Hey, Camp Aficionados!

So happy to hear about your time at camp, we were thrilled to get so many great submissions about campers’ camp experiences. We received about 30 submissions for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest that we held here at Everything Summer Camp. So we’re enthused to post 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 Macy C., who wrote in to tell us about how she got ‘got’ by the counselors at Camp Ozark. Here’s her story:

“On the last night of camp, we were playing music in our cabin when our top staff came in. A top staff is the head of the cabin. She came in and told us, ‘Campers, your 3 counselors have done something unacceptable on camp grounds. We are going to have to fire 1 of them and you have to choose.’ We were all astonished. Would our counselors do something that bad? Why would they do this to us? Our top staff led us out of the cabin and onto the deck. They took us into the cabin 1 by 1 to take your pick. We would all try to think of what the counselors would of done. We were huddled in a circle crying. One girl said, ‘If this is a prank, I’m going to punch someone!’ I was one of the last people pulled into the cabin. On the cabin floor one of the 3 counselors said to me, ‘I’m sorry we have to do this to you. Do this very quietly. When we say so flip over this paper’ they hand put a paper in front of us, ‘Follow the instructions and then give them back to us.’ We flipped over the paper. It was our cabin award! Every camper gets a cabin award with their name and a quality that the counselors think you showed best. It was all a prank! We were all so happy. Then we laid down on our beds and got to watch the next person get pranked. The next girl screamed when she figured out. She was so mad! We all shushed her because the people outside don’t know yet. When the last girl entered the cabin, she was mad. The counselors told her, ‘The votes are tallied 4, 4, and 3. If you pick the counselor with 3 votes all of us would get bad consequences, but not fired. Choose wisely.’ She said, ‘Are you sure this isn’t a prank?’ This is the girl who said she was going to punch someone if it was fake. We all burst out laughing! None of it really happened! She was so glad, but also angry. It was such a good prank! Afterwards, our counselors gave us candy because they felt bad. This was quite an interesting way to end the last night of camp. That is my camp story.”

What an evil trick! It was probably pretty hilarious for your counselors, though! Hope you get a good laugh about it now, Macy! Get a good look at Camp Ozark for yourself if you don’t mind a camp that gets a little pranky from time to time. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

We were very happy that received roughly 30 submissions about the camp experience for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest that was held here at Everything Summer Camp. We’re excited to post each of your entries right here on the Blog now! To follow our seven lucky winners of larger prizes, all other entrants received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post is from Vannessa H., who wrote in to tell us about her son’s camp-filled summer experience that started at Camp Geiger. Here’s her story:

“I am the parent of Colten and wife to Steve H. As they prepare for a busy summer, packing them up to go away was a big part of it for me. Colten was our big traveler this year. He started out with Boy Scout camp about two hours from home. Geiger camp off Rt K in St Joseph, MO. Colten H has been going to scout camp for 6 years. A week in a tent and activities like swimming, hiking, zip line, camp fires, and more. This camp was Sunday to Saturday with one family night. (So that moms can bring clean clothing and take dirty one’s home. Well ok, get a hug too) There are hundreds of boys at this camp. As a mom, I have crazy images of how items get strung all over the many acres. An email is always sent out a week later saying that something has been found or lost.
                On the last day of scout camp, we got up at 4am to go pick him up early. He had to catch the church van that was already in route to Glorieta, New Mexico! (We live in Northern Missouri) He changed out suit cases and was off to camp #2. This was his first year to attend this camp. A great camp for intense activities and Bible studies. His favorites were rock climbing and zero gravity scooters. The downhill dirt track had hills/ramps that he was able to get ‘air time’. A mud pit was a favorite for many too! It is funny how labels of who you think you are or status or click you belong to come off when covered in mud –you are all the same. I love to hear from those that went to this camp on how they really bonded as a family.
                Next camp, a mission trip that Steve and Colten went on together about five days after Colten was home. This gave me a chance to wash ALL the really dirty, set in grime. This trip was to Nicaragua to build homes and share the love of Jesus. This too was a new experience for Colten H. This is the third year that Steve H has gone. Their checked baggage was a tote filled with items for an adopted family. They took a gift for the children from the first two families. Steve loves the girls from the first year and has a family type bond with them. They join up with other churches and Project Hope out of Springfield, MO. Anyway, the only clothing they have for themselves is in a carry on backpack. They stay in a compound with about 45 people. They have a staff that washes clothing for them while they are out in the villages. Your stuff was to be clearly marked with your name or initials. The group left the country after five baptized and a wedding! But the real change comes in the 45 people that went.
                Everything Summer Camp helped everything get returned home to the right closest! The clothing went through very active events and many washings. The tags were on everything from backpacks, socks and underwear, T shirts, and more. A few are starting to come off now, but this mom is happy to have everything home—including two very important men.”

