick and Sandy (Rose) Sacki

From an early reunion in 1983…many were in attendance today

Herb Cohen's UCLA Press

Herbie Cohen was a lot of great things but as far as coaching went he was more of a cheerleader than a strategist.  This is a memorable Herbie story related by Hank Aberman about their 1957 basketball team:

The 1957 team as pictured from the left: Hank Aberman, Eddie Abrams, Neal Abrams, Marty Miller, Coach Herb Cohen, and Marty “Muttle” Weinberg.

It came as a big surprise when Herbie took a page from the great UCLA coach, John Wooden and introduced us to Wooden’s big man press at practice one day.  When the visiting team would take the ball out of bounds, he wanted Mike Bratman and me, to jump up and down in front of the guy throwing the ball in to disrupt and intercept the inbound pass.

That night in the counselor game, Herbie called a time out when the other team was going to inbound the ball.  His coaching order, “Do the UCLA Press!.”

Mike and I did, the ball was tipped, Bratman got it and went up and MISSED the easy layup.  Herbie almost had a heart attack.  His chance for coaching fame evaporated.

Twenty years later, Kathy and I visited Bratman at Stanford University where he was a Professor of Philosophy.  Somehow, the discussion centered on Herbie’s failed UCLA press.  I said to Mike how bad he must have felt missing that easy layup.  Mike looked at me with a smile and said, “Hank, I didn’t miss that layup, you did”.

And then the memory I had so successfully repressed for twenty years came rushing back to me.  Seeing myself again, going up for the shot, hearing Herbie’s screams of joy turn to anguish as I blew the layup.  For twenty years I had successfully forgotten who was the goat that fateful night.

Then again. if I had made the shot, Herbie, inspired by his coaching success, might have left camp for a career in the NBA thus robbing us of his charming and instructive presence for many years. So I guess I did Saginaw a favor by missing that shot.

More Than A Game Documentary Film

A '30 For 30' style tribute to one of the most significant traditions of Camp Saginaw: the Hill/IJ Game. Note: All credit for the '30 for 30' idea goes to Zeus XXV Brett Perrotta.

Every kid who has returned to Saginaw summer after summer to fulfill their dream of walking under the arch and up the incline past the pagoda as a Hillman, understands that the summer ritual of the Hill-IJ Game is “more than a game”.

The Hill-IJ Game has been the vehicle but the drivers have been the thirty plus men who have served as Zeus, following the lead of Herbie Cohen. Hill Spirit has molded young boys into young men each summer at Saginaw for the last 60 years.

Joshua Charmatz, Hill Counselor from 2014 to 2017, has captured the essence of this game in his ambitious video production, “More Than A Game”. Face-to-face interviews with nine Zeuses, including Hank Aberman, Fred Hecker, Jaret Lyons, and others trace the history of the game since it’s origin in the 1950’s.

Josh and Jake Charmatz provided the creative vision making this video possible

Their voices and personal stories bring to life the impact the Hill-IJ Game, Hill Spirit, and the guidance of Herbie Cohen had in creating the mystique of the Hill as one of the oldest and most significant traditions of Camp Saginaw. Sit back an enjoy this production which will spark memories of your own Saginaw experiences and the influence of The Game.