Harand Camp has been a family-run business
since its founding and many of our senior staff
members have been working with us for over 35 years
("Lifetime Haranders"). All administrators,
department heads, directors and choreographers are
working professionals and/or educators with years of
expertise. The knowledge, commitment and care they
bring to their positions at Harand Camp is unsurpassed.
We couldn't ask for a better team to help guide your
children towards a safe and successful summer camp
experience.
Counselors come from across the country - and
many have been campers themselves! All counselors must
be 18+ and out of high school, but many hold advanced
degrees in fields such as education, theater, and more.
All must submit an extensive application (including
employment history) and are subjected
to a reference and background check. Counselors
attend a rigorous pre-camp training so they are ready to
help your camper thrive the moment they step off the
bus. Counselors act as advisor, friend, teacher, guide,
parent, and big brother/sister, helping to create a
sense of unity and family.
The entire staff comes
together as a team working to create a wonderful
and safe experience for all Haranders. We are positive,
enthusiastic, and above all, selfless. Our mantra is "Camp
is for the Campers" as the children must always be
the first priority.
To find out how you can be a part of the Harand Camp team,
please visit our employment page.
All those interested in working at Harand Camp must submit
a complete application (including an employment history)
and are subjected to a reference and background check.
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Judy Mooney
Co-Director
Janice Gaffin
Co-Director
Nora Gaffin
Co-Director
Samara Harand
Theater, Dance, Communications
Gordy Malis
Program Director
Jeff Pepowski
Business Manager
Mark Bracken
Technical Director
Bridget Dominiak
Costume Director
Dance
Angela Lovell
Art Director
Shannon Dominiak
Dance
Jo Black
Accompanist
Vocal Music
Errol Pearlman
Accompanist
Vocal Music
Rob Denien
Accompanist
Vocal Music
Kay Satoh
Accompanist
Vocal Music
Paul Sucherman
Accompanist
Vocal Music
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Sulie
Harand
Sulie Harand (1919 - 2016) studied
opera at a young age with Richard DeYoung at the American
Conservatory of Music, and was coached by Kurt Herbert
Adler, who became the Artistic
Director of the San Francisco Opera. She won contests in
Chicago movie houses and radio
shows, culminating in a long run at the Oriental Theatre.
Sulie played clubs across the Midwest,
performing tributes to Grace Moore, Irving Berlin, George
Gershwin, and others. She quickly
turned to musical theatre and established an enviable
reputation with her one-woman-shows
where she would become many characters in a single
performance without changing costume.
Traveling all over the country with 39 different shows in
her repertoire, Sulie brought laughter,
tears, and beauty to the stage. In 1962, Sulie was granted
a private audition at New York’s
Carnegie Hall with composer Frank Loesser (Guys and
Dolls) and Broadway producer Stuart
Ostrow. Though she was offered a starring role, Sulie
declined because she did not want to
be away from her family for so long. While she continued
performing, Sulie opened the Harand
Studios of the Theatre Arts with her sister Pearl, which
later expanded to include Harand Camp.
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Pearl Harand
Pearl Harand (1915-1999) began as a
great actress, comedienne and folk singer and was
a member of the Chicago Repertory Theatre alongside Studs
Terkel and Nate Davis. She
also studied literature and took theatre courses at
Northwestern University. Pearl later
married Sam Gaffin, who would become bookkeeper, chef and
scuba diving instructor
at Harand Camp, and they had two daughters, Nora
(Co-Director of Harand Camp and
Head of Drama Department) and Janice (Co- Director of
Harand Camp and Camp Nurse).
While Sulie was doing her one- woman musicals, Pearl was
writing original material, first
for nightclubs and then for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs,
and well known organizations
around the country. She would tailor make the material
into comic sketches and songs
and later Pearl performed one-woman shows such as the
story of Molly Picon and Fiddler
on the Roof. Pearl founded the studios and camp with Sulie
and their husbands, where
she headed the Drama Department, coordinated costumes and
tech, and ran the business
office with Byron and Sam. She passed away in 1999, a
second mother to many alumni.
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Byron
Friedman
Byron Friedman (1915-1994) passed
away in Beaver Dam at camp in 1994. He received
his Bachelors in Psychology, studied social work, and also
served with the First Marine
Division in the South Pacific during WWII. Though his
first job after the war was as a Vice
President with American Tobacco Company, Byron decided to
be Sulie’s business manager,
and when Sulie and Pearl opened the Harand Studios of
Theatre Arts, Byron became the
administrator. At one time he was the President of the
Chicago chapter of ANTA (American
National Theatre Academy). Byron was also a loving and
devoted husband to Sulie, and
was proud to be her greatest fan. Fondly known as “Big
Toe” or “Uncle Byron” to many
alumni, his loving personality combined with his
psychology background prepared him
well for his unforgettable role as the beloved Camp
Director.
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Sam
Gaffin
A
First Sergeant in WWII, Sam Gaffin (1915-1979) was a
member of the Chicago Repertory
Theater, but not at the same time as Pearl. They just
missed each other but wound up
marrying and having two daughters. He first worked with
Byron at the American Tobacco
Company as a salesman, and at camp, taught scuba diving
and other athletics, ran the
bookkeeping, and later went to culinary school and became
the camp's Chef, replacing
Rollie. Sam also worked side by side at the office with
Byron and Pearl and alumni
remember how “Uncle Sam” would sit quietly on the side
porch of Wonderful Town smoking
his pipe, and often shooting the breeze with the guys. And
on Sundays, he would do a
cook out, with hamburgers, bratwurst, and all the
trimmings. A calm confidence, always
ready to listen, Uncle Sam was loved by all. He passed
away in 1979.
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