Welcome!

On the eve...

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:45:44 -0400

Friends of Camp...

The wait is over... the time is now.

The Staff are trained and ready. The bows are strung. The life jackets are eager to embrace and protect. The arts and craft supplies are begging to be used. The whistles are strung around the necks of our hawk-eyed lifeguards.

I even saw a lonely basketball down at the court that is waiting to be dribbled.

Tomorrow is check-in day for our Resident Summer Camps, Ockanickon for Boys and Matollionequay for Girls... and Monday begins Lake Stockwell Day Camp.

Our little corner of the Pine Barrens here in Medford New Jersey is about to be teeming with children ready to spend some time participating in a great American tradition... Summer Camp... and hopefully coming away with some life long friends, incredible memories and the four core values... Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility... emblazoned on their character.

On a personal note, I couldn’t be more excited to be entering my 14th summer season here at our wonderful YMCA. I am very proud of the good work we all do here and am honored that I have been able to witness some incredible improvements and evolutions that Camp has made over all my years here.

The Summer Camp Directors, Brent Birchler, Jen Segelken and Gabrielle Ostroski have worked brilliantly and tirelessly over the years to cultivate an amazing core staff who return year after year to care for our Campers.
I can honestly say, this year we have an extremely professional, caring, positive group of counselors, Village Chiefs and program personnel.

Stay tuned to our beloved Blog for some stories, news and hopefully tons of pictures of what’s going on at Camp this summer season!!!

Let the fun begin!!!

Be good...

Chef Jason

Gearing up...

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:52:20 -0400

Here we go folks....

A big round of applause goes out to our new Conference Director, Joe Elliot, and all of our Conference Staff as our final Conference Group checked out on Sunday afternoon to finish up a very successful Spring Conference Season.

Joe is a strong new addition to our team and I will be sure to find some time soon to properly introduce all of our readers to him here on the Blog.

So... Monday morning we rolled right in to “Ad Staff” training Monday.

“Ad Staff” training is designed to give the Village Chiefs the tools and information they need to be brilliant leaders of their Staff and the respective age groups they supervise... and allows the Program Specialists ample time to prepare their activities so a fun, safe and meaningful experience can be had by all.

Today the Ad Staff of YMCA Camp Ockanickon, Matollionequay and Lake Stockwell were blessed by a very special guest speaker.
Gary Forster is THE Camping Specialist for the YMCA of the USA (pictured above, center). He helps support all 265 YMCA Summer Camps and 2000 Day Camps across the country.
Gary has a wealth of knowledge about the Camping Industry and shares it with all of us in the Camping world via newsletters, articles, seminars and... if you are as lucky as we are... he will visit your Staff Training and run specialized lectures and engaging activities.

For me, personally... it’s like having a Rock Star visit our humble Camp. Gary is a fountain of wisdom and a super nice guy!! Gary even took the time to check out our beloved “Guess the Spot” game a few months ago and gave me a very nice write-up in his newsletter, sharing the potential and impact for blogging (as demonstrated here, by me!!) with all of his readers.

We here at YMCA Camp Ockanickon, Inc. send a heartfelt “Thanks!” to Gary Forster for spending a bit of his valuable time sharing some much appreciated knowledge with our Ad Staff.

Just over a week to go until our Campers arrive and everyone here at Camp is filled excitement and anticipation.

It’s not too late to sign up if you haven’t already. Visit our main website at www.ycamp.org for information.

Until next time faithful readers... be good...

Chef Jason.

Busy bees...

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 22:16:28 -0400

Hello faithful and patient readers...

It’s been a little while, huh?

Well things here at Camp are very hectic as we are all preparing for Summer Camp, hosting tons and tons of Conference groups, holding special events and Open Houses.
Lately I’ve been left with precious little time to do all of my cherished side projects like writing this very blog.

Our International Camp Counselors and Support Staff have been arriving steadily over the last few weeks and they have all spent quite a bit of time in training in preparation for their assorted summer duties like Life Guarding, Challenge Course Facilitating and even arduous but honorable Kitchen duties.

The official Staff Training starts a week from today beginning with a week for, what we call “Ad-Staff”... the Village Chiefs, Program Leaders and other special positions.
The following week will begin the training for all of the general staff.

Then... guess what??

SUMMER CAMP BEGINS!!!

Is anyone else as excited as me?? I hope so!

If you are not signed up for Summer Camp yet, what are you waiting for?!?! Go to our main website at www.ycamp.org and register today!!

As a side note... I’d like to take this opportunity to give a big round of applause to our wonderful Maintenance Staff for turning up the juice and getting a lot done here in the roll up to Summer Camp.

The facilities are looking better (and cleaner) than ever... with lots of new improvements and shiny coats of paint.

