HONESDALE, WAYNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Many schools are already out for the year and camps nationwide are getting ready to welcome hundreds of kids for the hot summer months.
84-year-old Irv Bader hops inside a UTV driving through Camp Seneca Lake in Honesdale, making sure everything is in its place.
It’s something he’s done for half a century, marking a huge milestone that he says he would do all over again.
Bader bought the Orthodox Jewish Camp that prides itself in sports back in 1974.
His passion for basketball stemmed from his childhood, later being drafted by the Baltimore Bullets, an NBA team now known as the Washington Wizards.
Seneca has seen tens of thousands of campers and staff under his watch, including many like Larry Wingate who is a former camper turned employee.
The family atmosphere reaches generations as more than 80% of campers have parents or relatives that attended the summer camp. All of them get the chance to experience values and skills that can benefit them throughout their lives
Kindness and passion radiating from the man behind the wheel, something many of them are forever grateful for.
Irv Bader credits his youthful energy to a diet including Entenmann’s cakes like Devil Dogs and donuts.
Camp Seneca Lake welcomes campers on June 27th.
