Hank Aberman, took on the reins as Zeus II in 1961 and continued to serve as the leader of the Hill through 1967. Under his thoughtful guidance the concepts of the Hill developed a life of their own each and every year. His imposing persona, which became synonymous with what it meant to be a Hillman, was a unique blend of intimidation, reverence, respect, and accomplishment. Generations of campers and staff from his era and beyond have felt his influence and grown and prospered as a result.
Hank’s involvement with Saginaw, the Hill, and its alumni continues uninterrupted to this day. Visits to camp, alumni reunions, leadership work on the board of the HCMF, the maintenance of his Saginaw Supes mailing list, which provided the genesis of this website, and weekly Zoom conversations among friends have kept the Saginaw flames burning. As the song says, “It takes a Hillman to sing a Hillman song” and nobody has ever sung it louder than our fearless leader Hank Aberman.
Below is a compilation of the thoughts of many of his friends who have come to know and love him over the last 60 plus years. I am sure you will recognize the sentiment therein and reflect on how much Hank touched your life as well.
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On one of Hank’s many summer visits back to Camp Saginaw, this tribute song was inked by Bruce Lipstein (Zeus V) and presented by Bruce and David Lipstein in Girls’ Lodge to commemorate the occasion. It was sung to the music of Mame, which, if you cannot remember the tune, you can hear through this link (Mame on YouTube). Zeus II thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgic performance as did the sold out audience in attendance.
(To the Tune of “Mame”)
Who put the class on top of the Hill ……………… H-A-N-K
Who gave so many campers a thrill ……………….. H-A-N-K
As Zeus on Mt. Olympus you wowed us with your spirit and your charm
And those who were misguided were righted by your famed “shot in the arm”
Your men at Penn who played basketball ……….. H-A-N-K
Would grace the court at Camp Saginaw ………… H-A-N-K
You led our team in battle with each and every bucket that you sank
The food was barely edible
The reffing was forgettable
You’d tell us “that’s incredible” ….. H-A-N-K
You took your intellect and your style ……………… H-A-N-K
To teach at Shippensburg in Carlyle ……………….. H-A-N-K
You met and married Kathy with all classic merriment and zeal
And you are blessed to have a bright and handsome legacy in Neil
You gave us memories that are great ………………. H-A-N-K
You saved the day back in ’58 ………………………… H-A-N-K
You worked with Herb and Mickey and all of us know who we have to thank
You’re truly inspirational
And highly educational
We think you’re just sensational…. H-A-N-K …… H-A-N-K
H—A—N—K
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If I could be granted a week to revisit my past before I pass on to the chill of the tomb, I would select a week at Saginaw, where the likes of Herb, Hank and “leather balls” roam.
Why do I include Hank on this exclusive list?
Well, the times at Saginaw were memorable, yet there is the danger that they will be stored in some area of the brain which is rarely awake.
Hank has been a torch, keeping alight the friendships, the experiences, the joys of those summers at Saginaw.
Thank you Hank for keeping those fires burning, and for breaking the nose of Kenny Greene (just kidding).
Mickey Rothstein
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Hank’s first year as a counselor (1957), he had read the confidential “welfare” report on me that had been composed by my Hill 3 counselor, Rabbi Sam Wruble (Wab Woob). The Wab apparently was of the opinion that Jimmy Korman was a little too exuberant. My welfare report compared favorably to Charles Manson’s.
Hank was scheduled to be my Hill 5 counselor in his first year.
Hank, as it turned out, can get somewhat physical in certain circumstances. Before camp even began, Hank told Herbie, “I’m going to kill this kid”. Herbie switched Hank to Hill 6. My Hill 5 counselors were Marty Miller and the ever-adorable Joel Levin. Hank has a different version of this story that is understandably somewhat less incriminating.
However, I credit that very same Hank Aberman with making the last guy chosen for the 1956 basketball league (me) into a decent enough player to make his high school basketball team. So in the end I thank Hank for a) not killing me, and b) working with me one-on-one to improve my ability and confidence on the court.
Thanks, Big Dude.
Jim Korman
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Hank and I were “Hill” counselors in the late 50’s and got to know each other on all levels. He and I were red and blue color war counselor captains the same year and even though his red team beat my blue team, he was gracious and didn’t gloat as I probably would have.
I have many memories concerning Hank, but there is one that sticks out. For several years after my 13 years at camp I brought up a basketball team to play the camp team. Before the game-and after the game- Hank made sure my players had a good time and were comfortable while at camp.
Hank was the perfect host (for me to be so nice-it feels like vinegar going down my throat). If ever I would need something I know he would help without reservation.
We still are the “Men of the Hill”.
Joel Levin
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I was the drama counselor the summers of ’62 and ’63. My first remembrance of Hank is as follows: I was walking up to the hill one afternoon and at the top, I saw this very, very tall guy standing there with his arms folded, as if he had been waiting for me. It was Hank. Actually it was Zeus II protecting his turf, The Hill. Huffing and puffing a bit from the climb, I suddenly felt like Jack, who having just climbed the bean stalk, encounters the Giant.
