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A quick update from our Year Round Staff with a bonus of our favorite ways to spend time outdoors in the winter!
We are having a wonderful winter at Camp Onas and it's been a jam-packed January!
We kicked off the new year with 2022 Campers and Staff at our annual Winter Reunion, which was a blast! After missing a few years, it was a great reminder of how much we love the Winter Reunion tradition. We hope you enjoy these new & decades-old Winter Reunion photos as much as we do.
With registration opening in December, sessions are filling quickly and we love hearing from families who will be heading to Onas this summer. If you have questions or need help planning or figuring something out, please give us a call in the Camp Office. More often than not, conversations can be so much more helpful and efficient than email.
January included a Year-Round Staff Retreat where we gathered at Onas for several days to do work, plan, and learn together in person (half of our team works remotely). And the January meeting of our Board of Directors, which was well-attended, and also focused on collaborative work to lead Camp Onas forward. Most recently, we’ve been connecting with staff applicants on Zoom as we conduct interviews and build the 2023 summer staff from an incredibly strong pool of applicants. In the months ahead, we'll be busy hosting rental groups at Onas and of course, preparing for the summer!
Katie asked each of us to share how we like to spend time outdoors in the winter, and we all agree: Outdoor time makes us feel good!
We all hope you are finding opportunities to enjoy the outdoors this winter, too!
-The Year-Round Staff of Camp Onas (& Rhea the Dog)
Early morning frost on the Lower Fields, not much snow yet this year!
Matt next to one of the many shade trees he’s transplanted around Camp. While he intentionally seeks sunshine in Winter, Matt is almost always thinking about summertime shade trees.
Matt
I think about how to optimize the sun going in my eyes during these short months. For me that means being deliberate about getting out and about midday, rather than later when I usually would. Sometimes I like to go outside and remember how hot it was during the summer. I think it'd be great if we could bottle a cold day in the winter to dispense a half hour at a time during the summer. If anyone has leads on how to do this please direct message me.
Holly
I like to walk around and visit a few favorite spots. I love the fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun on a cold day. I tend to frequent the same places because I like to observe the small and big changes that happen between my visits. Sometimes the changes are clearly seasonal or weather-related, sometimes I can tell they are from animals or humans, and sometimes I am not sure, and get to imagine what might have occurred in that space since I was last there.
The fox kit footage on our YouTube channel came from some of Holly’s walks around Onas.
Lisa in her stable with her horse Sara and a photobomb from her other horse, Logan, on the left!
Lisa
I currently have 3 horses and a pony that I keep at home, so I spend a minimum of 3 hours a day feeding, cleaning and caring for the horses. It is something I enjoy doing, and actually prefer winter to summer/hot months. I'm constantly moving, so I never really get too cold. Once the daylight hours get a bit longer, I am looking forward to taking walks down my road to the creek and back, approximately a 45 minute walk which is something I started during the Covid shutdown and look forward to doing again.
Isabelle
Isabelle
I love to take meandering strolls around my neighborhood in the winter. Living in South Philadelphia, I never run out of interesting things to see-- decorative lights, unique shops, dogs greeting each other, and lots of other people on their own strolls! I'll also never turn down an opportunity to build a winter fire, especially if good friends and hot chocolate are involved!
Dex
When I'm feeling brave, I'll venture out into the frigid weather to go on walks through the Upper Fields. It is pretty awesome to have such a beautiful place in my backyard. I spot deer all the time and, if I'm lucky, sometimes see wild turkeys. If it has just snowed I make an extra effort to go out because I think Camp is at its best with a fresh layer of snow.
Katie
I love going on runs with friends during the winter. It feels great to breathe the crisp air and feel the wind. Plus, I never get overheated when I'm running in the winter, which is nice! This winter I've also been playing pick-up soccer. It's been a lot of fun to try something new and have a reason to get outdoors
Rhea
On really cold days ball bounce ground like bounce road, so run and get ball. Be Good Dog, Good Dog, Ball.
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