Hey, Camp Fans!

Did you know that lots of famous celebrities were big fans of summer camp when they were growing up? Alicia Goranson is one of those many actors and actresses who loved summers at camp. I already posted about Alicia’s television sister from the hit sitcoms ‘Roseanne’ as well as ‘The Conners’, Sarah Gilbert (who also attended summer camp). You can check out that Blog post by clicking right here.

Becky Conner, played by Alicia, is the oldest of the Conner siblings. But despite being the oldest, Alicia started this role when she was just 14 years old. She appreciated summer camp so much that she took her summers off from acting so she had time to work as a camp counselor at a YMCA camp in Michigan.

She was studying acting at a school in Chicago which led her to her role on ‘Roseanne’. She had only auditioned once before landing her role as Becky Conner. Everyone loved working with Alicia on the show, but after five seasons, she left the show to attend Vassar College in New York. She was still able to appear part-time on the show for a while so her scenes were written sparingly until she was eventually replaced by Sarah Chalke.  

While Alicia reprised her role here and there later on in the series, her presence was always restricted by her school schedule. After the series reached its end, Alicia still appeared in a number of other television shows and films, guest-starring in programs like ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’, ‘Fringe’, and ‘Damages’.

But that wouldn’t be the end for Becky Conner! Several years back, there was word of a Roseanne reboot called ‘The Conners’ in the making that would see the return of nearly the entire original cast. In 2018, the show was released and currently remains in production!

Thank goodness for folks like Alicia Goranson who follow their hearts to help make summer camp happen for kids like you. Maybe you too will work as a camp counselor one day. Until then, enjoy attending camp as a camper and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

The amount of celebrities that have attended summer camp is staggering! Coming from all across the country and different walks of life, plenty of big names started their claim to fame in their visits to summer camp. Some names are bigger than others. I’ve covered folks like Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Lisa Loeb, and Chris Farley. For today’s post, however, I’d like to highlight a former summer camper whose name you maybe haven’t heard of…yet.

Brett Michael Dennen is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter of the folk music variety who both attended and worked at Camp Jack Hazard in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of San Francisco. It was there that he learned to play the guitar at a very young age. Brett’s camp counselors played lots of Neil Young and John Denver songs—the music he was raised on at home by his parents.

Growing up in a small farm town of California, Brett’s parents opted to homeschool him. They gave him plenty of creative freedom throughout his education and he spent a lot of his time learning music. Between his home life and summers at camp, it didn’t take long for Brett to develop his skills on the guitar which compelled him to start writing his own songs.   

He attended Oakdale High School in the late 90’s. Brett went on to study sociology and philosophy at Kresge College and within just a year of his graduation, he launched his music career with his first album at the young age of 25.

Amidst his adult education and musical career, Brett’s connection to his camp never diminished. After the release of his fourth studio album, Brett performed at a fundraiser for the Jack and Buena Foundation which currently operates Camp Jack Hazard.  

Since his start in 2004, Brett has released six studio albums with no signs of slowing down! Check out this ‘Wild Child’ if you’re a fan of folk music or just good music in general. And be sure to check out Camp Jack Hazard for your own summer camp experience. You’re sure to have a blast and you may even learn to play guitar! As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Five years back, I posted about one former summer camper and mad man, Benjamin Feldman. While we covered things like where he attended summer camp—Camp Manitou—and other things like his education and how he got his foot in the door for his acting career, there’s still so much more to learn about Ben. Let’s take a deeper look today at the actor behind Michael Ginsberg.

Check it out:

Ice Cream on the House
We may tend to assume that acting is all that actors have ever done, but lots of famous celebrities held prior positions before the jobs they became known for. As a teenager, Ben worked at a Baskin Robbins ice cream parlor. Believe it or not, he was fired from his job there. Teenage Feldman was giving ice cream away for free to his friends. What a generous guy! Pretty nice, Ben—but generosity doesn’t pay the bills.

