Hey, Readers!

Happy Veterans Day. Today is a holiday intended to honor and show our appreciation to those who have served their country in the armed services. We call those people veterans. Everything Summer Camp extends immense gratitude to those who have fought for our freedom. What is this day all about and what’s so special about today’s date?  

Jump into today’s Blog post for a better understanding of this federal holiday and what you can do to honor those who served our country.

Similar but Different
Veterans Day can sometimes be confused with Memorial Day. While they ARE similar to each other, Memorial Day restricts who is being honored. It is a day meant to remember those who have fought and died while serving their country. Veterans Day is meant to honor both those who have fallen and the ones who survived.

Why Today?
November 11 marks the end of World War I (nearly a century ago) when a truce was made with Germany. Veterans Day is pretty much the American celebration of Armistice or Remembrance Day. Although, our intentions are to honor all veterans—not just those from the first World War.

How to Celebrate
Mailing cards or letters is a wonderful way to show someone your appreciation. Wearing a remembrance poppy or a yellow ribbon is a simple, great way to quietly show your support as well. You can get some more ideas about how to show your appreciation for vets in your life by browsing through a previous Blog post—just click here.

It’s taken a long time for the holiday to become what it has come to be. So appreciate those around you that you may know who have served in the armed services for your country and wish them a Happy Veterans Day. As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Happy Father’s Day, Everybody!

Today’s all about enjoying the day with your dad! Get out and have fun with your father so you can give him the best Father’s Day you can! Just as we did with Mother’s Day last month, instead of going over what fun or nice things you can do with the ol’ man, we’ll review some of the great things dads typically do around the house and for the family. And whatever you do to celebrate Father’s Day, make sure to do it out of gratitude for your dad!

Ask Dad, He Knows…
Dad lived a whole lot of life before you ever entered the world and probably learned a thing or two each day throughout all of his life experiences. He’s a wealth of knowledge; ask him about anything you’re unsure of. He likely has some insight or another.

Maintenance Man
While I went through a short list of domestic living chores in my Mother’s Day post in May, Dads usually share some amount of chores whether they fall into the category of cleaning house, lawn care, making updates, or running errands.

Maybe Dad Can Fix It
It seems to run in the DNA makeup of Dads that they develop the ability to fix it when the lawnmower won’t start, or the dishwasher leaks, or the toilet overflows. The personal family handyman (until the experts are necessary)—what would we do without dad?!

Consider all the things your dad does to keep your household running and give him the gratitude, happiness, and love that he deserves today and every day! Check out previous Father’s Day posts to find ideas on what you can get for him or maybe even make something yourself. Maybe it’s something you do for him. Whatever it is, make it a happy Father’s Day and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Happy Memorial Day!

As we inch closer and closer to summer, many states continue to loosen their restrictions of the quarantine orders that were put in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. With Memorial Day here, it’s important for us to commemorate this federal holiday while still adhering to the safety guidelines that have been laid out in your particular region.

Gathering
Being together is one of the best ways to remember those who fought and fell for this country—especially after staying in our homes all this while. It’s great to gather for grill-outs or go see someone who’s directly affected by a fallen soldier if you can! If you’re still unable to physically visit people, phone calls are always appreciated. Or you can drop off a letter or card or at least wish them a belated Happy Memorial Day in a letter you get in the mail today.

Parade
Parades are already a common Memorial Day tradition. If you’re able to gather for a parade as you always have in the past, great! Enjoy yourself! If your area is still practicing stricter social distancing, maybe you can suggest a spirited gesture of the drive-by parades that involve flag-flying and cheerful honking through the neighborhoods as we’ve seen throughout our country’s lockdown.

Visitation
A sobering cemetery visit can be a hard but often therapeutic outing. This Memorial Day tradition shouldn’t involve too much close contact, however, since some states need to exercise more caution than others, you may find you’re unable to visit the cemetery today. An alternative way to spend time thinking of the loved ones we’ve lost may be to find a picture of them or some other keepsake and just spend some time thinking about them and saying thanks for their service!