What a fun-filled summer Colten had! He must be moving into adolescence gracefully with all his experiences! Glad your important men are back by your side. Check out Camp Geiger for yourself to see where Colten stayed. Maybe it’ll be a good match for you. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

We were excited to see so many great entries about the camp experiences of roughly 30 campers’ submissions for the ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest that we held here at Everything Summer Camp. Now we’re excited to post each of your entries right here on the Blog! To follow our seven lucky winners of larger prizes, all other entrants received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post is from Madeline S. She wrote in to tell us about her fun summer at Camp Lindenmere. Here’s what she shared with us:

“Hello, my name is Madeline and I am 11 years old. I have attended three different sleep-away camps since I was seven years old. Wow, it’s been quite a journey to finding my preferable sleep-away camp! But, I’ve finally accomplished my intention to find my destiny camp. It started out in 2012, when I attended Camp Raquette Lake in Lake Placid, NY. I was not a big fan of the camp, even though the view was so scenic and my cousins also attended it. The people there were also not genuinely kind people. The next year, my parents sent me to an alternate sleep-away camp called Camp Emerson, in Hinsdale, Massachussetts. I tremendously enjoyed this second camp experience, comparatively to the prior one. My favorite camp activities there were cartooning and video. I still carry memories from those activities to this day. Next year, I returned to Camp Emerson, eager for another pleasant summer. The camp experience itself was similar to last year’s and was extremely fun. In contrast, the only issue I had was when I encountered a girl that wasn’t particularly nice. She was very harmful to me in verbal ways. I spoke to many camp officials regarding these concerns and they spoke to her on plenty of occasions. For some reason, the girl seemed to not be motivated to stop. She just continued her rude behaviors and made my summer completely miserable. Once the summer was over, I decided that two years was enough at Camp Emerson. My family and I talked to multiple camp experts, who suggested a wide selection of possible camps, but one really stuck out to us. The name: Camp Lindenmere. This year, I attended camp Lindenmere and had the best summer of my entire life (so far)! I couldn’t have done it without my best friends and all of the supportive staff that kept me going in some of my rougher moments. Everything there was outstanding—from the food, to the activities, to the staff, to the different departments, it is just the most incredible camp out there. My favorite activities were soccer, flying trapeze, candle-making, gaga, and newspaper. And there’s no doubt about it that I am going back next year! Thanks for reading my camp story and I hope that you enjoyed it!”

It’s great that you finally found a suitable match for yourself in Camp Lindenmere, Madeline. Too bad camp’s thrown you a number of curve balls, but it sounds like you’re in a good place now. Hope your years to come are just as much fun! Maybe Camp Lindenmere is the right camp for you. You can check it out for yourself right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

Happy to see so many great entries about kids’ camp experience for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest that we held here at Everything Summer Camp. So, we’re posting each of your entries here on the Blog! Following our seven lucky winners who got larger prizes, the rest of our entrants received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post is from Maya C., who wrote in to tell us about her fun summer at Camp Netimus. Here’s what she had to say:

“This Summer I spent my 3rd year at Camp Netimus, a sleep away camp in Milford, PA. At camp I met so many friends and had so many great experiences. One great experience was shooting a bulls-eye in Riflery for the first time and then doing it again! I had an awesome cabin this year with my 5 friends from the previous 2 years. This year I was considered a JCIT (Junior Counselor In Training). JCIT’s have a lot of responsibilities, like calling cabins when we had picnic or giving a speech at the last green cathedral, which is like church every Sunday where one cabin says there 4 experiences. JCIT’s also have to rover, or check on cabins during counselor meetings. At this time, working seniors and major minors—both of which train you for becoming a JCIT—and soon counselor, have to cover lower camp cabins. The JCIT’s job is to make sure the working seniors and major minors had their lower camp/lower upper camp cabin under control. Lower camp is cabins 1-7 and upper camp is 8-JCIT. Lower upper camp is 8-10. JCIT’s also had to teach a class of choice and assist a class of choice. My ‘teach class’ was Riflery and my assist class was Jewelry. JCIT’s were the only ones allowed in our cabin which had two rooms. One room was empty, the other is the one we slept in. While JCIT’s did have a lot of responsibilities, we also had a lot of fun. We got 2 days out, one each month, with the working seniors where we got to go shopping and watch movies at the nearby mall and theater. I stayed season, or 2 months, at camp. We weren’t allowed to have a phone, but I didn’t need one because I was having too much fun. During the fourth week, we had a float night banquet, where we had a canoe show at the lake and then a banquet like dinner. Also, every Thursday we had a dance with our brother camp Shohola, which were lots of fun. During changeover, the weekend between 4th and 5th week, we went to a water park that used to be called Action Park. It used to be the most dangerous park in the world, but they tore it down and built Mountain Creek Water Park, way safer. The next day we went shopping at the mall. During 5th week we went to Branchville, where I got on my first Merry-go-round. I also got on “The Claw” which spun you up and down and in a circle. Then we had our normal banquet, where they decorate the dining hall all day with an unknown theme. Normally campers don’t know the theme until their cabin gets called down, but since the JCIT’s had to help with something outside; we were allowed to go in for a couple minutes to see the theme. This year’s theme was Enchanted Forest. The next day we had candle light, where at 8:00 we all sat around a big campfire holding a candle of our own, then moved to our cabins with the candle and talked about our year as a camper. My favorite memory from this year was when my cabin tried to scare me but ended up scaring themselves. I was at the nurse one night for stomach cramps and my cabin wanted to scare me. They were sitting in the cabin in our empty room and started chanting random quotes from ‘Harry Potter’. The plan was to scream at me when I walked in, but it didn’t go well. Right before I walked in, the CIT’s, which were next door, opened their door and slammed it shut. Then I walked in our cabin and slammed our door closed. The sound of the doors slamming scared them and they screamed at the top of their lungs. Apparently they were expecting me to turn on the light, but I was way too tired to think, and figured they were asleep. Overall, I found Camp Netimus was like a second home for me and loved every minute I was there.”

