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A. Ball, A Drive,
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page 118

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o be a great camp director,
you have to be a pinball
wizard. At least that's how
Sid Friedman looks at his
job as head of Camp Tanuga.
"I'm bombarded with questions and
phone calls constantly throughout the
day, throughout the year," he says.
"Everything comes at you."
To sit in the director's chair, it's nec-
essary to be able to put out fires.
"Not campfires, mind you
(although that could come in handy),
but rather the dozens of disturbances
that ignite around the clock, during
every season, from how to get three
feet of snow off the cabin roofs in the
dead of winter to where to quickly
replenish the hot dogs that ran out
sooner than expected during the
Fourth. of July picnic."
Sitting around the proverbial camp-
fire and singing songs while toasting
marshmallows, aren't things Friedman
gets to relish often. Relaxing is pretty
much out of the question for this 39-
year-old Birmingham resident, who
runs Camp Tanuga with co-director
Mark Coden.
"I'm always walking from group to
group, checking to he sure everything's
okay," says Friedman of the private camp
that was founded by his father in 1952.

Camp Tanuga, located on Manistee
Lake about 30 miles east of Traverse
Ciry, opens its doors every June. The
camp offers two, three-week sessions
for 150-200 kids, ages 6-15.
In addition to the summer camp,
Friedman and his staff keep busy host-
ing corporate and school programs.
"We're a little different than most
'camps, because we also have other pro-
grams that run throughout the year,"
Friedman explains. One of the clients
is "Team Works, a one-year-old corn-
pany that focuses on corporate team
building," he says.
Between those endeavors and camp
life, Friedman's daily planner is chock-
full of tasks and duties. There are also
dozens of responsibilities that don't
show up in his planner, things like
shoveling the snow off roofs, replacing
old pots and pans, and maintaining
anything that can go wrong on the
property's 300-acre spread.
Thinking about sitting in the direc-
tor's chair? While not exactly the most
comfortable seat at camp, it's certainly
exciting. Friedman's position requires
the enthusiasm of a, well, camp direc-
tor; the sprinting skills of Barry
Sanders (Friedman can track campers
who've gone astray in about five min-
utes); and the spontaneity and creativi-
ty of an artist ("an hour of rain can
change your entire day's plan," he
says).

Mark Coden and Sid Friedman are ready for camp.

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4/16

1999

Detroit Jewish News 107