Hey, Camp Fans!

Everyone is looking forward to the summertime! Camp isn’t here just yet, but our excitement certainly is! Yesterday we shared our first place prize winner for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest at Everything Summer Camp.   

Today we have the last of our $25 winners. And that winner is….

Donna J.! Congratulations, Donna! You’re our $25 prize winner! Looking through the generations, check out why this summer is a big deal to Donna’s granddaughter in this Grandmother’s camp story submission:

“My story may be a little different coming from a Grandmother and I am one of the camp nurses! My daughter (now 40 years old) began camping when she was 8 years old. She returned each summer through her college years. Of course, beginning as a camper through senior counselor and head of Riflery Camping gave her confidence as she has experienced life through college and being a mom. And yes, all the fun and exciting new experiences! This summer I will again return to camp but this year my granddaughter will go with me for her first summer at camp. She is so excited and so is her mother! Knowing all of the fun she will have and lifelong friends she will make. She has already gone to Mother-Daughter weekend and a Loved it. ❤ Camping at Riverview!!!”

What an awesome submission, Donna! How cool for your granddaughter to get to camp with Grandma! Haha! Sounds like you’ll be a great presence at camp for her first summer stay! Camp Riverview must be a magical place. Thanks for the caring service you contribute for Riverview campers! To everyone else, be sure to check out Camp Riverview for your own future camp stay and maybe you’ll get to meet Donna! As always, thanks for reading!

 - John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We’re changing up our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest and turning it into a monthly deal as opposed to our previous annual receival. Today, I have our grand prize winner of the May ‘Share Your Camp Story’ edition. Find out right here and right now—the winner of our $100 gift certificate is….

Healy W.!

Congratulations, Healy! You won our grand prize of a $100 gift certificate to our online store. Healy wrote in to tell us about his time last year at Camp Nokomis. Read about his camp stay from last year and how excited he is to return!

“Last year was an amazing year at camp! It was my 4th summer going to camp, and it was just as amazing as every year before it! Camp Noko is awesome, and I love going back every year to see my friends, the awesome counselors, and, of course, the dogs at camp :). I loved doing archery, going swimming, laughing my head off at improv, trying out leathercraft for the first time, and going climbing! Last year at camp was especially awesome because I spent a ton of time with all of the amazing people at camp and I tried a bunch of new things. On Sundays, we have the three C's. Chapel, Chipwiches, and Campfire! Sundays were and always are definitely some of my favorite days at camp. Chapel is just a time when a group of either senior campers, aides, CITs, or staff put together a theme of something like kindness, empathy, etc. and then find songs that the whole camp sings along to based on the theme and they read a story book connected to the theme. Of course there are also chipwiches, which are THE BEST THING EVER!!! They are chocolate chip cookies stuffed with vanilla ice cream! At the end of the night on Sunday, all of the cabins go down to the lakefront for campfire, the third C. Campfire is when awards from activities are given out, spirit awards go out, and the camp sings songs and hears a poem. It's always super fun and calming. Last year, I got my first ever spirit award, and it was for always making sure that camp is a fun place. I felt really proud and happy when I got the award because I try my best to make everyone happy at camp, because camp is awesome!”

What a fantastic summer stay last year, Healy! I’m camp continues to live up to its hype year after year! It’s great that you’ve encountered such an awesome place, great people, and thrilling fun through Camp Nokomis! The food sounds pretty good too; I need to get my hands on some chipwiches! Thanks for your submission, Healy and congrats once more for your first place prize! To everyone else, get a closer look at Camp Nokomis on their site and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

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