Camp Netimus must be a great camp that you keep going back! I’m glad you’re happily accepting more responsibilities as you continue your years at summer camp. Look into Camp Netimus for yourself and discover what a special place it is. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

We were overjoyed to get so many great submissions about the camp experience—30 submissions—for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest that we held here at Everything Summer Camp. Now we’re excited to post each of your entries right here on the Blog! To follow our seven lucky winners of larger prizes, all other entrants received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post is from Becca M., who wrote in to tell us about her fun summer at Camp Huckins. Here’s what she had to say:

“The night was clear and starry, the moon shining on our faces leading the way. We were silently walking toward the lodge for candlelight, singing our favorite songs for the last time of the year. It was all of the traditions that have brought me back. It has been the singing on the tables, the food that you just can’t stop eating, the new friends that you meet, and so much more that makes Camp Huckins so special.
             As candles lit the room, the Hucksters filed into the lodge where we were all waiting patiently. For five years they had been at camp, doing everything camp has to offer. I knew that someday I would be sitting in the triangle formation representing the YMCA getting ready for the necklace showing my loyalty of being here, to go over my head, onto my neck. I remembered all the wonderful times I’ve had here, from the first day to the last. Arriving feeling petrified that my trunk wasn’t going to be there, glancing at my new cabin mates, swimming on the clear glassy lake, rolling up to gliding on water skies with a smile breaking out on my face, and walking into the dining hall, when all jaws dropped at the wonderful decorations for banquet night. I looked at my new best friend and knew that this would be a summer I would never forget. Toward the end of candlelight, my new best friend whispered, ‘ I will miss you.’ With my heart weighing me down, I slowly trudged back to the cabin.
             At the cabin, we had to stand outside until tapps with our candles as a camp tradition. One of my friends dropped her candle on the ground and the ground caught fire! The fire was like a snowstorm, Growing and swirling. As we all held our breath, our counselors said, ‘step back we got it!’ My counselors had to stomp on the candle with all their might. All of us were anxiously waiting for the fire to go out, and some of my cabin mates wanted to jump in and help out. With all of us screaming or laughing, the fire went out and the familiar, comforting sound of tapps showing us it was time for bed, blew. But this time I felt like it was showing us that it was time to go home.
             After tapps, we went inside to the cabin. The counselors were acting suspicious. We all looked at each other and wondered what they could be hiding behind their backs. ‘Hey, NO, NO, NO looking!’ We kept trying to take a peek at what we hoped would be a wonderful surprise to celebrate the times we’ve had at camp. A few minutes later smiles broke out on all of our faces and we all ran to get the surprise we’ve been waiting for. IT WAS COOKIES!!!!! We never get to eat in the cabin so this was a great treat! As we ate our cookies, and it was time for confessions. We only did this on the last night so we could confess all that we had done. We all had to share something that we had done ‘wrong.’ My counselors went first. As they told their story, all eyes widened and faces turned red containing our laughter. After the story was over, we all erupted with laughter. Then it was our turn. None of the confessions were as entertaining or good as the counselors’.
             After confessions it was time for bed. As we slept in these beds for the last time of the year, sobs filled the cabin. As the counselors went to their meeting, all my cabin mates and I shared our favorite memories from this year, memories to never forget. As we all slowly drifted to sleep, I knew that I would be back next year, jumping off the tower screaming with joy, horseback riding through the lush trails, and making new best friends, everything about Camp Huckins will bring me back forever.”

Camp Huckins sounds like a really special place, Becka! I bet you’ll be going back for years to come! Check out Nellie Huckins for yourself to get an idea of what Becka loves so much about this place. As always, thanks for reading!

- John