The Epic Family Feud Behind an Iconic American Weight-Loss Camp for Kids
For five decades, as the children at Camp Shane shed pounds, made friends, and found romance, a fierce succession drama was playing out.
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.