Ottsville Painting

First, tell us a little about yourself! 

It is my good fortune to be Husband, Dad to three, and Granddad to one. As a profession, I spent quite a while working in mapping and geographic information systems. I continue to work in cloud computing. My wife Janice and I live in and enjoy the wilds of Northern Montgomery County, PA, but I hail from Levittown and the Langhorne/Newtown area, while Janice is from Doylestown. All of that is within an hour or so of Philadelphia and not far from Camp.

What was your time at Camp Onas like? How did your family become connected to Camp Onas?
Sadly, I was never a camper. Though I attended Newtown Friends School, where my Mom taught art for many years, I wasn't well acquainted with Onas. That was until July of 1976 when, at 15, through a friend, I was asked to fill a dishwasher role that went vacant after the start of Camp. The unexpected escape from teenage summer at home was gratefully welcomed! The kitchen staff that year included Anne as head cook and Joy as her assistant. Amanda, Kathy, and Carol did food prep, while Nate, Duggan, and I did the dishes. Duggan was mostly at the pot sink, while Nate and I took turns at the input and output of the dishwasher. For the summer of 1977 I was the "maintenance man," cutting lawns, mending fences, maintaining the pool, and cleaning up whatever needed it. On Facebook this morning I happened to see the last group photo including me - Session 4 of 1978 - when I was Junior Counselor.

What are some of your favorite memories from Onas? Did you have a favorite activity, Evening Activity, meal, song?

The joyous abandon of 100+ people, multiple times per day, singing goofy, spooky, hilarious, and irreverent camp songs is on the short list of the best experiences from my life. I loved sleeping outside and constantly being outside. The end-of-session campfires are a favorite memory and one that stands out saw Karl Freedman reciting The Cremation of Sam McGee - a poem that, by chance, my Dad adored. To this day I want to stand behind a campfire at night and recite Sam McGee to a crowd of fellow celebrants!

How did Camp Onas influence your life?

Spending three summers at Camp Onas, from 15 to 17, was huge in forming me as an adult. Being outside and cooperating with Nature are persistently the things I love most. In my family I'm the youngest of three sons, but at Camp I was a big brother to hundreds of kids. Camp was fun and adventurous for all involved, and being part of something like that teaches possibilities and perspective. Above all, Camp was the first chance I took to make a choice about my path in life; my first step on the road toward independence. I took the one less traveled by...

Did you spend a lot of time in Arts & Crafts/the barn when you were a counselor?

I enjoyed non-stop sports in my mid-teens, and since I had access to a lot of arts and crafts at home, the art room wasn't my go-to station when I had a choice. In my spare time I did manage to carve, bake enamel, and weave lanyards.

Can you tell us about your father and his artistic career?

My Dad, Al Fiorentino, was from Philadelphia; third son of Italian immigrants who were both tailors. After Army service during WWII, Dad worked as a lineman for the Reading Railroad and attended the Museum School (now University of the Arts) in Philadelphia, where he and Mom met. Dad told me that being an artist was his plan from the age of six. His career started with a greeting-card company and then an advertising agency, but freelance illustration was always his destiny.

It was one of the delights of my life, and peculiarities of my upbringing, that Mom went to work while Dad worked from home; his studio being in the den where we watched TV. With my nose constantly in what Dad was doing, by osmosis I learned a great deal about his process and tools. He employed a range of media and delivered all sorts of products, but mostly he illustrated with pen and brush for book publishers and advertisers. Numerous pieces can be seen on Dad's Facebook photos page. Continuing to work and refine his style into his 80’s, Dad passed in 2014, almost 88, with work still on the board. As a Veteran, he is interred at the National Cemetery in Washington’s Crossing. Thinking of his legacy, a few things occur to me. To the neighborhood, adults and kids alike, he was the sporty Dad in the backyard, but more than that, he was an artist who was a part of all their lives, painting their portraits and using their photos in his illustrations. Everyone was affected by that. At the point in his career when design software first took hold there was an impact on Dad's business. Still, his long-time clients knew that he could solve any graphical problem they could offer, so he always managed to find work and will always be respected as a great talent. I chose not to pursue art because I knew the struggle Dad faced in balancing the creative impulse against the impulse to earn a livelihood. It wasn't ‘til grown that I had any real sense of choice he made and why.

What’s the story behind your father’s painting of Onas? 

My Dad's rendering of a camper sitting in the art room doorway at Onas is from a 1976 photo that I'm sure we have in storage. I have always thought of the painting as Happy Camper but apparently that's a name I gave it. While handling the painting for the reproduction I saw that Dad had named it with a label on the frame: "Ottsville". He loved to paint barns and covered bridges, and he was always hunting imagery as reference for his paintings. I’m sure Dad came to Ottsville later that Summer to see what I had gotten myself into, and while there he took photos of the barn as well as the nearby covered bridges that also appear in his paintings.

How have you stayed connected to Onas throughout the years?
For many years Janice and I, with our kids, lived in Northern New Jersey and our regular route to visit family in PA was up and down Geigel Hill Road. Now, when we go back to visit in New Jersey, our route is the same but in reverse. As a result, Camp has never been far from my awareness. During the past decade I attended a couple events in the off-season; a reunion and a Spring-cleanup day. The Facebook group, I'm Over 30 and I Went to Camp Onas, has been a terrific source of connections and reminiscences about Camp, and via related conversation, my Dad's painting helped me to re-engage with Camp Onas in 2023.

What prompted you to post about this painting on “Onas Over 30?”
We have a collection of my Dad's paintings and most have hung on our walls through the years. When we moved back to Pennsylvania in 2021, we chose a house without much wall space so what had been decoration for decades became obstacles to occupancy. Straightening up for visitors at Thanksgiving got me reflecting on Ottsville and its possible best uses.

Why is supporting Camp Onas important to you? And, how did you decide to support Camp Onas in this unique way?

What I explained above about Onas's positive impacts on my life is the sort of thing I hope for as many kids as possible. Camp is a Trojan Horse of goodness, helping to instill joy and possibility within kids and giving them the chance to share that with those around them. I always felt that I should and could do something for Onas. It occurred to me that, with a meaningful prompt like an auction for this painting, I might be able to both contribute and help others to do the same. Having recently made prints of another favorite painting for family members, it came to me that prints of Ottsville might be popular with this crowd. Sure enough!