Hey, Camp Fans!

Not only are kids back from summer camp, but summer camp itself is back! Yes, the vast majority of summer camps are back up and running for the 2021 season after shutting down for the summer along with the rest of the world. I hope you all had a blast with camp reopening this year. And, along with the reopening of camp, comes the reopening of our ‘Share You Camp Story’ Contest!

We can’t wait to hear what a blast you all had this summer! With our return, we’re making just a couple adjustments to the contest. First of all, we’re upping our prizes—including our participatory prize which, as of this year, is a $20 Gift Card for our online store! See the rest of our prizes for ten lucky winners below. Secondly, we’ve created the option this year to submit your camp story to us in video format. Tell your camp story to a camera, upload your recorded video to YouTube, and leave a link to your video in place of your written submission.

If you'd like to submit your camp story in video form, maybe you'd want to include some props. You can deliver your story while sitting on your camp trunk or wearing your summer camp tee. Or show us the stuffed animal that brought you comfort while you were away!

What About?
There’s an endless list of things you could write about for your submission—a list of everything you ate while at camp, for instance. But the best submissions are written about the parts of camp that meant the most to you. Take your time to really set the scene for us. Tell us about your most memorable moment or talk about all the great people you met. Maybe you want to write about the camp you went to and why you think it’s the best!

Maybe you want to include what it was like to be denied the opportunity to go to camp last year and how it was to have the opportunity back this summer. Maybe you DID go to camp last year. In that case, how were things different this year? It may be a crummy part of our history, but we ARE recording history with these camp stories.

If you're still unsure what to share, take a look at our previous submissions by clicking right here and maybe you'll get some inspiration!

No matter what you choose to share, we’d love to hear it! Include your first and last name as well as the name of the camp you visited and how long you’ve been going to camp. Submissions must be 150 words to qualify, but go for more if want! If you're submitting a video, make sure the video is at least one minute and thirty seconds.

Submit your entry by clicking here. There is no entry fee. If you're under the age of 18, you'll need permission from your parent or guardian to participate in this Contest. We’re taking submissions from now until the very last minute of August.

And speaking of parents—we certainly love hearing from you as well; so don’t hesitate to enter your own submission if you’d like to share your own story. How did the experience go on your end? Has your kid shown a positive change in character and behavior? How did you cope with your camper being away? Did you learn any lessons? Tell us anything you want, really—we’re all ears!

The Prizes!
For this contest we’ll be picking ten random winners. Our randomized winner for first place will receive our top prize of a $300 gift card to use on our online store! Three more winners will receive $100 gift cards to our site. And six random winners will receive $50 gift cards. All other participants will get a $20 gift card to make everyone a winner! 

Tell us how camp went and submit your stories to be shared right here on the Blog! Check out the entry form for further details and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

Here is our last submission from our August ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest entries. The coronavirus has had a huge impact on everyone—camp included. And, though many kids were unable to attend camp this summer, we still wanted to hear from you. We asked to hear from kids who weren’t able to attend camp this season to record this very unusual time in our world.

This last submission for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest comes from Kathryn M. who sent her two kids to Camp Ozark. Here’s her submission:

 
“Our 2 week epic family vacation was cancelled as a result of COVID and so finding something to fill summer while being safe was difficult. We felt at ease with all the precautions and testing that Ozark planned to do and were able to sign our two kids up last minute as a result of so many cancellations. It was the first time at sleep away camp and they LOVED it. To have time to play and celebrate with new friends and forget about the global pandemic for a few days was such a blessing. Aidan & Cavan came home raving about their experiences and talking about all the future years they will be able to go to Ozark - Bleed Blue (they were assigned the Osage team...for life!)”


This pandemic certainly has put the kibosh on a lot of typical summer fun that families look forward to each year. I’m sorry that your epic family vacation turned out less than epic, but it’s very cool that you were able to send your kids to sleepaway camp before it was too late! That’s great that Aidan and Cavan are now registered 'bluebloods' and that they had such a positive experience for their first summer camp stay! Hopefully next year your family can fit in an epic vacation and Camp Ozark for your children! Thanks for the sharing your story, Kathryn!

If anybody else is interested in Camp Ozark for a future camp stay, you can visit their website by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Folks!

We’ve been thrilled to hear from our participants for our August ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest. Though some were, many kids weren’t able to attend camp this year. Nevertheless, we still wanted to hear from kids to see what their experiences have been this year.

