As Standards Visitors for the American Camp Association, Keith and I were on our way to a Girl Scout Camp in Monmouth County yesterday morning to help them with their re-accreditation process. We were driving on I-195 in Ocean County when I saw a sign informing us that we were crossing over the Metedeconk River. I instantly became very excited because Camp Ockanickon was originally located on the Metedeconk River for its first few seasons starting in 1906. Being a Camp history nerd, this was a big deal to me! This was the first in series of events that took me down memory lane during our ACA visit.
Once we arrived at Camp Sacajawea, we went through the written standards with the Camp Director to begin the scoring process. We discussed standards on program, safety, food service, travel procedures, human resources, operational management, and site and facilities. Being Camp Directors, we love to talk about Camp, so almost every standard had a story to go along with it. As usual, when we got to the section on Emergency Procedures, we all shared “battle stories.” We shared stories about tornados, floods, power outages, and many other experiences each of us had gone through in our careers. When we discussed program and safety, I was reminded our how Camp (and society in general) has changed over my career and how that has impacted our programs and the way we train our staff. The 2-3 days of Staff Orientation from years ago just wouldn’t cut it anymore. I feel our counselors are much more prepared to do their job successfully today than we were in the past. When we got to the section on Food Service, I thought to myself how much the food quality at Camp has improved compared to what it was like when I was a camper (I really don’t miss the cubes of powdered eggs from back in the day and I really don’t miss scrubbing the pans that had 25% of the meal burned to the bottom! Thanks to Jason and Nick for being awesome!). As we went over Sites and Facilities, the physical and aesthetic condition of Camp has amazingly improved since I was a young counselor. We’ve been able to replace old, dilapidated shacks with new, modernized buildings and our overall property and facilities are in much better repair. Camp looks terrific.
Now for my disclaimer. If any of the “old-timers” are reading this, I would imagine they are getting a little hot under the collar after reading the last paragraph. Please let me explain. When I was a kid, I can remember times (mostly in the off-season) when my counselors would be doing the cooking. Robbie Elder and Billy Weeks were great counselors, but couldn’t cook to save their lives! Especially in old ovens that didn’t heat evenly. Ricky Feighery was a better cook, but still had to deal with the same inferior ovens. Jason and Nick have the training and the equipment to run a much more efficient kitchen today. When I first joined the staff, Abbe Morris (Simmons back then), Chris Morris, and Tracy Feighery (Bodzioch back then) were awesome Camp Directors. They were also professional educators. Camp was their summer job and they did it very well. Today, our directors work year round to make Camp happen. I can’t tip my hat enough to them about the job they did with 8-10 months less planning time than I have. As far as the property went, Rick Hiles had the skill, passion, and dedication to Camp, but not the resources. Camp was in pretty dire financial straits back in the 90’s and Rick had to do his best to maintain the Camp with whatever he had available. I will never forget the stories about him straightening old nails from a demolition project so he could re-use them on a new project. He didn’t do that because he was cheap. He did it because that is what he needed to do to help make ends meet for Camp.
It’s because of these folks and many others like them that fought through some very difficult times here to keep Camp alive so we are able to experience the success that we have today. Today’s staff is not better than yesterday’s. We stand on their shoulders just the way they stood on the shoulders of the people who came before them. This trend will always need to continue for Camp to continue to be successful in the future. The next generation will need to learn from our experiences so they can continue the traditions that work and avoid making any of the same mistakes we have made. That’s what will continue to move Camp forward. Thank you to all of the people whose shoulders I now stand on for leaving Camp better than you found it. I hope I can do the same for my successors.
Brent Birchler
Boys Camp Director