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 clear!

I’ve never been the quickest to blow out my remembrance candle during closing ceremony.

I’m still not quite in-tune when I sing the alma-mater. (Most aren’t.)

I’ve never been a Ranger and hiked the Appalachian Trail. I’ve earned no trail name.

I’ve never climbed the rock wall or zipped down the zip line.

I’ve never gotten a bull’s eye at Ocky archery.

And I’ve never ever earned a feather. Literally, there are no feathers in my cap!

But no need to worry, because Ockanickon is not about feathers in your cap. There’s no list or criteria or measuring stick. Ockanickon is not for the brave. It isn’t for the best. It’s not for this type or that type, from this town or that town. It’s not for those that have been here or those that enjoy this or like that.

As boys camp director, I’m glad to report that Ockanickon is not for a sort or a type – it is for all.

When you drive in through the entrance and peek up at the arched “Camp Ockanickon” sign, that’s the moment you cross the threshold. That’s the moment that Ockanickon is for you.

We don’t have 112 years of tightening and excluding and denying. We have 112 years of new doors opening, of first-year campers, of new staff from faraway. We have 112 years of welcoming and accepting campers from all different places with all different interests.  And when and where we have fallen short, in time we have learned to grow and accept better.

Many campers, staff, and alumni often call camp a “magical” place and sometimes this is hard to explain to non-camp people. In my mind, I know what makes the magic – it’s that at camp you can truly be yourself and feel accepted – even (especially) for new guys.