Hello, Camp Folks!

Our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest at Everything Summer Camp has been an annual contest we’ve held for the past five years and it’s always seen great success! It’s usually not until camp sessions are over when we start asking kids to write down their stories or other memories they’d like to share with us and have published here on the Blog. This year, we’re not waitin’!

We’re actually changing the ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest. But don’t worry—it’s not going away! We’re blowing it up! I’ll break it down simply. Check it out:

Here’s How it Used to Work
We asked all of you campers out there for your submissions about how your camp stay went—a story, your favorite activity, your new best friend, etc. Our usual amount of entries would pour in between the end of July and all through August. And, by the time September rolled by, we were announcing the winners of the contest. We would have ten winners who received four tiers of gift certificate prizes and all participants got a $15 gift certificate.

Here are the New Rules
We’re putting an end to it as a single contest and ‘Share Your Camp Story’ is graduating to an all-encompassing monthly contest! Each month we’ll have a sort of prompt to tell you what sort of submission to write. Each month, we’ll pick a $100 winner and a $25 winner. Everyone else who submits will get 1000 S’more Bucks.  

Our deadline for our latest Share Your Camp Story monthly contest is Sunday, May 31. As your planning goes on for sending your own kid to camp, you may find yourself reminiscing about your own summer fun from all those years back! We’d love to hear about it. Start writing! You have the rest of May to send in your stories. Submit here if you're ready now!

And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Time is running out! There are only several days left to get your entry into us for our unprecedented April Share Your Camp Story Contest from Everything Summer Camp. The mailbox is still open for now and will be until Thursday, April 30. So hop to it if you haven’t yet or complete your story if you started your story but aren’t finished just yet and get your story submitted to share with us!

We asked for your stories from last summer: your favorite memory, your new friends, the activity you liked best—whatever you like. Or if you’re feeling super positive about this upcoming camp season, you can write about that too. Pretty much anything goes.

Also, be sure to mention the name of the camp you attended and what you loved most about it! Include your first name and your last name initial and how long you’ve been going to camp. We loved hearing about your summer for the last few years and I can’t wait to receive a fresh new batch of camp stories from this year!

In case you’re not feeling overcome with inspiration, check out the suggestions I made when I first announced the contest. Read that post by clicking here.

If you have yours ready to go, take care of it now and click here.

We’re doing things a bit differently for this edition of our Share Your Camp Story Contest. There will be one random winner chosen who will receive an Everything Summer Camp gift certificate of $100. A winner for second place will be randomly chosen as well for a $25 gift card to our store. And all other participants will receive S’more Bucks (our reward point system here at Everything Summer Camp).

So, get your submissions in to us, Camp Fans! And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Things have changed fast with nationwide closures of stores, restaurants, sporting events, schools, and more. It means that we all have a little more time at home with our family. It also means boredom and sloth could be setting in for kids who would typically be in school. In response to this situation, we here at Everything Summer Camp thought we’d switch things up to give kids something to do. And maybe even win some cash! 

Our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest at Everything Summer Camp has been an annual contest we’ve held for the past five years and it’s always seen great success! We tend to announce it around the end of July when summer camp sessions come to an end. But we figure, with all this time off at home, why not start right now?!

Right now is a great time to get your minds off the current affairs and put some positive thoughts down on paper. Tell us about your favorite story from last year, your best friend you met at camp, what your favorite activity was, or how much you loved your camp! Maybe you’re feeling super optimistic about this upcoming camp season and want to share what you’re most excited about. We’re all ears!

All Entries are Winners!

For this contest, we’ll pick a $100 winner and a $25 winner of Everything Summer Camp Gift Cards. Everyone else who submits will get 1000 S’more Bucks (the campy equivalent to reward points). You have until Thursday, April 30 to submit. Submissions must be 150 words to qualify, but we’d prefer that they be closer to 250. Submit your written entry by clicking here. And visit our Official Rules page by clicking here if you have further questions.

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. 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 thoughts! So get writing, folks! We’re looking forward to getting word from you. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We received more than 30 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 camp story which comes from Clarisa D., who wrote in to tell us about her second year at Camp Nakanawa. “Hi my name is Clarisa D. this was my 4th summer going to camp Nakanawa. This camp is my favorite part of my summer with all the activities like Horseback Riding, Archery, Diving Swimming, and many more I was never bored. This year was my favorite year because my cabin was amazing. I was with one of my best friends ever Olivia and with one of the best counselors ever Mariel. Me and Olivia have been good friend since last year when we were in the same cabin too. We have soo many inside jokes and amazing moments like one day at camp it started to pour rain and we and soo many other girls decided to put on our swimsuits and head to the tennis courts. It was soo much fun we were having the best time. I can’t wait to go back next summer and see all my friends like Olivia and Amelia OG. I can’t wait to also see Ember and Audrey. Next year will be my 6th grade summer and I can’t wait! I could be an aide, get the main roles in the operetta, celebrate my birthday with all my friends, and a possibility to be an Amazon team captain! Thank you soo much!”

Glad to hear that Camp Nakanawa continues to be such a positive place in your life, Clarisa! Camp always has the best people and the coolest activities. I hope you enjoy many more summers there in the future! Thanks for sharing how great Nakanawa is, Clarisa! For everyone else, check out Nakanawa to see if it might be the right place for you. 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 seven lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $15 gift certificate to our online store!

Today’s post features a submission from Maddy K., who wrote in to tell us all about a number of her new experiences during her fun camp stay this summer at Beber Camp. Check it out:

“I went to a new camp this summer (as staff), so that was a new experience. I was nervous and scared. I made friends from all over the world. I won an award (1 of the 5 vision awards, all staff). I tried SO many things for the first time (Paintball, Hockey, Horseback riding, and Water-Skiing to name a few). I also got to help with the musicals (for the tech). (Aladdin and Mary Poppins). I also worked in the office. (I did packages and mail sorting). I also got to go to Chicago on my days off. It is a Jewish camp, so we don't do milk/meat at the same meal, so that was hard for me. The pic is me with the vision award winners. I won for pride and ownership.”

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Maddy! What an eclectic assortment of activities you got to take part in! I’m glad you enjoyed all your new experiences so much and congratulations on your Vision Award! What a great place Beber Camp sounds like! 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