Monthly Archives: July 2012

Calling all Philadelphia People!

By |2012-07-28T16:01:05-04:00July 28th, 2012|

At our camps, children have the opportunity to make friends, have fun, get active and discover who they are and what they can achieve. But some kids will never have this opportunity because of financial hardship. You can help though! Please join us at the famous West Taven in Philadelphia for an evening of merriment, friendship and fundraising with all proceeds to benefit our camp scholarship funds. Tickets are only $40 per person. Tickets are limited and advance registration (by 8/6) is required. Price includes wine, domestic beer, beverages and food, including pasta, salad, wings, fries and the ONE and ONLY Dirtyburger! You [...]

Woodcraft

By |2012-07-27T20:47:03-04:00July 27th, 2012|

Our new program at Camp has been a huge success.  Woodcraft Director, Eric Teitelbaum, and his assistant, John Levinson have been running one period a day for the Matolly Skill Class and four periods a day for the Ocky boys, plus Choice Activity.  Our campers have been learning carpentry skills and have built benches, picnic tables, birdhouses, and lots more.  They are learning real skills that they can use at home.  When we made the decision to introduce this program last winter, Eric told me that he wanted this to be a scheduled activity that each village will participate in.  [...]

A day in the life

By |2012-07-25T06:45:26-04:00July 25th, 2012|

Days seem to last longer than the allotted 24 hours at camp. It's only 10:30am and yet there have already been several games of carpet ball and gaga, a thoughtful song played by an old CIT group during chapel, village photos taken, and many hash browns consumed. As I write this, campers are swimming, riding horses, going down the slide, kayaking, shooting arrows at archery, weaving yarn at arts and crafts, and making small camp fires. Because hands-on learning is one of the best ways to learn new skills, we encourage all of our campers to get down and dirty [...]

Self-Esteem

By |2012-07-24T12:51:43-04:00July 24th, 2012|

Michael Thompson, author of Homesick and Happy, writes, " ... self-esteem is not the engine of learning; it is the by-product of learning. Children don't learn because they feel good about themselves; they feel good because they have mastered something." All over camp this summer, I've seen children building self-esteem. Some of our tried and true activites have been giving campers the ability to master something unique and special. At boating, countless campers have practiced and refined their J-Strokes and T-Rescues. At archery campers have progressively sighted their targets and walked away with some outstanding shots. Over at the challenge [...]

Drinking Stations!

By |2012-07-21T16:35:02-04:00July 21st, 2012|

Well....as we all know, Camp can be a fun filled, action packed, super busy and amazing experience. As our enrollment has grown beyond our previous years enrollment, we have had to find new ways to ensure that everybody stays hydrated throughout the day. Pictured below is Jamie Coker who helped me build our 1st ever "Cooler Water Bottle Station". This contraption is actually a simple design which will allow up to 6 people the opportunity to quickly fill up their water bottle with ice cold water. With a 100 quart capacity, this "Cooler Water Bottle Station" can deliver over 100 servings of [...]

Training Matolly’s future counselors

By |2012-07-18T08:11:11-04:00July 18th, 2012|

The girls in the CIT (Counselor in Training) program arrived on the first day of Session 1, ready and excited to spend the following five weeks at camp. We've now reached our final session with the girls. The five weeks initially felt like they would continue forever, but now, seemingly all of a sudden, we're counting down the final days before they leave. We've loved every minute with the girls. They had remarkable potential when they arrived, and in the last few weeks they've really blossomed. Watching them run activities for the younger campers, shadow in cabins for a few [...]

Really, you think?

By |2012-07-17T10:41:57-04:00July 17th, 2012|

Just as I was walking back through camp, moments ago, two CIT's came running up to me. They just started a two day tour of Cherokee village, where they will be in cabins, working with our youngest campers until Thursday afternoon. So far in their camping careers, this will be the longest amount of time they will be counselors with a group of kids. This is how the conversation went; "Dave! Dave! Guess what just happened?" "What happened guys?" "We just played Tombstone with our cabin!" "What's Tombstone?" "It's the best game ever! We all acted like zombies in our [...]

Ocky/Matolly Olympics

By |2012-07-11T14:52:15-04:00July 11th, 2012|

Last year Camp Matolly and Ocky had our first co-ed special events day, and after the overwhelming success of Color Wars, we decided to try all co-ed special events days for  2012.  This weekend was Ocky/Matolly Olympics which happened to coincide with 102 degree weather.  Incorporating the new sprinklers on Stockwell field, the Ocky sprinklers, and the lake helped keep us cool all day long.  The campers were split into different countries (France, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Italy and Spain) and could choose from a variety of activities.  Pillow polo, gaga, Olympic trivia, soccer, water games/obstacle course, and beach volleyball [...]

Quiz-O Questions

By |2012-07-09T19:10:24-04:00July 9th, 2012|

Hey everyone, Boys Camp Program Director, Brennan Downey, here. We’ve been doing some great themed meals here at Camp this session. Whether it was Dance Party Lunch on Thursday, Dinosaur Dinner on Monday night or even at our Monk’s Breakfast taking place tomorrow morning, we have a great time making our delicious meals great fun, too. Tonight we are having our first ever Trivia Night Dinner. The cabins will be asked to write down their answers, trade answer sheets for grading, and the highest scoring team will receive extra dessert. How many do you know? Quiz-O Questions 1.  What was [...]

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