I found this document in the Camp Archives many years ago. I’d like to think I work pretty hard, but I don’t think I can hold a candle to some of the folks who came before me. The brick monument at the top of the Ockanickon Bowl is dedicated to the gentleman described below. I think we could all learn a thing or two from him. Enjoy.
Raymond E. Bunning
Accomplishments Over the 40 Years of Service to Camp Ockanickon
1937-1978
Rebuilt and recanvassed approximately 30 canoes.
Designed and built 60 wooden rowboats.
Designed and Constructed:
Cherokee Swimming Piers – Ockanickon
Main Area Swimming Piers – Ockanickon
Arched Bridge known as Rainbow Bridge – Ockanickon
Chapel Island Bridge – Ockanickon
Covered Bridge – Ockanickon
Warehouse – Ockanickon
Store – Ockanickon
Shower House – Ockanickon
“Bob Armando Memorial Shelter” – Ockanickon
Swimming Piers – Matolly
Senior Area Bridge – Matolly
Kitchen – Matolly
Store & Craft Shop – Matolly
Nature Shelter – Matolly
Paddle House – Matolly
Entrance Signs for both camps
All Directional Signs for both camps
Boat Dumper for both camps
30 Picnic Tables
Put Roofs on 95 Buildings.
Installed Inter-Camp Telephones, Poles, Lines, etc.
Installed Many Septic Systems.
Designed and Supervised Construction of:
Eleven (11) new 14’x18’ Tent Houses
Eleven (11) all-masonry constructed Toilet Houses and Wash Houses
Hockey Field at Matolly
Tennis Courts at Matolly
Basketball Court at Ockanickon
Supervised Construction of :
Douglass Lodge
Five (5) Dams
Horse Stables
Three 351’ Wells, Pumps, Tanks, Water Lines
Fences at each Swimming Area
All Rustic Fences in both camps
Supervised the Renovation of:
Pomona Cabin
Cherokee Lodge
Ockanickon Dining Hall
Ockanickon Headquarters
Craft Shop, Ockanickon
Robbin’s Roost Cabin, Ockanickon
Dining Hall at Matolly
Moved All Cabins in Ockanickon Junior Area into Village Arrangement
Put Concrete Floor at Nature Cabin Porch
Built Seats at Matolly Bowl
Built Seats at Frank Ramsey Council Ring
Built Seats at Ockanickon Bowl
Built Stages at both camps
Rebuilt Benches in Chapels at both camps
Converted two clay Tennis Courts into Parking Area, Ockanickon
Converted two clay Tennis Courts into Baseball Field, Ockanickon
Constructed Road to Matolly Senior Area
Refinished Dining Hall Tables three (3) times
Reconstructed all Park Benches
Started Replacing Canvas Bunks with Herculite
Started Replacing Cotton Mattresses with Polyfoam
Comments from Ruth:
Ray has been a fixer-upper of just about anything that got broken. If a part was needed and could not be obtained, he’d do his darndest to make a replacement part from bits and pieces lurking in the crannies of the warehouse. If a job needed to be done, no matter what “department” the responsibility lay, he would try to help and/or do it himself. He has not shirked in any task. “Clock-watching” is a word unknown to him excepting only when he is working against a deadline on getting a job done for Camp. I am proud to be Ray’s wife.
Shared by Brent Birchler
Boys Camp Director