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 your submissions. The following post is from Jez L. who wrote in to tell us about her summer days at Camp Foss. Here it is:

We were almost a week into our one-month stay at camp, for my year as a counselor-in-training. Our group wanted to do a special activity, so we decided we'd wake up bright and early, and go paddleboarding for the sunrise. So, we got out of bed at 4:45 in the morning, while it was just slightly bright out, and the fog was still rising out of the pond. We put on our life jackets and headed out on our paddleboards with a lifeguard, who we managed to convince to wake up with us. We paddled around and watched the sun go up as the sky turned different colors; red, pink, orange, yellow, purple... and eventually, a normal blue sky. It was really nice to be out and about while the rest of camp was still asleep, and everything was so quiet and peaceful. Before this experience, I had never been out on the water so early. I really enjoyed having this unique activity with my 10 best friends in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.

You captured this moment so well, Jez. What a magical morning that must have been! 4:45 is pretty early—nice work rising to this challenge you counselors-in-training set for yourselves. Thanks for sharing this moment of your summer stay at Camp Foss with us! For everyone else, give Camp Foss 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 Laine P., who's camp story is just as disgusting as it is hilarious. Check out this brief story from her summer stay at Camp Point Clear.

Ok so, my story is kinda gross so if you don’t like anything gross I wouldn’t recommend sticking around. So one night in the middle of camp they announced at dinner that the night activity was “scavenger hunt” and I like scavenger hunts so I was excited. So we went back to our cabins to get ready then went down to the courtyard. How it worked was the two people in charge of each crew, (there are two crews) yelled things out like- a pair of goggles or the camp banner and you had to go find it. We only had 45 minutes so we had to run. I listened but did not hear anything I could get. Then she called out “Someone go get horses poop!” All I thought was ewww. Then all the sudden the crew leader points at me and some other girl I had never met and says, “you two go get horse poop!” Neither of us move and she said “What are you waiting for?” So we took off running with our headlamps down the trail to see if there was any poop on the trail...

Not surprisingly about halfway down the trail there was a big fat poop. The other girl, whose name I later found out was Rosie, gave me the bag the crew leader had given her and told me she was going to barf if she had to pick it up. I was like, “ugh ok?” So I carefully put my hand in the bag and slowly lowered it until it was right over the poop. I picked it up and gave it to Rosie, and she closed it. Well tried to. As we were sprinting back to the table to put the poop on it, Rosie slipped and the bag opened, and all of that poop landed right on my shoe! “Omg I’m sooooo sorry!” Rosie said. I was afraid of what I was going to see when I looked down. I eventually got the courage to look down and ewwww it was not pretty. Poop was smeared all over my ankle and my shoe. Right then after seeing all the commotion a counselor came over and her jaw dropped. She picked me up and brought me to the hose closest to us while I was explaining what happened to her. “That was quite the story” she said! “Ok all done” she said after cleaning me off for what seemed like days. Rosie had already gone to put the poop on the table a long time ago and the scavenger hunt was long over, so I went back to my cabin to tell my cabin mates the story of the “falling horse poop!”

Wow, Laine! If I had to sum up your story with just one word it would be, “Eeeeewwwwwwww!” I can’t believe your cabin leaders had you go collect horse doo. I bet she regretted it when she had to clean your ankle and shoe off. This story had, not just me, but the whole office here at Everything Summer Camp in hysterics! I’m sorry this happened to you, but thanks for the laugh! It’s a good one. For everyone else, check out Camp Point Clear if you don’t mind falling horse poop. 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 Maddy K. from over at Beber Camp in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. Check out her submission on why Beber is so great!

This was my 2nd summer at Beber Camp! I have a VERY supportive team at camp (since I have an incurable disease that makes every day hard)! I have had the BEST 2 years at Beber Camp. I have made some of the best friends, tried a lot of new things (as an adult)! *I started as a staff member! I got to try water skiing, paintball, and more.

