Have you ever wondered what goes on at Camp Ockanickon during the cold winter months? Well, each winter, our three amazing Camp directors; Brent Birchler (Boys Camp), Gab Ostroski (Girls Camp), and Maryann Birchler (Day Camp) spend countless hours working together to put an amazing summer camp program together.
We would be hard pressed to list out all the small details behind orchestrating the to-dos of a camp director, but the list might include some of the following: hiring staff, recruitment of campers, program development, attending camp fairs, attending camp conferences, hosting tours/open houses, and my favorite, talking about camp.
Recently, we had the idea of hosting a Winter Meeting with some of our summer camp staff. The purpose was to just talk/brainstorm about summer camp. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the ideas which we created were countless.
One of our most cherished pastimes during the winter months is talking about camp. We eat meals and talk about camp, we see each other walking the trails and talk about camp, we make copies and talk about camp. The ultimate goal each winter is to talk about camp so much it becomes second nature for us.
I spent two days skiing with some friends, while they talked about their office jobs, teaching jobs, and “normal” jobs, I talked about why I thought my job was better than theirs. Even though they might have us on “normal”, I believe at the end of the weekend they all were able to agree working at camp is hands down a much more enjoyable and “normal” job than most.
Why did I choose to talk about camp so much? Well, because I….we love to talk about camp whenever we have the chance to.
Later this week, Brent Birchler, Nick Homa, Dave Kaubin, Ruben Castro, Keith VanDerzee and I will be heading up to the Northeast Y Camping Conference at Y Camps New York. The purpose of this conference is to talk about camp, why we love camp, why we work at camp, and how we….camp people can make each summer better then the last.
Our goal is to get camp on your brain, because without your support, talking about camp, we would struggle. So…please remember, when there is a lose for a topic, a chance for a new topic, or an opportunity to talk…please remember to talk about camp and why you enjoy it so much!