Hank’s performance of Zeus II made him a Saginaw Celebrity. However, that performance was surpassed by his execution of the role of Vernon Hines in the counselor show production of Pajama Game. Hines was the factory timekeeper, who thinks his girlfriend Gladys (Nancy Wanicur) flirts too much and is therefore always jealous.
Directing Hank was a challenge. I remember in the scenes he had with ‘Gladys,’ I kept saying “Hank, you’re talking to your girlfriend! So stop constantly looking out at the audience with that silly Zeus smile of yours. Look at Gladys!”
I think he got it right when we did the actual performance.
After that, I went on to work with many famous actors. However, Hank, you were the first famous star I ever had in a show. And I was honored!
Ken Waissman
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Many of you may not know this, but Hank is (or at least was) quite a pianist.
One of my most striking moments at camp occurred one afternoon when I was a Hill counselor. I had had the afternoon off, and was headed to the pool when I heard the most lovely music coming from Saniford Hall. I peeked in the door, and there was Hank totally engrossed in the piano. He was playing Chopin’s Military Polonaise, and I couldn’t believe he could get that beat up piano to make such beautiful music.
Hank’s love of the piano and classical music continues to this day. In 2009, my wife, Gail, and I went with Hank and Kathy to the quadrennial Van Cliburn competition in Austin, TX. To my novice ear, all the contestants were wonderful, and sounded the same. Not so for Hank. He clearly heard differences in performances, and had some engaging conversations with a woman sitting behind us as they evaluated each performer.
Hank was my counselor in 1963. Now, Gail and I get together with Hank and Kathy at least twice a year at Longwood Gardens to see the exhibits and enjoy a dinner together. It’s amazing how we all connect 60 years later, and Hank is truly the glue who keeps us all together.
Sandy Lipstein
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My favorite memory of Hank started in 1964, my first year at Saginaw. I was in Hill 6 with Butchie Thomas and Carl Silverman as my counselors. Neither Butchie or Carl was a morning person, so they never wanted to get out of bed to get us up and working on cleaning the bunk. As a result, we would all just kind of lay around in bed for quite some time after reveille, resulting in what may have been the worst scores for “bunk cleaning” in the history of Saginaw.
However, as we hit the week before visiting day, we campers decided that we wanted to win “honor bunk” for visiting day. We were up as much as an hour early each day cleaning, and I think if we had access to the equipment, we’d have refinished the floor of the bunk. Every day it seemed like Hank was getting a bit tougher on our scores, and every day we were still in the lead for honor bunk. Then, the morning of the last day we just didn’t get up, Hank came in the door, saw us all still in bed and just let loose with a “Zeus” dressing down like we had never heard.
Now, flash forward to about 1970 or 71. I was co-counselor to Zeus Jack Weiss in Hill 1 and the Hill rifle instructor and Hank came by on a visit. Hank and I were sitting in the Hill Pagoda reminiscing a bit and I mentioned his anger at finding us all in bed that day in 1964. Hank laughed and informed me that it was all an act. Because we had been such a bunch of lazy “SOB’s” for the first 3 weeks he really didn’t want to see us win honor bunk, but he just hadn’t found a way to score us low enough to knock us out of 1st place. When he walked in the door that last day and saw us all in bed he put on that fantastic “anger performance,” when what he really wanted to do was go from bed to bed and give us each a hug.
I have to tell you that, having seen a number of Tony Award winning performances on Broadway over the years like the original cast perform Hamilton, or Bette Middler do Hello Dolly, I honestly believe if we had found a way to put Hank’s performance on Broadway in 1964, he would have been a runaway winner for Best Performance by a leading male in a drama.
Bruce Rosen
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The master disciplinarian Zeus II had to deal with all types of youthful behavioral challenges as you will see below. The words from this Grateful Dead song seem appropriate for what he might have seen during his reign.
New Speedway Boogie
I spent a little time on the mountain
I spent a little time on the Hill
I saw things getting out of hand
I guess they always will
The Grateful Dead (1970)
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There were 10 of us in Hill 1 in 1967, the last year of Hank’s reign as Zeus II. The intimidating figure he cut every time he walked into the bunk was unmistakable. But we quickly realized that he had his warm and fuzzy side as well. I remember vividly him standing in our bunk after one of his beloved Monday Night Counselor basketball games, shirtless, sweating like a pig and asking “So who wants a hug?” That summer he became a mentor who shared valuable counsel and advice to any of us who were smart enough to listen.
That fall we began to exchange letters about camp, life, and so much more and this fostered a friendship over the next 50 years that kept me linked to my friends at Saginaw. Regular emails through his Saginaw Supes mailing list brought news of the latest escapades of alums, worthwhile initiatives related to the camp, and the heads up on the next opportunity to get together at a reunion event.
