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 Emma M. who wrote in to tell us about her first summer stay at Camp Nokomis. Here it is:

“This was my first time going away—ever—and I had asked my mom to go for a couple of years. I was so excited when she said yes, as my best friend had been going and wanted me to go with her. Well we ended up not only being in the same cabin but we were bunk mates. I was away for two weeks and as much as I missed my family, I had the most amazing time. My mom hooked me up with all the right stuff to take to camp. I loved my trunk (had the colors of a watermelon), but I think my favorite thing was my camp chair and my floor mat. Everyone in my cabin was so jealous! In fact I’m going to get a camp chair for a friend of mine, who went to camp for the first time this year too. She loved it as much as I did. It was an incredible 2 weeks and I can’t wait for next summer!! Maybe I’ll go for 4 weeks!?”

Wow! What a great first year, Emma! I’m glad camp was such a hit for you. That’s great that you got to join your friend this year and be bunkmates at camp—how lucky! I’m glad that you didn’t let your homesick feelings prevent you from having such a good time! Of course, we’re thrilled to hear that your trunk and camp gear from our shop was the talk of your cabin. That’s really thoughtful of you to get a camp chair for your friend! Thanks for sharing with us, Emma.

For everyone else, give Camp Nokomis 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 everyone else who got a $20 gift certificate as a show of our appreciation.

The following post is from Dina B. who wrote in to reminisce about her summer days at Raquette Lake and how she is thrilled to have shared her love for camp with her daughter got to love her summer stays at Camp Timber Tops! Here’s what she wrote:

“Full Circle—The love of camp Dina B. age 51

I was in 5th grade and my parents said it was time for me to go to sleepaway camp. 3 camp directors came to visit, sat in our living room, and showed us slides. I liked the guy with the nice smile and my parents liked that it was a traditional all girls camp. I got on a bus a few months later and drove 6 hours to Raquette Lake for 8 weeks. It was fun but I didn’t appreciate how much I loved it until December when I was missing the beauty of the lake, my newfound friends, and reminiscing about all the fun I had. Messy hair, no worry about boys, sports, and new incredible friends. Everyone was nice here. Our head counselor, Helene, reminded us each morning, “You don’t have to like everyone but you do have to be nice to them.”

Fast forward 8 years. My parents told me to enjoy my last summer as a counselor because it was time to get a real job. I cried for weeks over this loss. I kept my friendships alive and studied abroad with my camp bestie. To this day—my closest friend is one I met at RLGC.

Almost 25 years later I took my daughter to visit Raquette Lake and learned that the 8 week summer was now 7 and she said no way—I am not going away for the whole summer. I knew I needed to find an all-girls session camp that shared the spirit and values of RLGC.

Thankfully we found Camp Timber Tops. After visiting 6 camps as we left that one she said, “I think that's my camp mom” and I told her I felt it too. For 24 days for the next 5 summers I lived vicariously through her, searching through pictures daily, writing letters, and loving every story she shared. Covid hit and heartbreak of not being able to return. She cried for weeks and I consoled her by reminding her that this was only a hiatus and she could be a counselor the following summer and what a summer she had! She loved her girls just as I had so many years before. Now she is in college for the summer and was not able to return to camp—not by choice. She cried similar tears when she heard this was the only way she could attend the college she wanted. Lisa, our assistant director, would always say that Raquette will always be in our blood. She was right and Timber Tops will always be in my daughter’s. There is nothing like camp and I feel so lucky that we were able to give her the incredible gift that my parents gave to me.”

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing this piece, Dina. I love that you could find a summer camp that was the best fit for your daughter. How nice that you can both share such a connection with your time away at summer camp. Unfortunately, as you have both learned now, summer camp has to come to an end someday. But those days will live on forever when you and your daughter trade camp stories with each other!

Take a closer look at Raquette Lake Girls Camp to visit the same camp as Dina or Camp Timber Tops where her daughter attended. As always, thanks for reading!

- 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 post is from Lulu S. who submitted our first video entry to tell us about her summer stay at Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha. Watch her video right here:

“Hi. I’m Lulu Stewart and I went to Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha. Here is my camp sweatshirt, yeah? So I had a pretty fun experience with my Everything Summer Camp trunk and Bunk Organizer that I won from the Easter event along with like the 70 other things I won from reposting it, but Arbutus Hayo-Went-ha is a really fun experience that I would recommend to like any girl who’s from third grade to a senior in high school and there are kids from all across the world. The girl who came from the farthest was from Singapore.

You can go for either two or four weeks or you can go to the day camp which is in Torch Lake so it’s not at the girls camp but it’s at the boys camp and you might see my brother there. He’s going to submit something later.

