White-Hot American Summers

The epic family drama behind an iconic American weight loss camp for kids

- David Gauvey Herbert

In the Catskill Mountains of New York, just off state Route 17, there’s a large gate flanked by totem poles. Beyond are rolling green hills, run-down cabins, banks of payphones, and a clue about the summer camp that once operated here: a dining hall signpost tagged ironically with the McDonald’s golden arches.

Until its abrupt closure this summer, Camp Shane was America’s longest-running weight-loss camp for kids. Thousands of children trekked to those 42 acres in Ferndale, Sullivan County, from 1968 to 2019, when the camp relocated. They lost weight together, usually regained it, and returned to lose it all again. Fad diets and fitness crazes came and went, but Shane was a constant. At its peak it hosted more than 500 campers, enrolled the children of celebrities, and netted $2 million a year for its owner. It inspired the 1995 Disney film Heavyweights and was featured in BBC and MTV documentaries.

David Ettenberg is the longtime owner of Camp Shane. Now 74, he’s always been fit and trim, and he keeps his own calorie counts low. In March he drove his cherry-red Mercedes to White Plains to be interviewed over lunch, and he ordered scrambled eggs and whole-wheat toast. As he ate he mused about pushy modern parents and the gluttony he’d recently witnessed at an airport Subway. He was determined to open this summer, despite the pandemic. But why? Why not just retire? “It’s not about money anymore,” he said. “It was in the beginning.”