Monthly Archives: November 2017

by Matt Foran, Director of Ockanickon for boys I’m an Ocky Fellow and you are too! I’m still new here but rest assured, I’m an Ocky guy, true and blue, blue and true. Coming from a few states over, there’s no doubt about where I belong. It’s Ockanickon. No, I do not have one of those spiffy 10-year sweatshirts or sharp 15-year jackets. I don’t even have a five-year paddle. Oh, but I’m surely an Ocky guy even with my long list of Ocky no’s and never’s … I’ve never paddled and portaged to Matolly. I’ve never kayaked to crystal [...]

By Steph Ward, Challenge Course Program Coordinator During the summer months, it is said that children have a learning loss that is equivalent to losing three months of math and English. Most of this loss is due to the children not using those skills during the months that they are away from school. Here at camp, we like to challenge kids to use their brains in a way that might not be the traditional manner found in a classroom. We do a lot of this on the challenge course, which we consider our own outdoor classroom! Every camper who comes [...]

In Medford, there are a handful of recognizable names and places that conjure an image of this bucolic community in the Pines: Think the red barn at Kirby’s Mill, the sledding hill across from Pinelands library or the many charming lake communities. Recently, two very longstanding and iconic Medford organizations – our own YMCA Camp Ockanickon and Bob Meyer Communities – decided to partner up to help children from under-served areas. Ockanickon, of course, has a rich history in Medford. Established in 1906 and named in honor of a chief of the Mantas Lenape tribe, Ockanickon has been operating a [...]