I got a call one day from Hankus in the spring of 2016 and he simply said, wouldn’t it be cool if we had one place to share those cherished memories of summers in Oxford, Pa. With that this website was born and maybe in some way it is the ultimate testimony of the ongoing influence of Hank on the lives of his Saginaw friends.
To any of us who have been at one of his Walk-Up Reunions at the Inner Harbor, we understand that the warmth and love of Hank is pervasive among his friends. I feel blessed to be part of that circle and look forward to every time I get to hear his booming voice and his hearty laugh because I know something good is coming and my life will be richer because of it.
Moe Dweck
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As a youngster going through the lower division there was only one destination we all wanted to be at….it was of course the Hill.
Not knowing who Hank really was until I was in the Inters, we had a day where our bunk visited the Hill since that was where we would be going the following summer. I just remember this giant of a man who warmly greeted us. I have to admit it was a tad intimidating meeting him. It was like seeing a Tall Tale I read as a kid but in “real” live.
Once we got to the Hill the next summer, we all realized THIS is what Camp really is all about and Zeus made it so. I know there have been several Zeus’s throughout the years but to me there is and always will be one….Hank. I also was on the receiving end of one of his famous love taps! It was like getting a badge of honor knowing he was paying attention to everyone of us.
And the Zooms on Friday has me reliving all those great memories from being on the Hill with Zeus.
Jeff Cooper (Big Coop)
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I did not have the pleasure of being on the Hill during Hank’s tenure though we did meet the first year I was on the Hill during a Hank annual visit. He knew that at the time I had an argumentative temper, so to speak.
Hank introduced himself to me by saying, “I have a feeling that if you were on the Hill while I was here, we may have had a conversation or two”. And with that, he folded his fist into the palm of his other hand.
I believe that was the end of my temper explosions that summer and for all time…..
Arthur Dubin
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Of my 13 years at Saginaw, no doubt the three I spent on the Hill when Hank was Zeus were the most memorable and meaningful. Like a lot of my fellow campers, I idolized Hank for what I perceived to be his strength of character, his ability to diffuse all sorts of situations, and how he (almost always) was able to remain calm in the face of what seemed to me to be considerable pressure.
They say you should never “meet” your idols since many more times than not they come up far short of being the person you held in such high regard. Having reconnected with Hank through our Zoom calls over the past year, I can say with certainty that “he is who I though he was.”
I am pleased and proud to now call him a friend.
Brian Redman
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I started camp as a camper in Hill 6 in 1969. (Hank had already retired from camp and as Zeus a couple of years earlier). To describe our group in Hill 6 as incorrigible would not nearly get to the level of dysfunction that existed in that bunk.
I’ve learned many things about Hank and his days at camp in our zoom group over the last year or so, but there’s one incident in particular that has repeatedly been mentioned. That is the time that Hank was provoked to take extreme disciplinary action on one of his campers, Donnie Gettinger. I have come to realize that if Hank had been around in 1969 he would have beaten the crap out of our entire bunk.
Fortunately this was not the case. Over time, I have been able to develop a relationship with Hank based on love and mutual respect rather than having to carry around the baggage of a tainted connection that could have instead existed for the last 50 years.
For this I am grateful.
Alan Harris
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When I attended Saginaw in the late 1960s to mid 1970s Hank was already gone from camp and I remember him coming up every summer for a visit. It wasn’t until much later during my role as chairman of alumni reunions that I got to really know Hank and develop a friendship.
Hank is one of the real Saginaw legends and along with Mickey Rothstein wrote all those hill songs and created the Hill. And now over 50 years later the traditions that he helped to establish are still maintained just as they were during his time at camp. I am proud to call Hank a friend and am so pleased that my two Zeus sons have had the opportunity to meet and also work with Hank.
Ira Deming
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Hank Aberman is a Camp Saginaw legend. His contributions to Camp, the Alumni, and The Herb Cohen Memorial Fund are immeasurable. The Saginaw family is fortunate to have Hank as part of our community.
Every time I see Hank at camp, he is wearing his signature hat and affable grin. To me, that grin represents a feeling of being home, a feeling of belonging, and a feeling of having history in a meaningful place. While Hank means so much to us, Camp Saginaw likely means as much to Hank.
Hank is a storyteller. He loves answering questions and talking about Camp. Personally, I can listen to Hank talk about the history of the Hill again and again – it never gets old! And when Hank talks people listen. Whether it’s at Big Rock with the future leaders, at a board meeting with the current leaders or with his friends, Hank, seemingly without effort, wins the genuine respect and attention from those present.
I can only hope that Hank continues to be the larger-than-life figure like the Oak trees that grow at Camp Saginaw for years to come.
Mike Petkov-Camp Director
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Click to read Hank’s sentimental reply to these tributes
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We would love to include your personal thoughts about Hank in this posting. Please feel free to e-mail the copy to moedweck@comcast.net.
Saginaw Super Senior Alumni 
Brings back wonderful memories and Hank’s leadership that made each season better then the one before.
Stuart Grozbean
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