Hey, Fans of Everything Summer Camp!

Meet our Lead Buyer at Everything Summer Camp, Tim. An excellent part of our team, Tim keeps a running list of every single available item on our website in his head! It’s an incredibly long list made of a number of different departments and it’s constantly changing. Still, Tim manages to fulfill the needs of his job with efficiency and success.

It’s Tim’s job to scout for new brands to carry, analyze sales, and attend tradeshows to find the current trends. And on top of all those responsibilities, he also leads the way in physically bringing in new products. From accepting shipments to putting them on our website, Tim is involved in every step along the way.

In the last three years, he has undoubtedly become an essential asset to Everything Summer Camp. He started back in the summer of 2014 when he came on as temporary help in our Shipping Department. Proving his hard work and unflinching work ethic that summer, we made the call to keep him on as our Administrative Assistant in charge of purchasing.

He excelled in that position and then proved himself as our Shipping Manager as well. Since he’s made his latest climb now as our Lead Buyer, he has only continued to provide our team at Everything Summer Camp with flawless organization and a good eye for cool new products to bring on board our online store. Down-to-earth and friendly, Tim is always there to help.

A great fit, Tim loves the work atmosphere that we’ve created here in Boyd, Wisconsin because he feels he can be himself at work. Simply put, “People just let you do your job here,” says Tim. Coming from his previous job as a nurse in Lake Wissota, the casual business environment is much appreciated.

How does Tim do it? How does he know what products will be popular? Well, simply put, he knows what kids think is cool. And now that you know what Tim does as our Lead Buyer, feel free to make a suggestion if there are any products you’d like to see that we don’t yet offer on our site. Leave him a note in the comments section below. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Everything Summer Camp Fans!

It’s a little tricky, hanging a name on Art’s position at Everything Summer Camp. I guess you could say he’s our Handyman/Maintenance guy but he does much more than that. For the last five years, he’s been doing everything from fixing the flash dryer in our screen printing shop to mowing the grass on the company’s property.

Ask Art to build you something—anything—and he’ll come back with a piece of equipment that drops your jaw. He’s fixed my riding lawn mower for me as well as my two push mowers lickety-split!

Not too far from Everything Summer Camp, Art lives in Stanley, Wisconsin but he was born all the way on the other side of the country in Fresno, California. So how did he come to settle down in Stanley? Well, to answer that question, allow me to simply delve into some facts about the guy.

I’m not trying to say that Art’s old, but he definitely has more history under his belt that anyone else at Everything Summer Camp.

Just as he’s had every conceivable job under the sun, he’s been to every single one of the 48, contiguous United States. When choosing an area in which to settle, he didn’t look around the neighborhood, he looked at the U.S. map.

He chose northwestern Wisconsin because it was a place that suited him and his wife, Pat. Art met his wife in the military, as Art served as a Marine in the Viet Nam war. Together they raised three boys—Art II, Jeremy, and Sean. With their boys all grown up, Art and Pat share a simple life together with the house all to themselves—no kids or even animals. “Wife, kids, grandchildren—no pets,” he says.

Aside from a Marine, he’s also been a police officer, a meteorologist (in Viet Nam), a tool and die maker, and (an avid skier), he’s also worked Ski Patrol which entails skiing out to treat injured skiers on the scene. Remember when I said he’s done a lot of different jobs? I wasn’t makin’ it up. When going down the list, a line from one of Sinatra’s songs comes to mind:

I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a king. That’s all for today, Camp Fans. Thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Blog Buddies!

Do you know what today is? Not that there’s any reason you should. After all, how would any of you know that today is my birthday unless you’re, like, my MOM or something (and Mom, if you’re reading this, why haven’t you called yet?)? In any case, today is, indeed, your loyal Blogger’s birthday. On this day, I turn 28. Happy Birthday to me!

Looking back on my previous year, it seems hard to believe that it really WAS a whole year. It flew! They say time flies when you’re having fun, so I guess you could say that my previous year was a blast in its entirety! Yeah, it was pretty good, I suppose.

