Camp Ockanickon

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Ockanickon Scout Reservation
Ockanickon Scout Reservation

For the YMCA Ockanickon camp, see here: YMCA Camp Ockanickon

Ockanickon Scout Reservation is located in Pipersville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Bucks County Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Ockanickon is a weekend camp during spring, fall, and winter. During the summer, Ockanickon acts as a resident summer camp.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Camp Ockanickon contains 15 campsites which are available to troops during the summer, and a sixteenth which is occupied by staff during the summer but is available for camping during the off-season. Currently, the camp hosts about five hundred Scouts and adult leaders during each of eight weeks of summer camp. Ockanickon was founded in 1941 and was named after a Lenape chief who assisted William Penn in the exploration of the Bucks Country area. Camp Ockanickon is notable for the GE Betz Science center, its air-conditioned dining hall (a rarity among Boy Scout camps), and the numerous awards it has received from the BSA National office for excellence. William B. Mischke, Jr., has served as camp director since 1986 and as director of Ockanickon's associated Cub Scout camp, Camp Kirby, since 2006.

[edit] GE Betz Science Center

The GE Betz Science Center [1], the first of its kind in a Boy Scout camp, came about when the Betz Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Betz Laboratories, Inc. (later acquired by General Electric), granted Camp Ockanickon money to establish a program in which to teach science merit badges. GE continues to support the science center with annual contributions dedicated to upkeep of the center. Besides being the first of its kind, the science center is notable for:

  • A room-sized inflatable planetarium for use in merit badges such as Astronomy and Weather
  • A collection of telescopes, also for merit badges use
  • A real-time weather station [2]
  • Copious amounts of liquid nitrogen used for demonstrations and merit badge support
  • "The Eagle": A tribute to Eagle Scouts, all Eagle Scouts that enter the science center are asked to sign the guest book below the Eagle. The Eagle was a donation from GE Water and Process Technologies to the Science Center.

Future plans for the science center include an observatory with a 19" telescope.

[edit] Other departments

  • The Ecology department offers nature and conservation merit badges. The Ecology lodge is home to the largest turkey ever shot in Bucks County. A hunter who accidentally shot the bird on Ockanickon's property decided to donate it in exchange for dropping poaching charges. A traffic light in the highest window of the lodge shows how many fires are allowed in camp: a red light means a total ban on fires, a yellow light means one small fire per campsite, and a green light (only ever used during heavy rain) means no limit on fires.
  • Scoutcraft offers programs and merit badges related to camping, wilderness survival, and other wilderness skills.
  • Dan Beard is a program designed for first year campers, who are focused more on learning the basic Scouting skills required for 1st Class rank than on earning merit badges.
  • The Eagle department is dedicated to teaching merit badges which are required for the rank of Eagle Scout, but which do not fit neatly with any other departments at camp.
  • The Aquatics department is in charge of the pool, where swimming and lifesaving are taught, and the lake, where boating merit badges are taught. Because it has multiple areas of responsibility, each of which is very popular on hot summer days, this is the largest department in the camp.
  • Spoke 'n Rope is a high adventure department, and offers mountain biking, mountain boarding, and COPE. COPE, short for Challenging Outdoor Physical Experience, comes in two varieties: High COPE, which focuses on individual feats, and Low COPE, which consists of team-based exercises.
  • Handicraft teaches art- and craft-based merit badges as well as Indian Lore and Fingerprinting.
  • Shooting Sports offers rifle and shotgun shooting merit badges, as well as archery. It is located at the end of the Ho Chi Mischke Trail, the name of which is a portmanteau of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the camp director's name.
  • The Sailing Department, closely affiliated with Aquatics, offers sailing trips as well as a merit badge at Lake Nockamixon.
  • Though not strictly departments, merit badges and demonstrations are available for photography, radio, horsemanship, and golf.

[edit] Camp-wide Activities

Favorite non-merit badge activities at the camp include lunchtime Ultimate Frisbee challenges against the camp staff, the inter-troop Water Carnival on Wednesday nights, Thursday night's volleyball tournament and Airband competition, and the opening and closing campfires.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

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Camping Facilities in the state of Pennsylvania
B'nai Brith Perlman Camp (Lake Como) · Camp Galil (Ottsville) · Camp Lee Mar (Lackawaxen) · Camp Minsi (Pocono Summit) · Musser Reservation, (Marlborough) · Camp Ockanickon (Pipersville) · Camp PALS (Radnor Township) · Camp Poyntelle (Poyntelle) · Camp Ramah (Lakewood) · Camp Shohola (Greeley) · Camp Tioga (Thompson) · Camp Starlight (Starlight) · Camp Tuckahoe (Dillsburg) · Lake Greeley Camp (Greeley) · Resica Falls Scout Reservation (East Stroudsburg) · Treasure Island (Point Pleasant) · Trexler Scout Reservation (Jonas) · Tyler Hill Camp (Pocono Mountains) · Woodward Camp (Woodward) · YMCA Camp Conrad Weiser (Wernersville) · YMCA Camp Fitch (Springfield)