Warmer…warmer…Frozen!
After he was forced to hang up his apron at Baskin Robbins, you might think Ben was down on his luck; it doesn’t feel good being fired from a job. But he didn’t have long to wait until he landed his breakout role in a made-for-TV movie called ‘Frozen Impact’. Not bad for his first role. Major productions started picking him up for roles after that!

From Mad Fan to Mad Man
With an interest in acting comes an interest in filmmaking and TV shows as well. Ben was a big fan of AMC’s popular drama set in the 60s ‘Mad Men’. What do you know, Ben ended playing the role of Michael Ginsberg on the show and it became the role he is best known for!

So hopefully that gives you a better idea of who Ben Feldman is. I hope you enjoyed learning more about this well-known and appreciated former summer camper and actor. Check out his previous post to learn more. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Folks!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We last talked about Mark Cuban almost five years ago on the Everything Summer Camp Blog. We discussed Emma Kaufmann Camp where he attended summer camp, we discussed his education, and we learned about his first job at 12 years old selling garbage bags in order to afford a pair of expensive sneakers that he had his eyes set on.

We’ll dig even deeper today to learn a bit more about this entrepreneur and moneyman!

Sleeves Rolled Up 
No stranger to hard work, Mark’s work ethic has always been there—evident from his 12-year-old business selling garbage bags. He’s one guy who worked his way to the top by rolling up his sleeves and putting in long hours! In fact, he once went seven years before taking a vacation. Throughout that time, he didn’t feel that he could sacrifice the time if he to be successful.

Cost of Free Speech
Most of us know Mark Cuban as the straight-talking shark from ‘Shark Tank’. You may also know him as the owner of the NBA Dallas Mavericks. What you may not know him for is how involved and outspoken he is concerning his NBA team as well as the referees and the league in general. Speaking his mind has actually gotten him in trouble with the NBA. He’s paid $1.7 million in NBA fines—pretty costly for exercising one’s right to free speech.

Family Man in Chief
Believe it or not, Mark’s talked a lot about running for president someday. He’s even gone as far as to hire his own personal pollster during the 2016 election. The idea of running was put to bed when he was voted down 4 to 1 by his family over whether or not he should run. Running for office is certainly strenuous on a candidate’s kids and spouse as well, so it was good of Mark to put off a presidential run for his family’s sake.

So hopefully that gives you a better idea of who this moneyman, Mark Cuban is. I hope you enjoyed learning more about this well-recognized and potentially political figure of our day. Check out his previous post to learn more. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Folks!

- John

Hey, Sandler Fans!

The last time we talked about Adam Sandler (about five years back), we discussed Eisner Camp—part of the Union for Reform Judaism—the camp he attended, we discussed his SNL days, and we talked about his film career which includes ‘Bedtime Stories’, ‘Hotel Transylvania’, ‘Pixels’, countless other classic comedies, and almost the candyman himself in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.

This time around, let’s dig a little deeper to see who this classic comedian is at his core!

No Joke
Adam Sandler has been performing as a Stand-up Comedian since he was 17 years old. And it’s certainly no putdown when I say that he’s rumored to have never written a joke. How can that be? Well, Sandler is the type of comedian who has a natural humor about him. He prefers not to have written or rehearsed material when he gets on stage. Instead he just sort of wings it while he’s up there.

Schmoozing Roomies
Before their names were known, Adam Sandler and Judd Appatow were roommates while they were new in L.A. and looking for work. Sandler slept on a mattress on the floor. It took them up until 2009 to make their first movie together.

Cool Cameos
Adam Sandler isn’t afraid to have some fun with the casting in his movies. In ‘Hotel Transylvania’, mentioned above, Sandler’s wife and daughter were recorded for the early appearances of Dracula’s wife and baby. Also mentioned above, the movie ‘Pixels’ had an arcade machine repair guy played by the creator of Pac-Man—Toru Iwatani.  

So hopefully that gives you a better idea of who Adam Sandler is, not as an actor, not as a comedian, but as a roommate. I hope you enjoyed learning more about this funny guy. Check out his previous post to learn more. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Folks!

- John