Hello dear readers…
Last weekend we hosted our third wedding this Fall season and the lucky bride and groom couldn’t have asked for a better day on Saturday. While the temperature was a tad chilly, Camp was in tip-top shape thanks to the hard work of our staff and the wedding party who did an amazing job setting up the dining hall here at Ockanickon to create a warm and amazing feeling inside the Dining Room and around Chapel Island.
This Saturday we witnessed the union of a Matollionequay Alumni, Kristin to her beau Kenny.
Kristin had been, amongst other things like working for our
School’s Out program and our Trading Post, she was our Matolly Rangerette Director for a few years… leading dozens of young ladies on trips up and down parts of the Appalachian Trail and the Delaware River, north of us here in New Jersey. Kristin loves the outdoors and you can find her many days hiking around the Camp with Kenny, their girls Kiley and Avianna.
I think chosing Camp to for this wonderful event was an easy choice for Kristin and Kenny.
At the end of the night on Saturday they invited me to a post reception campfire down by Bette’s Beach by the lake. I was honored to, not only prepare their feast that night, but to be included as a friend.
I had a chance, around the roaring fire that night, to speak for a moment of loftier things.
On the very spot which we sat, Camp had a very special guest photographed in front of a long gone totem pole. The mans name was Tich Nhat Hanh… a very famous and prolific Buddhist Monk. At the time he visited Camp in June of 1962 he was a young man who had been exiled from his native Vietnam for his religious beliefs. He spent a great deal of time here that summer, living on the property and interacting with the children and staff. In his memoir from that time, titled “Fragrant Palm Leaves”, page one of chapter one reads…
26 June 1962, Medford New Jersey
“I am in a Cabin called “Pomona” in the woods of (northern) New Jersey. It was so dark when I arrived that I was startled my first morning by the beauty and peacefulness here. Mornings here remind me of Phuong Boi, the monastery we built in the highlands of central Vietnam. Phuong Boi was a place for us to heal our wounds and look deeply at what happened to us and our situation.”
The next 60 or so pages of this memior recount his time spent at Camp Ockanickon… and to those of us who find Camp a special place, you’ll find that reading the passages feel like they were written yesterday.
One of Tich Nhat Hahn’s main teachings is of the practice of Mindfulness. Being active in the present moment always. Being there for one another. Being engaged and open.
That night, as we sat in the very spot where he stood 50 years ago, I took the opportunity to tell a little of this story… about Thich Nhat Han and his visit to Camp that summer… and to ask everyone to be Mindful. As Kenny and Kristin begin a new chapter in their lives together… as the gathered friends go off to their daily lives… to remember to be there for one another… present in every moment. Listen intently to one another. Care for the things around you… the Earth… your home… your family.. your community.
To me, these teachings coincide with the very things we try to instill in the children and guests who visit our humble Camp in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility.
Mindfulness could be easily added to that list but could also be viewed as something that over-arches or underlines all of those values wholly.
Congratulations again to Kristin and Kenny. It was an honor and a privilege to be able to serve you on this very special day and share in the joy.
And, again, to all the amazing staff here at Camp who helped make this day and events like it here possible… you have my eternal gratitude.
Be good…
Chef Jason