There are some people who absolutely hate their birthdays. They see them as nothing but another mile marker down the highway of life, marking them one year older and that much more removed from their youth. The other folks LOVE their birthdays! To them, birthdays aren’t mile markers, they’re celebrations of the day you were born, ‘x’ amount of years ago.

I’ve always been of the latter sort. I don’t mind my birthday one bit. On the contrary, I want to get together with as many friends and family members as I can to enjoy the fact that all of these people feel extremely obligated to be extra-nice to me today. But even if I don’t get to hang out with a bunch of people I know, I’m still happily amused as I pass all the strangers I see with the thought in my head that I know something they don’t know.

I never really wanted the big birthday party. I was more than content with my parents, siblings, and grandfather (who lived next-door) gathering around the dining room table for a dinner and cake of my choice with gift-opening to follow. I’ll remember those days fondly for the rest of my life!

But I’m not the only one who celebrates a January 7 birthday. Kenny Loggins, Dustin Diamond, Nicolas Cage, and President Fillmore are just a few famous folks who celebrate their birthdays today too. Check out more famous people who celebrate their birthday today—there are a lot. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Fans of Everything Summer Camp!

For today’s Blog post I’d like to tell you about another one of Everything Summer Camp’s excellent employees, Keisha. If you’ve placed an order over the phone for a C&N camp trunk or any other camping supplies in the last year, there’s a good chance that you spoke with Keisha.

Hired on for our seasonal help last year in the Call Center, Keisha showed exceptional skills in customer service—handling inbound calls and the occasional “problem order.” Now that the busy season at Everything Summer Camp is starting to cool down, Keisha was asked to stick around as our Call Center Supervisor.

Despite how busy we get at Everything Summer Camp, we always strive to keep our work environment fun. I think it’s safe to say that working here suits Keisha very well. She fits right in with our casual environment and diligent work style.

You can always count on Keisha for an infectious smile and a quick laugh to keep things light around the office. With a friendly attitude and an open ear, she’s always good to talk to (which is so clearly why she is now our Call Center Supervisor—we want all of you to get to talk to her as well)!

Nowadays they say nobody reads the newspaper anymore. But Keisha does. And that worked out well for us because that’s how she found us after her temporary position at United Health Care came to an end. Living in the small town of Thorp has made her drive to work much shorter and she enjoys the friendlier atmosphere here too.

More than happy to have received such a down-to-earth, hard-working employee as Keisha, we urge you to give us a call and maybe you can talk to Keisha too! Thanks for reading, everyone!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

About a year ago, I told you about Shelby. She’s one of our great Call Center Representatives at Everything Summer Camp. She helps our customers (like you) place their orders over the phone. If you called us to place an order in the last three years then it’s possible that you’ve talked to Shelby!

I told you about her role in the Call Center calling customers back with questions about personalized products, handling returned items, and emailing customers for further contact. But today, I’d like to give you a better idea of what Shelby’s life is like outside of work.

She grew up just a little ways away from Everything Summer Camp, on her family’s farm. She fondly recalls taking turns with her younger brother over who would get up early to milk the cows.

While she grew up here, in Boyd, WI, she’s currently attending her senior year at UW Whitewater where she majors in Special Education and minors in Human Services. She’s also into Track at her college but not nearly as much as Shot put. Having thrown a shot 49’ and 7”, Shelby’s goal is to, at least once, become a national champ. She’s got quite an arm on her!

Shelby doesn’t like to toot her own horn, so I will for her. She’s AWESOME! She’s been doing it since the seventh grade, so she’s had nearly a decade to hone her skill. As for what inspired Shelby to try Shot put, she says, “My mom forced me into it,” but follows up quickly to say, “I’m glad she did!”

Very good for a place like Whitewater (a D-3 college), Shelby seems to think that, while she may stand a chance against a D-1 college (like Madison), she definitely wouldn’t be the champ. I’ll let you be the judge. Check out these great throws from Shelby by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John