I love celebrating shabbat with all my friends. You will make some of your best friends (in my case from around the world) at camp! I am already counting down the days till next summer. The best times were when staff could do all staff paintball games or go get ice cream (we went to this place where my dad went as a kid), and more.

The highlight of the summer for me was: in between sessions was spending time and bonding with my co-workers (as I’m usually in the office and, not getting a lot of time outside/around others)!! I have made tons of friends from ALL over the world! We have a quote at my camp: “friendships won may never die”! It is true, I still have friends from my first summer! You will make your best friends at camp!

Wonderful, Maddy! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I’m glad you got to do some really fun activities this summer and spend your days outside the office! How cool that you get to meet so many new people from all over the country and the WORLD! What a great place Beber Camp must be! For everyone else, if Beber Camp sounds like it could be the right place for you, check it out for yourself by clicking here. 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 Sam P. who wrote in to tell us about his camp experience at Camp Seneca Lake. Sam is one of the grandkids of whom Carol H. wrote about in her contest entry. Here is Sam’s submission:

Hello, my name is Sam P. and I'm 12 years old. I just returned from my third summer at Camp Seneca Lake. Last summer I was not able to go to camp and I was saddened and disheartened. However, this summer I got my chance to be in oldest Cayuga and I had the time of my life! Cayuga is the name of my village. The boys in my village are entering grades 4 - 7. Next summer I will be in Mohawk village.

At camp I got the chance to participate in two Mass programs (camp wide competitions with 4 teams), one Color War (red versus blue, I was on red and red won), and C-day (Cayuga Day). Before COVID we took off campus trips on C-day. One year I went to Corning Museum of Glass and Watkins Glen State Park. This year we stayed on campus and had tournaments, played fun games, and ate pizza and ice cream.

All of these activities were incredibly fun! I also just enjoyed hanging out in the village with my friends. In the end, I am so grateful that I was able to experience this amazing summer and have the time of my life.

Wonderful, Sam! Thanks for sending us this piece about your summer in the Cayuga village of Camp Seneca Lake! You make it sound like a blast there. I hope your team did well in the Color War. The field trips from years past sound pretty fun, but who can say no to pizza and ice cream?! Glad you had such a fun time, Sam. I hope you have even more fun next year in Mohawk! For anybody else interested in Camp Seneca Lake, you can give it a closer look by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories were great for the ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp! It was such fun reading through them all. Now I’m eager to share them with our online community and post each submission right here on the Blog!

I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes and now I’m sharing the rest of your submissions. The following post is from Dominick B. who wrote in to tell us about his camp experience at Camp Mondamin. Here’s his submission:

This was my first time going to sleep away camp and I had the best time of my life! I was supposed to go last summer, but COVID had other plans. My mom let me pick out the design of my trunk and I was so excited to help pack all my supplies! My trunk is awesome and held up well. I have collected stickers to decorate it. I plan on using this trunk through college. I want to be a camp counselor when I’m older!

I looked through all the trunk designs and we even watched a video of how sturdy the trunks are made by your company! I really liked the lightning bolt design. I got a trunk storage shelf to hold my personal items. I would like to buy another shelf if I win this contest!  I would also like to buy a crazy creek chair or get one for my birthday.

I really loved camp and made some good friends. I decided to get into mountain biking and I was able to work my way up to a 3 day overnight trip to the Tsali mountain biking area. I also learned how to sail, kayak, and canoe. I was able to use all the new camping gear I bought, too! Thank you,

Dom 

Thanks so much for this great entry, Dominick! It sounds like you might love your trunk and Everything Summer Camp even more than camp itself—but I’m sure that’s not the case. We’re thrilled to hear how well your gear worked out for you and how much you love your trunk! That’s great that you got to do your first summer at overnight camp (albeit one year later than planned). Camp Mondamin has a knack for showing campers the best time of their lives! Hope you enjoy more Mountain Biking this fall! Glad you had such a good time!

If anybody else is interested in Camp Mondamin, you can give it a closer look by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John