SGF History

Martin Steiger's
SGF Pin

The histories of BSA Troop 95, the SGF Club, and SGF Vacation Camp are inexorably intertwined. Our brother Herman Tannenbaum uses an even better "i" word to describe that relationship. Herman's father Martin Tannenbaum was a president of the SGF Club, and both Herman and his brother Charles were Eagle Scouts in Troop 95. We thank Herman for generously sharing many Troop 95 anniversary programs from which we extracted both pictures and information about SGFVC. The pin at right belonged to Uncle Shorty's father, Martin Steiger, who also belonged to Troop 95 and was later a member of the SGFVC Board.

The three organizations are related as follows:

• BSA Troop 95 was established in 1912 under the leadership of first Scoutmaster Samuel G. "Pop" Friedman (pictured right). This was pretty pioneering stuff, since the Boy Scouts of America had been founded just two years earlier.
• The SGF Club, consisting of past and current Troop 95 scouts and scoutmasters, was founded in 1919.
• The SGF Club established SGF Vacation Camp in 1922 to provide a much needed healthful and enjoyable summer vacation experience to "underprivileged Jewish boys." The camp served as many as 520 boys each summer until its 1978 closing.

In 2005, thanks to former campers who still harbored the SGF spirit, our camp has been reborn.

Obits

SAMUEL G.FRIEDMAN - Philadelphia Insurance Man, 64, Boy Scout Leader, Dies - January 19, 1947, Sunday. (1882-1947). He was only 20 when he founded Troop 95.

MARTIN STEIGER - October 24, 1994. He was president of SGF Vacation Camp, a camp for boys who could not afford to go. Survivors: his wife, Ethel Soifer Steiger; a son, Neal; a daughter...

WILLIAM LOEB - November 21, 1986 - Services were to be held this morning for William S. Loeb, president of the Jewish Exponent and strong supporter of charitable organizations, who died Tuesday. He was 82 and lived in Center City. Loeb, prior to becoming president of the Exponent, had been vice president and board chairman of the weekly newspaper. He previously had been president of the Jewish Times of the Greater Northeast. He had been honored for his services to the Federation of Jewish Agencies and United Way. He served as president of the SGF Vacation Camp, as president of the Northwest Branch of the Jewish Y's and Centers of Greater Philadelphia...

SAMUEL ETTINGER, 77 - December 26, 1986 (1909-1986) - Reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer - He was a member of the Newspaper Guild and SGF, a charitable organization that used to run a vacation camp for indigent children. Mr. Ettinger served on the ...

ROBERT Z. SNYDER, 81 - February 14, 1992 (1911-1992) - Mr. Snyder took an active role in the SGF Camp, a vacation spot for underprivileged boys that was also founded by Friedman. Besides serving as a member of ...

MORTON PAUL MOSKOWITZ - August 11, 1988 - He served on the boards of the SGF Camp and the Strawberry Mansion Recreation Center. Surviving are his wife of 53 years, Tressa Mae Silverstein Moskowitz; ...

BARRY GOLDSTEIN - May 12, 2003 - Barry Goldstein was a successful teacher and investment counselor, but the loves of his life were basketball and pool. He was a star basketball player at South Philadelphia High School in the '50s, and a standout on Harry Litwak's teams at Temple University, where he played with stars like Guy Rogers and Jay Norman. Goldstein also loved the pool rooms of Philly, where he held his own with the pros, guys who played the game for a living....

SGF History

SGF Description - 1934

First Overnight Camp for Underprivileged Jewish Kids to Have a Website

Betcha didn't know that SGF was an Internet pioneer when the rest of the world was still spinning Hula Hoops. Long before the advent of the popular Internet, SGF was the first overnight camp for underprivilged Jewish kids to have a website.

Our site was programmed by the SGF Bunky News staff under the guidance of computer guru Uncle Steve Funt during four two-week encampments. Campers created the site on punch cards which ran on a University of Pennsylvania Univac mainframe. Only 37 university and government computers were even able to view our website, but here is proof - the sole remaining picture of our camp's pioneering technical prowess. No wonder so many SGF-ers went on to greatness.

We thank the anonymous SGF brother and the University of Texas Computer Center for providing this historical photograph.

Now, click here to go back in time, then click on the TV screen to read the actual 1969 Online Bunky News - just as it was back in the day. >>