To Mike, Jamie, Chris & Jim... Thanks for all you do!!

Tom, Ruben and Mr. Dave Crane... Thanks for pitching in when the extra hands are needed!!

Your jobs... like ours in the kitchen... is never ending call to duty. Just like there’s always a hungry belly to fill... you guys always have something to repair, re-build, re-wire, remove or move, paint, clean, unclog, dig up, plant, etc...

Thanks again... and keep up the good work!!!

Be good... I promise not to go too long before another update.

Chef Jason

A relaxing day on the Greens...

Thu, 14 May 2009 18:45:34 -0400

On Monday May 11th YMCA Camp Ockanickon held it’s 22nd Annual Golf Outing hosted by Little Mill Country Club. The golf outing supports our “Strong Kids Campaign”, helping make a difference in the lives of children.

Around 70 golfers hit the links that day around 1 p.m. via “shotgun start” for a “4 man scramble”.

Don’t ask me about all the lingo and rules... I learned more about golf in that one day then I ever thought I’d need to know in my lifetime!!

It was a pleasant day to say the least, overcast at times and a little windy but thankfully the rain that was called for held off.

Special holes were assigned where golfers had a chance to win a Lexus or a year lease on a Mercedes if they could hit a “hole in one”.

Other holes offered chances to win prizes if the golfer could hit the green on one shot.

The highlight of my day was hanging out on the tee at hole #8 atop a very high hill that apparently is the highest point in Burlington County, New Jersey. One of the greenskeepers told me that on a clear day you can see the Philadelphia skyline and Atlantic City. Unfortunately we could not on Monday.

I have set up a photo gallery with some select shots from the day... including some pictures of an adorable family of geese that crossed the road in front of my golf cart.

Click here to go check it out!!

The day was finished off with a nice dinner served by the Little Mill staff, a silent auction and a raffle to win a flat screen TV!!

Camp would like to extend many thanks to Little Mill for hosting us, Diane and Tom Samuel for all their hard work to pull off this event, our sponsors and contributers who donated everything from the lunch to the silent auction items to the snacks for the notorious “snack cart”.

We’d also like to thank all the staff and volunteers who came out to help and... of course... the golfers!!

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did!! It’s not every day I get out of the office and get to cruise around a beautiful, serene golf course in a golf cart!!

I hope to see everyone out again next year for the 23rd Annual Golf Outing.

Be good...

Chef Jason

Picture of the day...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:09:51 -0400

Hey folks...

I just had to share this with everyone.

A group of Turkey Vultures descended on Camp Monday and I snapped this photo of one mid-flight.

Click the photo to see an enlarged version.

Not a very pretty bird but quite impressive!!

Be good...

Chef Jason

P.S... This is not a “Guess the Spot” photo as there are no discernible landmarks to go off of!!

Time to play...

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:15:12 -0400

Hello friends and faithful readers...

Here is another entry in the “Guess the Spot” game.

Tell me... Which beach is pictured above?

If you are still asking... “Hey Chef Jason... What is this “Guess The Spot” game you speak of?”... you might need to go back two Blog entries to find out.

Better yet... CLICK HERE to jump there now and read about all the fun!

Be good... and good luck...

Chef Jason

P.S... A big “HELLO!!” to everyone stopping by for a little inspiration by way of the “Camping Update” newsletter created by our favorite Camping Guru, Gary Forster. And thanks for the plug Gary!!

Roll Up Your Sleeves!!

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:20:29 -0400

Wow...
What an amazing weekend.
What gorgeous weather we had.
What fantastic volunteers we were blessed to have.

What more can I say?

This past weekend YMCA Camp Ockanickon, Inc. hosted our bi-annual “Roll Up Your Sleeves Weekend” where families and friends of Camp come out to help us tidy up the place!

This year we had around 70 folks spend the weekend handling all sorts of chores including trail maintenance, brush removal, painting, archery target replacement, roof repair, boardwalk repair, raking, stump grinding and cleaning of all sorts.

I probably missed a job or two but you get the idea.

Of course there was free time and plenty of Camp programs running for everyone to have some fun as well!!

To paraphrase Brent Birchler, our Ockanickon Boy’s Camp Director... He’s never seen a harder working, more dedicated group of folks. He said there were some pretty tough jobs that he thought our volunteers might not care to do but... they did them all and saw everything through to completion!!

A huge “Thank you!!” from all of us out there at Camp to all the wonderful people who came out to help us make Camp shine!!

Be on the lookout for our fall Roll Up Your Sleeves dates. Let’s all pitch in next time to make this beautiful haven for families, children and people from all walks of life even better.

Now I’ll leave you with a link to some photos from the weekend to see what really went on!!

Be good...

Chef Jason