Monthly Archives: August 2010

Camp Little Rock comes for a visit.

By |2010-08-28T18:25:41-04:00August 28th, 2010|

Hello Friends... With one week of Day Camp left and the Resident Camp season behind us we've jumped right in to our Conference season where we host schools, retreats, speciality camps... you name it... groups of all shapes, sizes and missions. Camp Little Rock, a speciality camp for the visually impaired, was in this past week. On Thursday night they participated in one of my favorite activities... COOKING!! "Pasta Joe" came for a visit and gave everyone a lesson on preparing Garganelli, a hand rolled tube shaped pasta. My staff and I put the finishing touches on the delicious pasta [...]

Algonquin Challenge Course

By |2010-08-25T09:42:08-04:00August 25th, 2010|

The Algonquins have Challenge Course every Wednesday morning. This week, Amanda and Brian asked the group to use short tubes of PVC piping to move a tiny marble to a far away destination. Of course, the campers had to work around a few important guidelines: 1.) the marble must pass through each person's tube, 2.) campers are not able to move their feet whenever the marble is inside their piece of tubing, 3.) the marble may not touch anything except for the inside of the tube and 4.) if the marble drops, the group must start over. So, as you [...]

The Boat Regatta

By |2010-08-23T06:43:29-04:00August 23rd, 2010|

The Boat Regatta was a perfect way to wrap up Color Wars and Session 8! Each team had two staff representatives who built "boats" out of only cardboard, duct tape and paint. They swam in a relay to capture points for their teams, while the rest of the campers and staff cheered from Bette's Beach.  We made some fantastic banners offering support and encouragement at Arts & Crafts that showed tremendous team spirit!  I've included a few photos of the teams and race below. Congrats to the BLUE team for taking first place!

We Did It

By |2010-08-22T14:25:13-04:00August 22nd, 2010|

In the hopes of adding some closure to our Summer 2010 blog, I decided it would be appropriate to reflect publicly in front of you, the reader. The sun has indeed risen and set once again on our summer camp program. I couldn't be more thankful for having been a part of each and every magical moment spent on the grounds of YMCA Camp Ockanickon, Inc. this summer. The amount of pride, passion and accomplishment I feel for our organization is immeasurable. Admittedly, there were days that were hot and nights that were hotter. Swimming never lasted as long as [...]

Foursquare…

By |2010-08-22T11:35:13-04:00August 22nd, 2010|

Hello everyone! Here at Camp we like life a little more "unplugged" then most... but that's not to say there's not some techies amongst us... and amongst YOU, our visitors, Campers, Alumni and Members. The Internet is a great way for us to keep in touch, hear about news and events, see images of Camp all year around. If you are familiar with the Internet "game" Foursquare then you will be happy to know that Camp has 3 new "check-in" spots... one at Ockanickon, one at Matollionequay and one at our Stockwell Day Camp. The check-in spots are located near [...]

Session 8

By |2010-08-19T14:26:24-04:00August 19th, 2010|

Color Wars has been a great week! All of the teams (red, blue, yellow and green) are demonstrating our Core Values of Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility to earn points...and the race is close! Yesterday, the blue team captured gold in the flea fly race and we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see which team wins the boat regatta! We're having a blast playing and we are all keeping in mind that, at the end of the day, we're a part of the same team :)

Summer’s end…

By |2010-08-19T12:50:07-04:00August 19th, 2010|

Greetings Friends of Camp... It's approximately 4:30 pm on Thursday. The last full day of our Resident Summer Camp program. I'm sitting in an empty Boy's Dining Hall, decorated for tonights final feast... all the tables are set and waiting. "Banquet Dinner" is what we call it and what it has been called well before my time. Green Feather Banquet or Blue Feather Banquet, depending on which Camp you are at, is a special night filled with special songs, traditions and a certain bitter sweet feeling that this is your last dinner together as a "Nation". We serve up a [...]

The Explorers and the Egg Drop

By |2010-08-18T05:59:25-04:00August 18th, 2010|

Each Tuesday, our Explorers take part in a group initiative that focuses on fun, communication and working together. This week's initiative had the 12 and 13 year olds constructing a safe shelter for the mighty egg drop from the top of the lodge. The campers were given straws, newspapers, tape and plastic water bottles to create a vessel that would lessen the impact of the egg's fall. Each of the small groups came up with creative and successful ideas! Check out a photo of the actual drop and another of the proud and smiley Explorers:

Leave It All on the Field

By |2010-08-16T05:44:20-04:00August 16th, 2010|

It’s been a long nine weeks since our staff first came together. The counselors here put in long days. We are up at 7 and are up working most nights until midnight. The days are hot, and if they aren’t hot, they’re rainy. Sometimes the kids can bring us up while other days they can be more challenging than anyone might expect.

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