Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories for the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest were all so great! I had such a fun time reading through them all and now I’m excited to be sharing them with all our readers here on the Blog! Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’ve moved on to the rest of your submissions and we’re posting each submission one by one!

The following post is from Odie D., who traveled all the way from Ireland to work in the kitchen at Camp Zeke this summer. Check out the fun he had in his submission right here:

“My Camp story

Hi! My name is Odie D. and I worked at Camp Zeke in Pennsylvania, and this is my Camp story! I worked in Camp Zeke for 10 weeks and I was a member of the kitchen staff. It was hard work but all of the kitchen staff became really good friends over the 10 weeks we were together, I am still in touch with everyone now! I also learned many skills, such as cooking meals, preparing vegetables, and cleaning the kitchen, I feel like a proper chef now!

At the camp there was a mascot called Zeagle the eagle and every once in a while a staff member can go around the camp dressed as Zeagle and wave, play, or dance with the kids. I asked the camps owner and he said I was allowed to be Zeagle for a day! It was a lot of fun, I even played a game of basketball in the costume!

The camp organized many trips for us, but my favorite was definitely cliff diving! It was a scary experience for me since I’m afraid of heights—I’m really glad I did it and I’ll never forget it, but I don’t think I will ever do it again! I also got a cool picture, I uploaded it to a photo contest with the agency I was working for and got second place, they gave me a t-shirt as a prize!

I’m from Ireland and this was my first time in the USA, but I loved every second of it. I’m really thankful to Camp Zeke for giving me the opportunity to come here, and I’m also thankful to them for the memories and friends I was able to make here. It was only 10 weeks but I can’t imagine I will forget this experience for the rest of my life.”

Awesome, Odie! Or should I say, Zeagle?! Your summer sounds like it was one for the books! Nice work pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, traveling to the United States for the first time, working at a summer camp, and facing your fear of heights. I’m with you. Once is enough for an experience like that. Now you can say you’ve done it and you never have to again! Haha! Thanks for sharing your story with us, Odie.

For everyone else, you can give Camp Zeke a closer look. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories were great this year! It was lots of fun to read through them all and now I’m excited to share them with all our readers online! We’re posting each submission right here on the Blog! Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’ve moved on to the rest of the submissions we got.

The following post is from Dane B. who wrote in to tell us about summer days at Frost Valley YMCA summer camp in New York. Here it is:

“This was my first summer at sleep away camp. It was great. I loved it. I liked the activities, like French Rev, where we snuck through the forest after dark and tried not to get caught by flashlight beams. We did an overnight on a field with nothing but our sleeping bags. That was really fun because we made smores and ran around outside. We slept under the stars - I'd never seen the sky full of stars like that, there were thousands of them! And there was a really bright moon. On Sunday we got to sleep in until 9 and had a 10 o'clock brunch of waffles and ice cream. I loved the cabins because they were modern and had soft mattresses. It was my first time sleeping away from home and it was very fun. I also liked Minecraft theme day because we got to do all sorts of fun activities like have a trip to the Nether and fight with pool noodles and build forts in the woods before it was dark and mobs came out. So camp was very fun and I liked it. I want to go back next year.”

Really cool, Dane. Your night under the stars must have been a rather enchanting time. It’s certainly is a breathtaking sight when you aren’t used to a sky loaded with stars. I’m thrilled to hear that your first summer at a sleep away camp was such a success! Thanks for sharing these highlights with us, Dane! For everyone else, give Frost Valley YMCA a closer look. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We were delighted to see such a great response to our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp and now we’re eager to publish each one right here on the Blog! After our seven lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $20 gift certificate to our online store!

Today’s post is from Christina F., who was thrown a pretty giant curve ball with her daughter’s summer camp experience. Get ready for the plot twist:

“Have I got a camp story for you...

We spent an hour and a half in check-in because there was a lengthy COVID procedure to go through to make sure everyone was healthy--totally worth it, though. When we dropped our daughter off at her cabin at 4:30, she was so excited she left us without a backward glance, or a goodbye!

My husband I were relaxing at home five hours later when his cell phone rang with a number we didn't recognize and which we promptly ignored. The person calling left a voicemail, and when we checked it, we got some crushing news. The camp's site staff had taken COVID tests earlier that evening "out of an abundance of caution," and members of the staff had tested positive. The counselors and camp directors were fine, but there wouldn't be anyone to run the physical camp site. Everyone needed to come and pick up their campers as soon as possible.

And so we found ourselves back at the camp eight and half hours after drop off picking up our camper and two of her friends, along with other adults we knew picking up a total of five more friends who had all planned a week at camp together.

Fortunately, we were able to put together a day for the kids to tie dye their camp shirts, and another day for them to spend doing camp arts and crafts and singing camp songs, so they got to spend some camp time together.

Camp is a bonding experience no matter what happens, right?

Here's to next year!”

Oh boy! What a dud of a “camp trip”—the dropoff and pickup were the only “adventure”! Nice work giving your kids a day or two of campy kind of activities. Turns out summer camp is what you make it, I guess! And, yes, hopefully next year yields better results. Thanks for sharing your story, Christina—even if it was a dud. It’s a good story, anyway. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We were delighted to see such a great response to our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp and now we’re eager to publish each one right here on the Blog! After our ten lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $20 gift certificate to our online store!

Today’s post is from Orla M. who wrote into us from overseas about her time at North Star Dibba Camp in Dibba, Fujairah of the UAE (United Arab Emirates). Check out her submission on what makes camp so great!

Wonderful, Orla! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I’m glad you got to do some really fun—AND BRAVE—activities this summer like trick horseback riding! North Star Dibba Camp must be a pretty great place! Give them a closer look. You can check it out for yourself by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories were great! I had a great time reading through them all and now I’m excited to share them with all our readers online and post each submission right here on the Blog! I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes and we’ve now moved on to the rest of your submissions.

The following entry is from Megan P. who wrote in to tell us about her own time at Westminster Woods as well as her daughter’s camp stay at Gold Arrow Camp. Here is her submission:

“My camp adventures as a child always were a few hours north of home in the redwoods in Sonoma County. We would have funny nicknames and sing songs around the campfire. I remember one year wading through a creek with a huge cold watermelon at the end of our adventure and it was the sweetest reward. We could climb up to a cave and open our mouths in the dark to see if the rumor of breaking a white life saver in the dark really creates a spark. The songs I learned while away every summer are ones I still hum at times. Now it’s my daughter’s turn. Her camp is for two weeks and with no phones or internet it’s like going back in time to my youth. Laughter replaces time on the phone. Campfires replace an evening movie. I’m so grateful for summer camp. It is allowing my daughter to realize how capable she is. To make new friends outside of her small school class. She packed her entire soft sided trunk and we’re grateful for the attached zip on bag. I actually saw a photo of it and her smiling in her tent. They take photos and send them to us periodically as a way for our current parental always know where ones child is culture to feel connected while they are off having fun. It’s wonderful how camp life can stay similar as time and technology marches on.”

Fantastic, Megan! Thanks for sharing this piece. It really shows how summer camp is still summer camp despite the forward march of time and tech. Your time at camp sounds like it was quite the adventure! Wading with a watermelon must have been quite the challenge. And now I HAVE to know—did the lifesavers make a spark? Take a closer look at Westminster Woods to visit the same camp as Megan or check out Gold Arrow Camp where her daughter went this summer. As always, thanks for reading!

- John