March 2013 - Page 2 of 3 - YMCA OF THE PINES

Getting Ready for Open House

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-17T19:59:23-04:00March 17th, 2013|

It was awesome to watch alumni, Ocky Staff, Matolly Staff, and Stockwell Staff working side by side to get Camp ready for our 1st Open House of the year. We had 26 people volunteer today to finish the work we started last Monday to get the Matolly Dining Hall and Matolly tour route ready for next Sunday's Open House. We raked lots of leaves, cut up and hauled out many down trees and limbs left over from Hurricane Sandy, and put the finishing touches on the Dining Hall. We even got a start on raking the Ocky Villages as well. [...]

Learn to Cook, weeks 3 & 4…

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-17T15:59:55-04:00March 17th, 2013|

Hello all… My apologies for missing last weeks blog post. This week wrapped up our final Introduction to Cooking class for the Winter 2013 season of our “Introduction To…” courses. Week 3, Chef Nick and I taught the class how to make home made pizza dough and by the end of class each of the students got to take home 2 of the most original and interesting pizzas I’ve ever seen… and they got to take them home in real pizza boxes! One of our students even made one that looked like a bunny! With Saint Patrick’s Day just around [...]

Summer Camp Open House

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-16T15:56:44-04:00March 16th, 2013|

Please come out and join us at Camp Ockanickon, Camp Matollionequay and Lake Stockwell for our 1st open house of the season. Tours will be leaving from the Ockanickon Dining Hall (Ocky & Stockwell) and the Matollionequay Dining Hall (Matolly) from 1-4pm on Sunday March 24th. This is the perfect opportunity to learn about all the fun and exciting program we have lined up for this summer, meet our summer camp staff and enjoy some delicious s'mores! There is no RSVP needed...just swing on over! All of our open houses are rain or shine…but we always keep our fingers crossed [...]

Spring Clean-Up…

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-12T13:28:06-04:00March 12th, 2013|

Earlier today (Monday) a large gathering of force came together at Matolly to make their way through two seasons worth of dropped needles and falling leaves. We also put a good shine to the Matolly Dining Hall, all in in preparation for the first Open House of 2013 - less than 2 weeks away. Big thanks to all of the staff and volunteers that made their way out today to help with what amounted to an incredible amount of work in just a short span of time. Happy Spring! Dave

Tickets still available!

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-09T08:06:43-05:00March 9th, 2013|

We still have some tickets available for our annual St.Patrick's Day Beef & Ale! Please be sure to sign-up to enjoy this amazing event. https://ycamp.org/documents/2013StPatricksDay.pdf

Farewell to a Dear Friend of Camp

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-08T18:12:20-05:00March 8th, 2013|

My father, Frank Birchler, passed away last Thursday, February 28 at home surrounded by his loving family. Dad was 76 years old. He has had a big impact on our Camp, both directly and indirectly. For many years, one of Dad's hobbies has been fundraising for our Annual Golf Tournament. This wasn't something that Dad liked to brag about, because he did not like attention. He was, however, very committed to helping kids get to Camp who couldn't afford it otherwise. Dad did not like being in the spotlight. The look he gave me when he was honored with the [...]

Flee Fly!

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-07T03:01:56-05:00March 7th, 2013|

One of my all time favorite camp songs is Flee Fly. Not only do all the campers get really into it but so does the Stockwell staff. Throughout the summer we hold two staff Flee Fly relay races in which the campers sing the song as loud as they can and 4 teams of 2 counselors race to the Ockanickon Dam and back to the Dining Hall. Is it summer yet?! Flee Fly - repeat me song flee flee fly flee fly flow flee scott acumalouda acumalouda acumalouda escot no no no not tenescot escamany salimany do ought do oughtimany [...]

Coach Carter

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-05T11:42:04-05:00March 5th, 2013|

Last night while watching one of my favorite movies “Coach Carter”, with Samuel L Jackson, a quote caught my attention. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be... Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children [...]

Learn to Cook… week two…

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-03T18:45:51-05:00March 3rd, 2013|

Hello all! This week in our Learn to Cook class we tackled the one and only... meatballs! We learned that meatballs are in just about every culture in one form or another... with the flavor and sauce varying depending on the region. Of course we all know the Italian version... or possibly the Swedish meatball... but did you know that in Germany there is a very famous variant of meatballs are Königsberger Klopse, which contain anchovy or salted herring, and are eaten with caper sauce? Or in Indonesia, meatballs are called bakso which are usually served in a bowl, like soup, with noodles, beancurd (tofu), egg, siomay/steamed [...]

Discovery Programs at Camp Ockanickon!

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-02T07:06:11-05:00March 2nd, 2013|

Looking to become a better climber, boater or mountain biker this year? Then be sure to sign-up for one of our Discovery Programs being held at Camp Ockanickon this year. https://ycamp.org/documents/2013SpringLearnToRegistration.pdf

Monthly Archives: March 2013