Our next submission for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest comes from Jonah N. who wrote in to tell us about his virtual camp experience with the Tin Mountain Conservation Center. Jonah is our grand prize winner of a $200 gift certificate to Everything Summer Camp. Here’s his submission:

 
“I really wanted to go back to New England Frontier Camp, but it was closed so my mom found a nearby virtual camp. All we had to do was drive up every Monday morning (it was about 30 minutes away so my little sister Noelle and I would play eye spy out the window a ton) and find a box of stuff on the Tin Mountain Conservation Center's porch with our name on it. The awesome part was that the STUFF had bug nets to find macroinvertebrates in our NH and ME streams, ponds, and yup, puddles! Another week we had a bag of mustard seed powder and sprinkled it to do a worm survey in our yard. The coolest thing was the awesome video we'd watch that the counselors made up for us about it all each week. We even got my cousins from PA into doing the activities. Bug Olympics was one of my favorites. I guess you can have fun and not actually be at camp, but learn stuff and feel like a bigger team member. The summer ended with things to build our own solar oven to make s'mores. Now, that is what I call camp. I'd even talk with my friends on the phone about it, and we were all trying to help learn about the environment and see who found more creepy crawlies and other weird stuff none of us knew was in our own back yards! So thanks to COVID I learned so much. Next summer I'll need to do both camps...Yikes! How long is summer anyways?”

 
Cool submission, Jonah! And way to find the silver lining in a situation as crummy as the coronavirus pandemic! That’s awesome that you got to learn so much and have fun doing it through this virtual camp program from the Tin Mountain Conservation Center! I’m sure it wasn’t quite the New England Frontier Camp experience that you’re used to, but the Bug Olympics sounds like it was a really cool and educational summer activity!

For folks interested in the Tin Mountain Conservation Center, check them out by clicking right here. Or visit the website of New England Frontier Camp for your own future camp stay. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

It's time for another story from our July ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest submissions, though many kids were unable to attend. The coronavirus has had a huge impact on everyone—camp included, however, some camps were fortunate enough to be able to keep their doors open this summer season. We asked kids who attended camp this season to tell us how camp was different this year.

Our next submission for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest comes from Lily E. who wrote in to tell us about her trip to Camp Newaygo. Lily is our $100 prize winner! Here’s her submission:

“Hi, my name is Lily and I am 8-1/2 years old. My time at Camp Newaygo was a blast. I was in Cabin 1 and I had 2 great counselors, Maggie and Hannah. In Cabin 1, I made some good friends. The session that I went to was Christmas in July. This is a tradition at camp and we sing Christmas Carols and decorate our cabins for Christmas and each have a Secret Santa. Other things were different this year, but that’s Ok. I was just happy that I could go to camp. Going to camp is a great experience. At camp you do a lot of fun things. The activities there are so fun. So were the evening programs. Some activities that I did were tie dye, zip line, and rock wall. They were all really fun. Some things that were different this year were “picnic” breakfast, and you couldn’t go into any other cabins besides yours and your sister cabin. My cabin was fun. I hope to go again next year.”

It’s great to hear that you had so much fun attending summer camp at Newaygo, Lily. Sounds like you had a very merry camp stay with caroling and secret santas! Picnic breakfasts sound like a really cool way for Camp Newaygo to have implemented some safety precautions this season! It sounds like the other, more traditional camp activities were pretty cool too like the zip line and rock wall climbing! Thanks for your submission!

For anybody interested in checking out Camp Newaygo for their own future camp stays, visit their website by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

It's time for another story from our July ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest submissions, though many kids were unable to attend. The coronavirus has had a huge impact on everyone—camp included, however, some camps were fortunate enough to be able to keep their doors open this summer season. We asked kids who attended camp this season to tell us how camp was different this year.

Our next submission for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest comes from Josie E. who wrote in to tell us about her trip to Camp Newaygo. Josie is our $50 prize winner! Here’s her submission:

 
“Hi, my name is Josie and I am 10-1/2 years old. There are 3 of us sisters, and we all went to Camp Newaygo in July. Until then we had not been able to go anywhere, so we were glad to finally get out of the house! I was in cabin 2 with my great counselors Zoe-Kate and Laura. I made lots of memories and friends in my cabin. This was the first year that I got to go for a whole week. It was also a year that camp was quite different. The ways that it was different were: we had a picnic breakfast (instead of a hot breakfast in the dining hall), and you could not be with other cabins besides your cabin and your “sister” cabin. My sister cabin was cabin 8. They did that to keep us safe. But, that did not stop any of my fun. I was glad to go to camp. I missed going boating and they didn’t offer dippin dots this year at the camp store, but I loved the evening programs like the talent show, pageant, Harry Potter and many more. I am lucky because I am going to Camp Newaygo Family Camp with my whole family in August, so I will get one more chance to go to camp this year. Usually Camp Newaygo is just for girls, but this time we can show our Dad everything we love about camp!”

 
Thanks, Josie! It’s great to hear that you and your sisters were able to attend summer camp at Newaygo. I’m glad that the safety precautions that were being taken there did not interfere with your fun. That’s awesome that you got to spend a whole week there and that you got to go back in August too with your dad! I bet he had a good time seeing what Camp Newaygo fun looks like firsthand!

For anybody interested in checking out Camp Newaygo for their own future camp stays, visit their website by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John