Facilities Archives - YMCA OF THE PINES

Bugs & Critters

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-05-25T16:01:23-04:00May 25th, 2013|

Every year thousands of folks come out to Camp to enjoy nature. Camp is filled with amazing trees, lakes, games and memories. But...with all that nature has to offer, we have to deal with chiggers, ticks and bugs. I learned really quickly my first summer about chiggers and ticks. Not have lived on the East Coast for ten plus years, I kind of forgot what it felt like to get a tick bit. I also learned really quickly about chiggers. I have never been a bug spray person, but now that I live in South Jersey...I'm a big fan. So [...]

Birthday

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-05-21T03:19:12-04:00May 21st, 2013|

As I have come to grow older birthdays have held less significance for me in terms of my age. I have long since hit all of the ages where I gain new rights and am considered more an adult (I do not count the right to rent a car and drive a recreational vehicle that I earned on my most recent birthday as milestone privileges). As a result, my birthday has meant that when people ask me how old I am, I need to remember to give a number that is one larger than the age that I had been [...]

Camp is Changing

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-05-14T05:14:14-04:00May 14th, 2013|

Watching the seasons change our environment is one of the great benefits to living here at camp. I love the sudden change when the leaves grow back and everything is green again. The changing seasons always bring about new families staying here at camp. For instance the geese are raising five babies that follow them around near the lake everyday. Behind Ockenhouse there are two wood ducks named Wilma and Fred waiting on their eggs to hatch. Watching deer in the Matolly field eating with their young is a sight to see. If you haven’t gotten a chance recently to [...]

The Pecking Order…

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-05-07T09:21:31-04:00May 7th, 2013|

Late last week Jamie and I were out at the challenge course when a little bit of an ornithological schoolyard fight played out in front of us. The red tailed hawk below had it's eye on a meal somewhere close to a blue jay's newly hatched nest. As the baby blue jays chirped away mom came over and started to let our hawk friend know that these guys were off the menu. A few well placed dives onto the hawks head with it's beak and the hawk got the message - taking off for a meal further down the road.

Ancient Prime Time Television

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-04-16T10:07:40-04:00April 16th, 2013|

In the 21st century, it is safe to say that when most people look at the stars, they think of science. Perhaps they are reminded of lessons that they learned in school about what causes the motion of celestial objects, or perhaps they are looking for something they heard about in the news. What we often forget; however, is that before we were able to scientifically explain astronomy, the stars were more of a cultural phenomenon than a scientific one. Before television, electricity, the printing press, or even a written language, parents of ancient times had the same monumental task [...]

Roll Up Your Sleeves

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-04-13T06:20:27-04:00April 13th, 2013|

When you volunteer at Camp Ockanickon, you take an active role in bringing about meaningful, enduring change right in your own neighborhood. For RUYS, our Camp staff develops a task list ranging from jobs that require no specific skills to jobs that require someone with carpentry, plumbing or electrical skills. RUYS is an amazing opportunity for students looking to fulfill community service hours and companies, individuals and families who just want to make a difference and help give back. We look forward to seeing you! https://ycamp.org/documents/2013SpringRUYS.pdf

April Is Here!

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-04-09T10:01:34-04:00April 9th, 2013|

Last week was very exciting for all of us here at camp. We hosted the Northeast YMCA Outdoor Education Affinity Group Retreat, Spring Break Day Camp, Learn to Climb, the Moorestown Friends School Fourth Grade, and the South Jersey Law Enforcement Outdoor Challenge. We found ourselves in many different settings learning, instructing, and playing. Some things that really flapped my shutters; - Watching so many campers get to the top of the wall when they thought they couldn’t. - The exciting new games I learned from my friends at The New York YMCA Camps like Sonic the Hedgehog and Super [...]

Seasonal thaw…

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-03-24T17:17:24-04:00March 24th, 2013|

Hello folks… As my title to this post may lead you to think about the weather… it is not about that. I am not a weather man and I have no idea what tomorrow or next week may bring in terms of temperature or precipitation. What I am eluding to is the fact that Camp is right around the corner we are beginning to move out of the winter projects mode and on to busier times ahead leading up to Summer Camp! A mental thaw, so to speak. […]

Camp Kesem

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-02-26T10:59:10-05:00February 26th, 2013|

Nearly three million children live with a parent who has cancer and many more have lost a parent to cancer. This summer, Camp Kesem will provide life-changing summer camp experiences for over 2,000 children by empowering 1,500 college student leaders at 41 chapters across the country. We are proud to announce that YMCA Camp Ockanickon has partnered with the Camp Kesem – Columbia University chapter to provide 50 children whose parents have or have had cancer with a summer camp experience. This experience is provided for children at no cost to individual families and provides children affected by a parent’s [...]

1-2-3

By YMCA of the Pines|2013-02-19T12:17:19-05:00February 19th, 2013|

Philadelphia often feels like the farthest place one can be from camp. With the lack of trees, the tall buildings, and the millions of people that swallow one up; it does not radiate the feeling of a welcoming tight-knit community that one feels out among the trees at camp. “The outside world,” can be a place where we are not as comfortable expressing ourselves in the way we do at camp for fear of negative judgment. However, for those of us who often lament that we are unable to be our camp-selves outside of camp, hopefully this story provides encouragement [...]