Hey, Flashy Folks!

Is it just me or is it getting darker outside earlier? It seems that ever since Halloween night—October 31—the sun sets in the late afternoon instead of its typical mid-evening time. The days seem to be shortening and I suddenly seem to be using a lot more electricity for lighting. I’m beginning to fear that the sun may continue to grow more and more distant until one day it blips entirely out of sight.

What’s that? Oh! It’s just Daylight Savings? Phew! What a relief!

Yes, that makes much more sense. The cycle of our years mean that the days get shorter in the fall and winter, culminating in the Winter Solstice—the shortest day of the year. Today is that day. Located on the opposite side of the year from the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, the Winter Solstice is the day with the least amount of daylight.

A magical day of the year, the Winter Solstice reminds us of how harsh and unforgiving Mother Nature can be. Especially in locations up north—like us at Everything Summer Camp in Northern Wisconsin—Winter Solstices are always cold, dark, and typically covered in ice and snow.

This year, we’ll see just under nine hours of daylight in Boyd, Wisconsin where Everything Summer Camp is located (roughly the same amount as New York City). If you travel to Helsinki, Finland, you’ll be getting something shy of six hours of daylight! That’s less than a typical day of work or school. But at least that’s better than nothing! In Barrow, Alaska, they don’t even see a sunrise!

And since it’s the darkest day of the year, it would only make sense that National Flashlight Day would coincide. A handy item to have around in our dark winter days, it’s a good idea today to test your flashlights to make sure the batteries are still good. Be sure everyone knows where the flashlights are kept in your household. And remember to keep a flashlight in your vehicles as well.

It’s the holiday season, so let your hearts be…LIGHT and make the darkest night of the year the warmest and brightest. Peruse our selection of flashlights, headlamps, lanterns, and more when you click right here! Happy National Flashlight Day and a magical Winter Solstice, Everybody! As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hello, Fellow Outdoor Fans!

Letters sent and received through the post office is one of the oldest means of long-distance communication preceded only by homing pigeons (birds trained and used to deliver letters and other small items). Today is designated to celebrate this old means of connecting with folks far away. Today is Letter Writing Day!

While writing letters is a big part of summer camp, Winter is a great time to flex your writing muscle for this therapeutic indoor activity and great way to spread some cheer as we venture into the holiday season! Here are some great reasons to sit yourself down today and write a letter or two to some of the people you have in your life.

Ain’t Nothing like the Real Thing, Baby
A letter is not an electronic message; it’s something corporeal that the recipient can hold and keep in their home. It exemplifies effort and thoughtfulness. It’s sure to bring a smile to that somebody when they receive your letter in the mail—a hundred times more joy than any text, email, social media message, or even a phone call could ever bring.

Great Mental Exercise
Writing a letter is an excellent way to keep your brain sharp. The wintertime especially can hold us sort of spellbound with what some refer to as ‘the blahs’. Articulating your thoughts through the written word gives you and the recipient clarity. It can feel a little bit like cleaning out your head! I feel better just writing this post!

The Power of the Pen
As I alluded to in a post I wrote years ago about Letter Writing Day, letters give a writer the space to really take the time to articulate their thoughts. You’ll find the opportunity in a letter to express yourself like you maybe never otherwise would. Use a letter to let somebody know what they mean to you.

These are just a few of the many benefits there are to writing letters to people. Make the connection and spread some cheer as we venture into the holiday season! Put your pen to some paper and see what comes out! Happy Letter Writing Day and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Are you nuts for nachos? Who doesn’t love that salty crunch or the lack thereof from a pile of chips that have soaked up some delicious cheese sauce? Nachos with cheese are a common concession at sporting events, state fairs, and movie theaters. How do you make a good thing better? Add more! For today—National Nacho Day—I took a poll around the office to see what peoples’ favorite toppings are for what’s known as Loaded Nachos.

But before we get into that, let’s go over the quick backstory of Nachos. How did these particular variety of chips get their name? The story takes place in the 1940s in a Northern city of Mexico called Piedras Negras. It begins one night at a restaurant when some regular customers came just after closing time. They were very hungry, so the chef seated them anyway.

He explained that there wasn’t much left in the kitchen, but he could go make do with what remained. He cut up some tortillas and fried the pieces, melted some cheese on top, and chopped up some jalapeño peppers. The regulars raved about what a delicious plate the chef had made. The chef’s name: Ignacio, known by all his friends as Nacho.

As the southwestern dish grew in popularity, people started putting their own spin on it, creating their own variation of ‘nachos’. They sprinkled corn on top or pulled pork. Some folks added sour cream while others added pineapple. And some did all of the above and them some more! Loaded nachos were born.