No matter what, you can find some way to remember the people who have fought and fallen for our freedoms. From Everything Summer Camp, we wish a Happy Memorial Day to all you Camp Families and, as always, thanks for reading.

John

Hey, Saint’s Day Celebrators!

This upcoming major holiday, which we call Halloween in our contemporary day, was once known as Samhain (pronounced Sow-ween). A sort of ancient New Years and Harvest celebration, this celebration over time took on a new name and new meaning. Learn more about Halloween than you ever did before on today’s eerily interesting Blog post!

Check out these fun facts about our beliefs behind this celebration:

Everyone knows that black cats bring bad luck…right? Yeah—lots of people think that. Black cats are actually less likely to be adopted because of the superstition surrounding them. But this belief isn’t held worldwide. In fact, in other parts of the world such as the United Kingdom, it is a white cat which is thought to bring misfortune. I have an all-black cat named Aiden Carl who is the sweetest, most handsome cat I’ve ever met and I don’t feel unlucky!

Of course, it’s always good to take precautions with candy (especially overeating it!) But unlike what most people have come to believe about Trick-or-Treat candy, there have never actually been any reports of razor blades in apples or poisoned sugary treats. There have been some strange cases that involved poisoning and Halloween candy, but not to Trick-or-Treaters. That has all been rumor.

Halloween’s predecessor, Samhain, seems to have been an ancient Celtic festival in which they lit bonfires and wore costumes to ward off ghosts. So how did this celebration turn into Halloween? The Christian movement in Ireland (thanks to ol’ St. Patrick) delivered the Samhain celebration to the converted Irish Christians. It was in the 8th century that Pope Gregory III announced November 1st as a day to honor all saints. He called it All Saints Day. Hallow, being another word for holy or saintly is commonly used. So All Hallow’s Eve is also known as All Saint’s Eve which still incorporates some of the traditions of Samhain.

Hope this post has cleared up some misnomers and mysteries you may have had surrounding the Halloween celebration. I hope you’re all getting excited to don your dreadful costumes and enjoy some scares in the coming couple of weeks! Happy Halloween, Everybody! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Happy Groundhog Day!

February has many of us dreaming of warmer weather and the joys of summer camp. As you may already know, Groundhog Day on February 2nd is the day on which we discover whether we’ll see an early spring or get six more weeks of winter. It hasn’t proven to be the most accurate method, but we like to go based off of whether or not a small, little critter called a groundhog spots his shadow upon leaving his den early in February. However, we can’t just get the word from any ol’ groundhog. Such a prognostication must come from no common groundhog, but from none other than Punxsutawney Phil.

This annual rodent Punxsutawney Phil delivers his annual prediction in his own language, ‘groundhogese’. And his word is translated by the president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club who reveals the answer to the Vice-President and then the entire gathering of Phil’s adoring fans. So, what else do we know about this special groundhog?

Nice Duds, Classy Hats

Some fifty-some years ago, it went into effect for members of the Groundhog Club Director’s Board (the Inner Circle) that they must wear a top hat and tuxedo uniform during the annual picnic at Gobbler’s Knob. The reasoning: A figure of such importance as Punxsutawney Phil must always be greeted with a tone of respect and formality.

Not your Ordinary Groundhog

A celebrity like Punxsutawney Phil makes just one public appearance a year at the Gobbler’s Knob picnic. Where is he for the rest of the year? He lives with his wife, Phyllis, and two other friends of theirs in a heated area of the Punxsutawney Memorial Library.

Hog Nog

It is said that Punxsutawney Phil has been giving us his forecast for 133 years now. How does one, little groundhog exceed the life expectancy of a super healthy person? Well, according to legend, Punxsutawney Phil takes a swig of ‘groundhog nog’ at the Gobbler’s Knob picnic which is a magic elixir of life that extends his life another seven years with each sip.

You can learn even more about the celebration of Groundhog Day on a previous post from a few years ago which traces back the origin of the Groundhog Day celebration. Check that post out by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John