My girls camp is like 15-20 minutes away from my brother’s camp. It’s only 15 minutes away from the nearest hospital so if anyone got injured it would be pretty fast before we could get you to the hospital in Traverse City. It is around the Traverse City area and near Bel-air. The meals are very good. There are options for everybody like vegetarian options or salad bars or vegan options and they put out pbj options if you don’t like any of the food.

What else? A cabin can have up to twelve people. There are four divisions which are Happy Hollow, the Hollow, The Thicket, and Niji Hill. Happy Hollow’s for the youngest kids. There are three age groups here. Well, all of them have three age groups. The people there are very nice and not afraid to get you in trouble if you do something bad.

What else? There’s something for everyone. During G-Swim you can go to the waterfront, you can go to Arts & Crafts, you can go to the Climbing Tower, you can go to the Ropes Course. G-Swim is basically your time to roam alone, as long as you have a buddy, of course. I made friends with most of the people in Happy Hollow. There are trips for every age group and different trips for if you go for two or four weeks.

I was a Pathfinder this year so I was in Happy Hollow and we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes and hiked up 29 dunes. I know. It’s a lot. But it’s an experience that you’ll never forget for the rest of your life and if you keep going year after year…well, then…you’re all set.”

Great! Thanks for this video submission, Lulu! It’s great to hear how much you like Hayo-Went-Ha. Sounds like you took great advantage of all the fun opportunities at camp and made lots of friends! Nice work out in the Sleeping Bear Dunes. 29?!! My goodness! I bet you slept good that night. Enjoy plenty summers to come, Lulu.

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

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

It makes us so happy here at Everything Summer Camp to get such a great response to our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest! Now we’re having a great time publishing 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 features a submission from Andrew S., who wrote in to tell us all about his great summer camp stay away at Camp Longhorn. Check it out:

“Sleepaway camp is the best!! If you don't believe me here’s why. I went to Camp Longhorn for the first time. Camp Longhorn is so awesome because there are many fun and exciting things like the Tarzan swing, zipline, stand-up paddleboards, sailboating, and last, but not least, the wonderful amazing blob! Those are only half the amazing things that are there! After a long day of enjoying camp activities, you can enjoy a wonderful meal at chow hall! My favorite meals include doughnuts, pizza, hot dogs, tacos, philly cheese steak, and tater tot casserole. I learned to love Cholula hot sauce from my counselor. We went through a whole bottle!

The counselors are so nice, kind, and help the campers. When I arrived at camp I did not know anyone but I left with some great friends from all over the state and even Spain. We always had fun at night at campfire and sang songs. We have a lot of cool traditions at Camp Longhorn, like attawaytogo and Cross Mountain.

On the first day of camp, I pulled my new trunk into my cabin. Boy, am I so glad I had wheels on my trunk. I added fun stickers like Charlie the Longhorn and Bass for my cabin. I can’t wait to add more stickers to my trunk when I go next year!”

Thanks for this submission, Andrew! Summer camps always seem to have the best people and the most fun activities, don’t they?! It’s great to hear what a wonderful time you had during your stay at Longhorn! For everyone else, if Camp Longhorn sounds like it could be the right place for you, check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- 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 post is from Kate W. who wrote in to tell us about her first summer stay at Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha. Check it out right now:

“During the 4 weeks I was at camp, during two of those weeks my cabin headed off to Isle Royale National Park, where we hiked 113.2 miles in just two weeks! As the trip was fun we had a few hard days. One of the hardest days we were on our way to Siskiwit and we woke up a little late. We were maybe 2 miles from our campsite when we felt a little sprinkle so hurried to put all our rain gear on. We walked for a little longer until it started to down pour rain. We all tried to keep a good attitude as it was hard hiking in drenched hiking boots. We started moving slower as our socks hair hats boots were all soaking wet and we were all mentally tired. At last the joy on our faces when we finally reached the campsite. We put our packs under a tree to keep dry and half of us took and held up the tarp so our cabin mates could set up a tent keeping it dry and they did the same for us. Our counselors cooked us up a nice meal and we were able to eat, hop in our sleeping bags, and stay warm and dry the rest of the night. As maybe our fleeces and boots were not dry the next day we still had a great time!”

Hey, Kate! Getting caught in the rain isn’t always the most pleasant, but it sure has a way of creating great memories! A hundred-plus miles in two weeks is a long way to go. Nice job rising to the challenge and keeping on the sunny side despite getting rained on. It’s great to hear how you all worked together so well at the campsite and stayed cozy through the night. Isn’t camp magical?  

For everyone else, you can give Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha a closer look by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John