Hey, Summer Camp Fans!

Everything Summer Camp’s ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest is BACK!! Now that you’ve returned home and have had some time to reflect on your camp stay, we want to hear how you liked it. This contest has seen great participation in our previous years and we love reading all the submissions we get. We can’t wait to hear all your stories from this summer!

Tell us about the single, most fun and exciting activity or talk about all the great people you met. No matter what you have to share, we’d love to hear about it! Include your first name and the initial of your last name, what camp you visited, and how long you’ve been going to camp. 150 words will qualify, however, we’d rather see submission’s that are closer to 250. Tell us about the camp you went to and why you think it’s the best! And, if you include a picture with your submission, we’ll post your camp story on Instagram!

What to Write
There are a million things you could talk about. But what will make the best submissions are the parts of camp that meant the most to you. Tell us about the things you learned at camp. Tell us about all the friends you made while you were there. Tell us how it felt to be away from home. Tell us about the beautiful landscapes and natural surroundings you saw at camp. Or submit a journal entry style to chronicle a day in the life!

Submit your written story about your summer camp experience by clicking here. There’s no entry fee. If you’re under 18 years old, you’ll need permission from your parent or guardian to enter this Contest.

Speaking of parents—we love hearing from you too! Don’t hesitate to give us your own submission if you have a story to share. How was the experience? Has your kid exhibited a change in behavior? How did you cope with your kid being gone? Did you learn any lessons from this year? Tell us whatever you want. We’re all ears!

Everybody gets a $15 gift certificate to Everything Summer Camp with their submission!
Seven random winners will be chosen. Our first randomized winner will receive a $100 gift card for our website. We’ll then randomly pick two more winners to receive $50 gift cards to our site. After that, four random winners will get our $25 gift cards. Everyone else who submits will get the $15 gift cards.

Tell us how camp went and share your stories right here on the Blog! Check out further details on the entry form by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

The Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ drawing saw an excellent response with about 30 entries! That’s why we’ve published each and every one right here on the Blog! Today I’m posting the last of our submissions. We received a handful that weren’t long enough to qualify for our contest, but we thought we’d at least share them on the Blog.

First is this entry from Cassie S. who attended Wisconsin Badger Camp:

“I enjoyed participating in nature, arts & crafts, swimming, music, camp songs, going on a Camp out, going for hayrides, badger ball, meeting new friends and my old friends and meeting all the new staff and the staff that was at camp last summer! I had so much fun at camp during week 10 that I didn’t want to leave. I cried when it was time for me to leave to go home.”

Next up is a submission about Caleb S. and his time at Canadian Camp Ramah:

“I am writing this on behalf of my 9 year old son. His name is Caleb and he had an amazing month at camp this summer! The highlight for him was learning how to waterski. He was able to get up on two skis and to cross over the wake. He also made some great new friends and showed incredible independence. It was such a pleasure and honor to be able to welcome him home after such a transformative summer. There is absolutely no experience outside of summer camp that brings kids together as friends for a lifetime. Thanks Camp Ramah in Canada!”

Then we got word from Avery B.’s mother about her daughter’s time at Camp Greystone:

“1610 miles in 2 ½ days to pick Avery up at camp was totally worth every second in the car when she talks about how much closer she feels to God and how awesome her counselor’s devotions were! Thank you, Camp Greystone for loving my baby and helping her grow in her faith as well as so many other ways. Maybe next year she will run up and hug me, instead f crying that she doesn’t want to leave…but I’m not holding my breath!”

We also heard from Louie B. who attended Camp Beber:

“My favorite thing of camp was hobbies. I love hobbies because you get to do what you want. I liked to do waterskiing and aqua park. I liked the cabin activities also; those were fun. I liked Makor Mania. The best part was the camp out! I can’t wait for next year at Beber Camp and three day trips!”

Mia I. wrote in to us to tell us about her big swing at Camp JCA Shalom:

“I was afraid I would fall. So high up. I was ready to pull, that red rope. Finally,123…tug. There! I did it. I did not regret it. The giant swing was soooooooo fun. I am definitely doing that again.”

And, last but not least, we have a camp submission from Lainee A. who went to The Pines Catholic Camp:

“On the blob I went with my legs straight and I was supposed to a L Jump and then I landed on my Nose.”

A thank you to everyone for submitting and sharing your camp memories with us, Camp Fans! It’s great to hear from all of you. Look into these camps for yourselves if you’re interested and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

The Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ drawing saw an excellent response with about 30 entries! That’s why we’re publishing each and every one right here on the Blog! Today is our last post to share the submissions we got from last year! We got a handful of entries that were too short to qualify, but it seemed like they had fun, so we thought we’d share their stories on today’s post.

First, is Robin H. who wrote about her time at Camp Longhorn.

