Well, Campers!

It’s another summer camp season in the books! And, while it’s never easy to say goodbye to the exhilarating days of overnight camp, reflecting on your time away is an important part to the whole experience. And, along with the end of the camp season, comes the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest. Like a thrilling Fourth of July fireworks show, we’re bringing this contest back with a bang this year and upped the ante with a grand prize of $500!

2023 Summer Camp Story Contest

With ten random winners, our grand prize winner will snag a whopping $500 gift card to splurge on our online store. Two lucky folks will score $200 gift cards, while two more will strut away with $100 gift cards. And then, we'll have five more $50 winners. But hey—even if you don't make it to the winner's circle, we've got you covered with a sweet $20 gift card so that all participants are winners!

What to Talk About

We want to hear the good stuff—the moments that made your camp experience unforgettable. Take your time and paint us a picture, setting the scene with your words. Maybe it's that incredible moment when you conquered the climbing wall or the hilarious campfire tales that had you in stitches. Tell us about the amazing folks you met or why your camp is the best place on earth!                                                                                                           

Who Can Submit

Hey, parents and grandparents, you're not left out either! We know watching your little adventurers head off to camp might bring back some powerful nostalgia. Feel free to share your own camp story from back in the day or give us your child’s camp stay from your perspective. We're all ears!

Write or Record

Just as we did for the first time last year, you can submit by either writing up a submission or recording a video. To submit a video, just grab your camera, tell record yourself telling your camp story, then upload it to YouTube and drop us the link.

Written submissions must be at least 150 words, but feel free to share more if you're on a roll! If you end up taking the video route, it must be at least a minute-and-a-half of recounting camp magic. We're accepting submissions up until the stroke of midnight on August 31. To enter the contest, just click here. No entry fee required! If you're under 18, you’ll need permission from your parent or guardian.

So go ahead, spill the beans and share your camp stories with us! We'll feature the best ones right here on the Blog. Check out the entry form for further details! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We received more than 40 entries for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp and I’ve been happily plugging away at publishing each one of them right here on the Blog to share with all our readers! Today we have our last Share Your Camp Story post. This post features our remaining three entries. They were all a little short, but I thought we’d still share them on the Blog.

Our first submission is about JaRon L.’s camp stay at Camp Sweeney.

“This was my son's first time at the camp. My first time ordering from this website and I am grateful to have had all my needs met. Products are reliable and the customer service was completely awesome. I will be ordering again. JaRon's first time at camp was awesome. He says he is ready to go back. Thank you Everything Summer Camp.”

Next we have an entry from Julie B. whose boys lost only one item at Kingswood Camp.

“At the camp my sons attend, there aren’t closets or shelves in the bunks; the boys live out of there trunks. I was in disbelief when I heard this - how would my sloppy, disorganized boys keep track of their stuff, or what was clean and dirty? Miraculously, with all the organizers I purchased at Everything Summer Camp, the boys came home with EVERYTHING I sent, excluding one sock! Awesome!”

And lastly, we have this submission from Robin K. whose daughter’s attend Camp Louise as did she.

“It is very special to have my daughters continue the tradition of going to Camp Louise, the camp I went to as a camper and counselor along with my mom and sister. My favorite part of camp (and theirs too) is Friday Night Folkdancing to welcome in Shabbat. The entire camp wears white and joins together after Friday night services. My girls and I love to practice the dances before they leave and then dance again when they come home!”

It’s great to know that JaRon had such a great time at summer camp! We’re thrilled to have helped make that happen. Julie, it’s great that your kids somehow brought everything back home…ALMOST. I guess there will always be the sock that got away. And Robin, it’s so cool that you get to see your daughters relive the Camp Louise experience like you had when you were there age. Thanks to all of you for sending in these submissions.

You can get a closer look at Camp Sweeney by clicking here. Take a look around on the Kingswood Camp website when you click right here. Or enjoy investigating Camp Louise on their website when you click here. Maybe one of these will be your next summer camp. As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans! And Happy Camping.

- John

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 video came from Smila F. who sent her two boys to the same camp that she used to attend: Camp Longhorn. Watch her video right here:

“Hi. Your contest said that you could also have parents that went to Camp. So my two boys went to camp for the first time this year to Camp Longhorn in Texas and that's actually where I went to Camp when I was a child growing up. So it was really super-fun to go pick them up on the last day of camp (which is called Visitor’s Day) that we got to drive up to the camp. We went to their cabins to pick them up, we got big hugs after two weeks, and then, they got to do three different activities. So I went with one child to go do his three activities and my husband went with our other son to do his activities and then we kind of swapped in the middle. But it was super-fun! It reminded me of when I was a kid. They got to do all the fun activities I did when I was there. And one of my favorite things about camp from when I was a kid—and they also said it was theirs as well—was Barney's Bacon. It was the best! You ate in a big room called the Chow Hall and it was real fun. But Camp Longhorn was awesome when I was a kid and I was really psyched that our boys got to go this year for the first time to Camp too! Bye."


You got it right, Smila! Parents and children alike are welcome to submit to the ‘Share You Camp Story’ Contest. How cool that you get to send your kids off to the same place you went to when you were their age. It sounds like you had a wonderful time reliving your camp days on pickup day. And you definitely have my mouth watering over Barney’s Bacon! Thanks for submitting this video for our contest, Smila.

If anyone else wants to look into Camp Longhorn more, click here to check out their website and have a good look around. Maybe that’s where you’ll be heading next summer. As always, thanks for reading and Happy Camping!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We were happy to get the turnout that we did this year for our annual Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest! Your camp stories were great! I had such a fun time reading through them and we’ve been having a blast publishing them here on the Blog to share them with all our readers online! We’re posting each submission with their own individual post right here on the Blog!

Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes in September, I’ve moved on to the rest of your submissions. The following post is from Stafford H. who wrote in to tell us about his summer stay at Camp Laney in Mentone, Alabama. Check it out:

“In June I went to Camp Laney. I went with my friend Jake. Our cabin was called the Beehive.

My favorite thing to do at camp was bombardi. I beat a trash-talker. When we were playing we saw a snake. Everyone started laughing.

We had a lot of activities. We played pit ball. We went bouldering. It was a great week.”

Stafford’s camp story submission is a little light for our contest, but I still thought we could share it here on the Blog. Thanks for writing in to us, Stafford! I’m glad Camp Laney was such a big hit for you. I’m surprised your cabin mates laughed at the sight of a snake! I would have expected more running and screaming, I think! Haha. Sounds like you had an absolute blast this season at summer camp.  

For everyone else, you can give Camp Laney a closer look by clicking right here to see all the fun they have in store for their campers in summer seasons to come. 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 Emily M., who has attended Camp Somerset for the last few years. Check out her story and why this year was different!

“For the past two years I have been at Camp Somerset. Until this summer the term second home felt foreign and unfamiliar. As a rising eighth grader my normal life is filled to the brim. The same goes for at camp, but in the most spontaneous and brilliant way. My favorite memory of this summer was when my camp directors made milk shakes with hockey sticks. Each cup that my directors filled reminded me of my friends, memories, time, laughter, and love for my second home. This experience has given me a luminescent glow that will help me stride through life. Without Camp Somerset my memories would not have been formed and my heart would not be filled. Thank you Camp Somerset for my joy, love, laughter, and my smile.”

What a heartwarming and camp spirited submission, Emily! Thanks for sharing this snapshot of a ridiculous memory among the collage of many that you made at Camp Somerset. How nice that you found your home away from home!

Any other interested girls can have a great time like Emily did at Camp Somerset and check it out for yourself by clicking here. As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John