So what do people like around the office here at Everything Summer Camp?

To Cheese or Not to Cheese
Cheese is pretty much a must for everyone here when it comes to nachos. Some folks insist on cheese sauce while others prefer shredded cheese. Some heat the cheese up or melt the shreds. Anita, our Lead Buyer, explained that the shredded cheese would melt appropriately with the heat from the meat. And, of the 8 people surveyed, only our Vice President, Mark, didn’t bother to mention the cheese at all.   

The Power of Sour
Six of the eight surveyed said they need sour cream on their nachos. Only two of us including myself said no to the cream. An interesting addition to sour cream was western dressing Anita recommended to try. 

Beef up your Nachos
Everybody mentioned some kind of meat in their list of toppings with only one exception from our Operations Manager, Brian. Other items took priority for him. Others specified taco-flavored ground beef, while others just said ground beef or hamburger. Mark was the only one to veer off the ground beef path and say he goes for steak on his nacho plate.  

Special Mentions
Black olives were important for only three folks Brian, Anita, and me. Only a couple people mentioned jalapenos like Mark and myself. And it was only Diane and I who mentioned guacamole. Only Brian and Drew, our Marketplace Manager, go for tomatoes, but Drew specified the tomatoes be stewed. Drew and Mark were the only two to include raw onions as one of the most important ingredients. It was just Mark who included pinto beans. And, lastly, as one of the stranger ingredients included, our Graphic Artist, Amy, said she would add salt—in place of salsa if need be. I guess, the chips aren’t salty enough for her!

There was one thing that everybody agreed on and that is a plate of nachos sounds pretty good after talking about it. Maybe you got some ideas from us for your own plate of nachos. Or if you already have your nachos down to a science like some of us do, just enjoy your own mouth-watering creation for National Nacho Day. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

With the Harvest season upon us, now is the perfect time to consider all the work that goes into the food that we buy at the grocery store. All the fruits and vegetables, the meat, milk, and eggs. The bread in the bakery. It’s all thanks to farming and those hard workers that grow all that food that we put on our dinner tables. October 12 is Old Farmers Day.

This day is dedicated to old farmers and the old-school techniques they used back in the day. It’s typically celebrated as a throwback to the sustainable practices of growing food the way they used to.

While mechanized and scientific methods are widely utilized in farming today, the entire trade would not exist without the wisdom and hard work of old farmers.

In their honor, today is about being thankful for farmers and learning about the processes and methods that go into their work. Perhaps you can suggest a family trip to a local farm where you can see firsthand where your food comes from!

Farmers are essential to our own survival! They take care of our food from sowing the seeds to harvesting the crop and seeing reach the market. Without farmers it would be difficult or impossible for us to have food on our tables.

How Can You Celebrate Old Farmers Day?

• Do some research to learn about farming techniques from the days of old.
• If you happen to live on a farm, take today to use old farming tools.
• If you know an old farmer, ask them about how farming was different when they were young.
• Visit your local farmer's market to support your local farmers.
• Buy only locally grown food and locally raised meat.

On behalf of everyone here at Everything Summer Camp, we would like to send a special thanks to all of our local farmers and farmers all across the nation and across the world. Without you, we would go hungry…literally! Thank goodness for farmers and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Blog Buddies!­­

It’s always good to be friends—but it’s even better today; it’s World Friendship Day! Friendships can be created wherever you are: at school, the beach, the park, your brother’s birthday party…the world is brimming with friendly, smiling faces for you to befriend. And it doesn’t come any more naturally to make some good friends than when you’re at summer camp!

For many kids, the friends they have at summer camp become the best friends they have. And at summer camp, kids are likely to make friends with other kids from all around the state, country, and even the world. Some friends are so far apart that they have to wait all year long until the next camp season in order to see some of their closest friends again.

The camp off-season can feel like a pretty long time to be apart from friends and, unfortunately, those eager kids who have special camp friendships at places that were closed this summer will have to wait for another year longer.

Don’t leave your friends hangin’. Use World Friendship Day as your reminder to reach out and keep in touch with your good friends. Go with an old-fashioned written letter to keep in the spirit of summer camp. Also writing letters can allow us to formulate more cohesive thoughts and express ourselves in ways that we rarely do verbally or in more casual means of contact like phone calls or text messaging.

Of course, a fun phone conversation is a great way to catch up and text messages are incredibly convenient. No matter what, just be sure you let your friend know that you’re thinking of them and that you appreciate having them be a part of your life. Happy World Friendship Day to everyone and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John