Hey, Camp Fans!
Having received around 30 entries for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp, we’re eager to share each one by publishing them right here on the Blog! We had seven lucky winners and then everyone else who submitt
ed received a $15 gift certificate to our website! Today’s post is from Lucy B., who wrote in to tell us about her first year at overnight camp.
“I had a lot of fun at camp! This was my first year of going to sleep-away camp. I made new friends, tried some new activities and made amazing memories! One of my favorite memories is when I was at the lake with some of my friends! We were all in small inner tubes and one of my friends (Lily) was trying to teach Audrey, Elsie, and me how to do a backflip out of the tube. It was so fun because none of us could quite get it right away and we all looked really silly! Audrey was the first to get it, however, and she and Lily kept trying to help Elsie and me but we just kept falling on our faces or falling backwards instead! Eventually we got the hang of it but that was a memory I would definitely keep! That was also the day I jumped off the tower for the first time! At the waterfront there is an 8ft tower that most people were scared to jump off of, but not me! I had read about the tower online and it sounded really fun so Audrey and I decided to jump off it! It was so cool and Audrey and I loved it so much that we decided to jump off it again (and again, and again, and… you get the point)! I had so much fun and made so many friends at camp that I signed up for next year and I hope to sign up for many years after that too!!!”
Sounds like a pretty hysterical time, Lucy! I don’t think I could pull off a smooth backflip, but it sounds like you finally got it down. Lucy loved her time at Camp Takodah. You can check it out for yourself right here and, as always, thanks for reading!
- John
“This story starts back from a campfire on night two of ten. My tent-mate had received a care package full of goodies and sweets, but was lazy enough to just leave it out on his camp box. I was the first one coming into camp and when I walked down to our pod of tents, I saw four green eyes staring at me. I shined my flashlight and sure enough, there was a raccoon in our tent and one just outside of it. They had eaten all of my friend’s treats and were searching for more. One was on my cot! The whole entire rest of the night, my friend kept shining the flashlight to scare the raccoons off because they kept coming back. We called it Five Nights at Camp after the popular game Five Nights at Freddy’s. Later, my friend decided to hide the rest of his food; in a trash can, when we woke up, it too was all gone. He was really angry now. I told him that it was a bad idea but he didn’t believe. Finally, someone made a bag we could haul up into a tree to keep out of the reach of the little critters. I never moved my food, it was all safely in my wooden box.”
“My son went to Woodruff Boy Scout Camp for a week. I was very nervous about what to pack and how to pack to make sure he had everything he needed. I love the trunk he got from Everything Summer Camp. It really helped him stay organized. He said it was cool to have a trunk that was different from everyone else’s so he could find it easily. Then he said, “Mom, when I took out the wheels and popped them on..everyone was talking about it and that they wished they had wheels on their bin/trunk”. When my son came back from summer camp I could tell he was more confident and willing to try new things. One of the things he talked about was all of the new friends he met and how there were scouts from far away states. He thought that was so cool and he even exchanged info with a couple of scouts so he could keep in touch. He also said how we like the fireworks even though they got rained out but he kept dry in his rain gear. I never got a chance to go to sleep away camp, but I am glad he is able to go and make memories that will last a life time.”
if I could try another step. So I did, taking slow, calm, breaths, one foot after the other. And miraculously, before I knew it, I made it across the obstacle course, thanks to the encouraging cheers of the people down on the ground. I couldn’t thank them enough. From then on, leaving the ground and pursuing the sky wasn’t so hard anymore. I started taking on new challenges on my own, such as taking more difficult routes up the rock walls than I may have been accustomed to. Chimney Corners taught me that safe steps out of my comfort zone may actually allow me to grow. For any person with acrophobia (and especially the people with acrophobia who like to climb), CCC would be a great place to learn how to overcome that fear and start taking safe risks, like I did. Maybe next year at Chimney Corners, I’ll get over my cynophobia (fear of dogs) and malushygroviscosiphobia (fear of applesauce). Don’t ask.”
ctivities board for the day, I felt my stomach drop in anticipation. My cabin was scheduled for canyoneering, the activity in which one rappelled down a waterfall. I was terrified of heights, and was dreading this activity. After packing lunches for the day, we hiked around 2 miles to the great waterfall. My butterflies returned after seeing the colossal waterfall for the first time! After strapping on our harnesses and helmets, my cabin climbed boulder after boulder to reach the summit of the waterfall. A few of my friends rappelled down the waterfall all too quickly, and I realized with dread that it was my turn. I felt feverish, and realized that I was slightly shaking. I peered down over the cliff, and noticed how far up I was. Should I take this risk to conquer my fear? After much deliberation I decided that I would. With all of my friends cheering me on, I slowly walked to the edge of the cliff dragging my feet in the dust behind me. I then closed my eyes, and jumped. When I finally managed to open my eyes during the descent, I realized how incredibly beautiful the waterfall was. I let the spray of the water brush my fingertips, and felt completely, utterly happy. Now, looking back on this experience, I was so glad that I had my friends and counselors to help support me because without them, I might never had conquered my fear. I felt so immensely proud of myself for not letting my fears control my experience at camp, and now am so excited to return to camp next year so that I can try this activity again!”