Hey, Camp Fans!
The ‘Share Your Camp Story’ drawing here at Everything Summer Camp has been brought in nearly 30 entries. And so, we’re happy to publish 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—so really everyone who submitted was a winner! Today’s post features Logan T.’s camp story about an unfortunate turn of events during her summer camp stay at Camp Netimus:
“I woke up hearing the beep of my watch. I slowly opened my eyes and remembered where I was, camp. I sat up in the bottom bunk and looked out at the half-exposed window. The beautiful sunrise was at its peak with a golden shimmer. I smiled, I just couldn’t help myself. I was surprised to hear a small groan. I turned to see Taylor in the bunk behind me rubbing her eye. “Good morning!” I whispered excitedly. Taylor yawned and asked quietly, “What time is it?” I glanced down at my watch and slipped a grin. “It’s 6:47,” I whispered. Taylor let out one last groan and fell back asleep. I took the time I had left before everyone else had to wake up to look around. I turned my attention towards Laura’s bed. She had came back late last night from peeling potatoes for International night. Today is her birthday. She is turning 22 years old. All the balloons we had put on her bed were now on the floor. I had so much excitement within me. Soon, the wake up bell rang and everyone got up. I was the first one done getting dressed and brushing my teeth. As soon as the flag bell rang I rushed out the door with my other cabin-mates. We gathered around the flag pole for attendance. Afterwards, we all went to breakfast. The mealtime was over quickly and I had to return to my cabin clean-up. Many of my cabin-mates were excited for the
Crayola trip today. I didn’t want to go so I will stay here at camp. I heard the class bell ring. I knew what that meant as I ran to my camping and hiking class. It turned out I was the only one there. “So…what are we going to do today?” I asked the counselors. “I don’t know. Are there any classes you have that you want to join now to get a head start?” answered one of the counselors. I thought for a second and responded, “ I could join my Ropes class.” They said that it was alright so I ran over quickly to get my harness and helmet on. Once I joined the little class they had, we went over instructions. We were going on a new obstacle today. They said I was lucky because in my real Ropes class I could go first since I would already know what to do. I grinned at the thought. Everything was going my way today. I rushed through 2nd and 3rd period classes. Once it was time for flag again we all met down at the pavilion. Once flag was over it was time for lunch. After some munching on grilled cheese it was time for rest hour. I walked up the path to get to the cabin grove. Once I found cabin 7 I went in. We were celebrating Laura’s birthday. The song ‘22’ was playing. Lucy, Taylor, Ashley, and I were dancing. While my other counselor, Arthie, was plucking her armpit hairs. We don’t know why she does it. Anyways, Lucy kept on screaming, “WHEN YOU’RE 22!” Laura kept on laughing. I was sitting down making her a birthday card. When the walkie-talkie make a sound, Arthie told me I was needed at the office. I wasn’t expecting anything, so what could I be needed for? I left the cabin and walked towards the office when I saw my mom and the dogs. I ran to hug them. The fact something bad happened slipped my mind. I looked at her face as her expression changed. I immediately got worried. It was obvious now something bad had happened. We went over to the fire ring and sat on a log bench. My mom simply said, “Grandpa Ron is dead. He committed suicide. He shot himself with a shotgun.” The tears never stopped. I felt as if I had been shot. I must have cried forever trying to make out words, but crying instead. Eventually my mom was crying too. We were just hugging and crying together. I had to stop crying enough in order to go get my clothes from my cabin. Thankfully, I didn’t have to tell them what happened. The office told them. I was immediately embraced by a huge group hug. I felt a tiny bit of happiness from that hug. Once all my stuff was packed and I was in the car I cried again. The week I was gone attending my grandpa’s funeral flew in tears. I returned back at camp to find myself in another group hug. It was at that moment where I knew that Camp Netimus was my home. I felt safe, loved, and happy there. If that’s not a home, then I don’t know what is.”
Thank you so much for your powerful submission, Logan! Our deepest regards to you and your family! An entry like this one just goes to show how outside events carry on regardless of summer camp. There’s no planning for the loss of loved ones.
But it was awesome to hear what an amazing community there is at Camp Netimus to have made Logan feel so supported and so at home. Check out Camp Netimus for yourself and, as always, thanks for reading.
- John
YES SUGAR! My counselor and friends made me feel special. The best part about camp is the FREEDOM. We got to choose what we wanted to do each day. I like playing 
basketball, which I played a lot with my friends. I actually had fun at camp, I am looking forward to next year and told my mom to sign me up for 4 weeks this time!”
“Hi! I’m Grace and I am 10 years old. I went to summer camp for the first time this summer. It was called Camp Lurecrest and I had so much fun. They picked us up on a big bus to drive us to camp. I had 4 friends in my cabin and met lots of new friends too. My favorite activities were tubing in the lake and zip lining and worship time. It was like a big sleepover for a week. The food was yummy too. I was worried I would not like it. They have a dessert called cookie mush- it was my favorite!! The counselors were so nice and funny. We did devotional every day together! I can’t wait to go again next summer.”
“This was my first summer away at sleep away camp. I loved it. One of my counselors was named Ofek and was from Israel. She was doing a tick check on me one day and she told me to lift one arm, then the other, then she said, ‘let me see your poopick’. I laughed and said ‘what’. She said bellybutton, turns out poopick is Hebrew for bellybutton. At camp I tried lots of new things such as self-defense and lots of new foods like Israeli couscous. We went on trips to amusement parks and I loved making lots of new friends. My Olim buddy, Maddie, was awesome. She was so nice and took such good care of me. Now I have a new ‘big sister’ I cannot wait until next summer when I can go back the ‘bubble’ for more fun!”
