Vison to Reality The Story of Rolling River Day Camp
How it all began
Rolling River Day Camp Owners and Directors Rhonda and Mark Goodman have a long history of summer camp in their family. Rhonda’s parents, Laurette and Nat Uziel, met as counselors in 1945 at Stissing Lake Camp. As a child, Rhonda attended day camp and sleepaway camp on Long Island and in Connecticut. Growing up in a single parent household, Mark was awarded a life-changing scholarship to attend sleepaway camp. Rhonda and Mark met at Camp Kent in 1975. They always discussed their appreciation for camp and how their educational backgrounds, camp experience and genuine love for children would make them perfect Directors.
From Camp Milett to Rolling River Day Camp
In the early 1990’s, Rhonda and Mark received the opportunity to purchase Camp Milett. The camp property, located along the shores of Mill River in East Rockaway, New York, had been owned by Rose and Frank Milett and utilized as a summer camp and nursery school since the 1950s. While the 5+ acre property needed sizable renovations, it was a beautiful, centrally-located waterfront campus with much potential.
Anchor Away
Rolling River was named through a local contest called “Name That Camp.” An East Rockaway elementary school student named Jon DeSantis suggested the name “Rolling River” and won free tuition for the first year. An extensive team of friends and family pitched in to get the camp off the ground. Rolling River opened in September 1992 as a day school. Opening day for summer camp was June 29, 1993 and Rhonda and Mark’s three children, Marissa, Alison and Jonathan, were some of the first campers to attend.