“What are your summer plans? Each summer for 15 years the camp experience has been mine. I have had the honor of serving as a Camp Nurse in Maine, Missouri, and Texas. My children accompanied me and when they became aware of traditions and annual reunions with cabin mates, we returned to the same camp for their remaining years.
             One never knows when the common camp experience will surface. Upon entering college, my son wanted to join a certain club. Many of his peers had attended a certain camp and wondered if he was related to their ‘favorite’ Camp Nurse. My son felt this camp connectedness had some part in getting him accepted into this club.
             Things that you remember most are those that happen in your heart. Camp provides treasured experiences that one will carry for a lifetime. My children are grown now…Going to camp connects me with children of all ages… heartfelt joy that is never ending!!!”

And here’s the submission from Bob D. about his experience sending his daughter to Geneva Glen Camp:

“Geneva Glen Camp is a bit of a legend here. It’s only about an hour outside of the city but once you’re there it feels like you’re worlds away. I love that there’s not just kids from Colorado, but from all over the country and the world!
             Katie is always excited about spending weeks away from home: swimming, riding, shooting, hiking and hanging with new and old friends. In fact, she has signed letters to home with ‘Miss You (not really!)’
I have mixed emotions: I love for her to have the experiences but I miss her when she’s gone.
             What I don’t love: I seriously dread hiking up the hills of Geneva Glen with her trunk. Of course it’s big, heavy and has a clever zebra print. But, it’s a no-name trunk, purchased online and the single handle broke the first time I lugged it up the hill.
For camp next year, Katie is getting a trunk, with wheels!”

There’s no network like the summer camp network! I’m glad you guys have such positive camp connectedness. If anyone else is interested in one of these camps, you can check out Camp Longhorn and Geneva Glen Camp sometime soon! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

The 30 camper submissions we received for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest at Everything summer Camp were a hoot. We’ve gotten such a kick out them, that we’re posting each of the entries right here on the Blog! Besides our seven lucky winners of larger prizes, all other entrants received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post is from Evan V., who wrote in to tell us about his time at Camp Nah Jee Wah. Here’s his submission:

“So, Camp was the best time of my life and I made soooooooo many new friends. I will never forget all of the fun activities I did at camp! But, there was one night that made me jump left and right, and that night was… the BEAR! We were all coming back to the division from Shabbat when three people stopped us from going inside. We asked why, but they wouldn’t tell us yet. Our counselors told us to go into the dining hall and we sat there for about 15 minutes when my division head told us that there was a bear in our division! Well, we all freaked out but then matters got slightly worse… we had to go back into the bunks still! So we started walking into our division when a car started honking. Me and a few of my friends sprinted behind one of the bunks to take the shortcut to my bunk. So, when we got to our bunk, I scrambled up the stairs and while I was still on the porch, I looked over my shoulder and saw two beady eyes in the woods! I will never forget the beady eyes of the bear and how frightened I was. Now, whenever I am told to tell a scary story, I tell the story of the Nah Jee Wah bear. But, besides bears and scary stories, Camp was the best time I have ever had in my life!!! Color War made it really awesome. In Color War there were two teams. Gold and green. The campers are separated into the two teams and then are given tasks and events to participate in for team points. I was on the green team and we got so many points I knew we would win. But, then it really got tense when gold team started getting more and more points until I wasn’t so sure about us winning. At the end of Color War, we were about to announce the winning team and… surprisingly, we WON!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy I had a hard time falling asleep that night. I loved camp, and I think that more people should try it so they can get the experience that I got!”

Evan clearly had a blast during his summer camp stay. He obviously loved Camp Nah Jee Wah. You may love it yourself if it’s a good match for you. Look into Camp Nah Jee Wah for yourself right here and as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

We’ve been entertained to no end with all the summer camp stories we received from roughly 30 campers for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest that was held at Everything Summer Camp. So we’re posting each of the entries right here on the Blog! After our seven lucky winners of larger prizes, all other entrants received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post is from Ava R., who wrote in to tell us about her time at Camp Chi. She liked Camp Chi a lot:

“Camp Chi was amazing. The first thing I did when we got off the bus was have fun. We started with outdoor cooking then moved to horseback riding, then had delicious food and, by then, even though I felt a little homesick, Camp Chi was overcoming my fear of overnight camp with fun. After that we had an evening program which included introducing new campers (me) to songs and games. That night our whole cabin had fun playing games, doing lanyards, and other campy stuff. About twice every night our cabin would do sneak outs, which could be from tidying to coloring socks. At Camp Chi we also had specialities which could range from pottery and horseback riding to waterskiing and ziplining!!! Camp Chi had a specific schedule and it said: FUN FUN FUN!!!!!!! Kids were never sad at camp Chi because every day was something new. We had a pool party and color wars and scavenger hunts and hikes in the river. But whatever the activity was at Camp Chi it was never boring, dull or any other bad thing. It was always adventures, fun, creative, and many more good things. So if I were to give a review to a kid about how good or bad camp Chi is, one being the worst and ten being the best I would rate it: 1,000,000,000,000!!!!!!”

Ava rates Camp Chi one trillion on a scale from one to ten. She obviously loved it. You may love it yourself if it’s a good match for you. Look into Camp Chi for yourself right here and as always, thanks for reading!

- John