Hey, Camp Fans!

Last month we asked for people to share their collections with us whatever they may be. And today, I'm thrilled to feature our first collector, Travis T.! Travis attends Camp Longhorn and he collects Baseball cards.

With over 5,000 cards to his collection, he keeps them well-organized in boxes and binders. He started collecting three years ago when he was nine years old. With a collection that is ever-growing, it’s a constant learning experience for Travis. Not to mention, it’s provided a great way to interact with people from all over the world.

Born a baseball fan, Travis was inspired to start his card collection when it dawned on him that every player had a card. It’s a challenge with no end in that regard. “You can’t collect them all,” Travis tells us. “So it is always a challenge looking for the next best deal.” But collecting in itself has furthered Travis’ understanding of the stats and teams of lots and lots of players.

“From there I started understanding their value and shopping eBay and looking for deals,” says Travis. “I am most proud of my graded cards,” he says. When cards are ‘graded’, they’re given a number in value based on the condition of the card and the quality of the print. “Once they are graded they go up in value, come in a case, and are a lot safer,” Travis added.

“I have so many valuable cards that I have worked hard to accumulate,” he says. “I have also spent a lot of time organizing them by team, year, and brand. This has been a HUGE project for me that I have accomplished over many hours. I am also sending players cards for autographs and getting some back in the mail now which has been really exciting!”

Sending cards out to players is a great idea. I’m sure an autograph increases a card’s value as well! While his favorite team is the Houston Astros, neither of his top two favorite players have ever played for the Astros. A mutual favorite for Travis and his dad is Charlie Hough—professional player for 25 years! And then there’s Mike Birkbeck.

With just one-year contracts for each team he played for, Mike really had to earn his keep! But Travis did such a good job in his explanation of why he likes Mike Birkbeck so much, I’ll let him tell the story: “One year he signed for the Indians. His teammates ask him to go on a cookout on a boat. He opted to go with his one year-old son to Disneyland instead. That boat crashed and killed several people on it. He put his family first…”

Such a sad story, but a blessing for Birkbeck! “These are just some of my favorite players and I have cards for each with some autographs seen in the picture below,” says Travis. Another hero of Travis’ would be Mr. Pat Neschek. “Pat is one of the greatest card collectors of all time,” Travis explains. “I would love to hang out with him and see his cards!!!” 

That would be such a cool experience, Travis! What a great collection you have. Thank you very much for sharing all these great pictures and with us and wonderful insight into what you collect and what it means to you! Till next time, Readers. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Birders!

Birds are wonderful to watch no matter what the season! However, in cooler parts of the country like we have here in the northwestern town of Boyd, Wisconsin, the birds are especially colorful—featuring heavily bright crimson cardinals and vernal sky blue jays in this part of the state. With such fewer birds around, these two really take center stage and steal the show.

Today is Feed the Birds Day—created for just these kinds of birds: the winter warriors that don’t fly south. Mid and late winter are especially hard on all outdoor animals. This date was chosen for Feed the Birds Day to remind people that this time of year, the animals in our backyard need help the most.

A couple of passionate birdwatchers, Bob and Debbie Matthews of Rochester, New York, moved to create Feed the Birds Day back in 2016 and it’s been catching on ever since.

You can imagine that this time of year in the dead of winter, sources for food get harder and harder to come by for all the wild birds that have stayed for the season. Any food that is available can get buried deep under the snow. Squirrels and rabbits can dig through the snow, but birds aren’t quite so well-equipped for digging.

You can help the birds in your backyard to survive the tail end of a long, cold winter and also reap the benefits of an entertaining show outside your window when you decide to participate in Bob and Debbie’s holiday.

Here’s what you do…

Get yourself a birdfeeder—they’re affordable in stores and also easy to make your own with items around the house. You may think bread would be a fun treat for birds, however, seeds are an energy-rich food—just what those birdies need this time of year. Another option is a suet cake (bars of raw fat which are extremely high in energy).

Heck! My parents used to simply pour the fat from a fry pan into a tin can, let it cool, and set in on the ground outside.

Anyway, when you have your feeder, whatever type you decide to go with, put it in a spot where you can watch it from a window. Be sure to keep the seeds or fat replenished; when birds discover your feeder, they will come back for more and more as a newfound source of food. They’ll assume they can rely on you. And you don’t want to disappoint them!

Pass the word about this special holiday. Bring it up to your teacher at school to participate in educating everyone about birds and birdfeeding and get everyone to join in on the fun. Happy Feed the Birds Day, Everybody. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Let’s take a moment here on the Everything Summer Camp Blog today and highlight the next among the many summer camps with whom we’re proud to have developed a wonderful relationship. For today’s Summer Camp Spotlight post, we’re fixing our light to one of the few land-locked states that are still part of the eastern coast: Vermont.

Situated just east of the Adirondack Mountains and Lake Champlain, you’ll find 150 acres where Camp Betsey Cox along with her brother camp for boys, Camp Sangamon have been established for nearly the last hundred years. Each summer the camps welcome roughly a hundred girls and a hundred boys to give them a great summer camp experience.

Known as the camp with a song in its heart, Camp Betsey Cox is a singing camp. However, there’s much more to do than just sing! Enjoy Swimming, Canoeing, and Kayaking in Burr Pond. Go Horseback Riding or enjoy Backpacking Trips, Campcraft, a Ropes Course, Rock Climbing, and more. Try your hand at skills like Farming and Gardening as well as Archery and Tennis! There are plenty of team sports to play like Basketball, Rugby, Softball, Volleyball, and more. And get your dose of indoor activities with Pottery, Weaving, Woodworking, and Arts and Crafts time.

Camp Betsey Cox is equipped to provide their campers not only tons of fun, but a places to sleep and eat, and just hang out. Set up with rustic cabins that have nearby wash houses, a dining lodge, an activities center, tennis court, working farm and garden, and a swimming pond, their campgrounds are absolutely beautiful.

The camp’s wood frame cabins all have comfy canvas bunk beds, screened fireplaces, and solar lanterns for lighting after dark. There’s no electricity in any of the cabins which encourages a connection to nature. Each cabin fits eight to nine girls and is staffed with two counselors as well as a third-year leadership girl.

If Camp Betsey Cox sounds like the place for you, give it a closer look and check out the website by clicking right here. As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Bakers and Lovers of Baked Goods!

Today we’re taking a dive for our second investigation of those handy, little turns of phrases that we know like the back of our hand (<--- there’s one right there!). Sayings like these are more specifically referred to as idioms or adages. Today’s featured saying is a Baker’s Dozen. What does it mean and why should a baker’s dozen be any different than anyone else’s dozen?

Well, before we get that far, let’s first just see why the number twelve gets its own special term in the first place—because that’s all a dozen is, right? ...a grouping of twelve. Well, the answer’s pretty short and simple. Dozen is a word that comes from the French ‘douzaine’, which is used to refer to a group of twelve things. And there you have it. I told you it’d be quick.

So, when we refer to a baker’s dozen we’re typically referring to a group of 13. Why not twelve? Well, buckle up—the answer to this question will take a little more time to land.

The term came about some three to four hundred years ago. Bakers of the 16 and 1700s would actually short their customers and sell them very light breads that used less dough. People were typically very poor and had to take such deceptive measures in order to get by themselves.

The laws of medieval England, however, sought to fix this scam. It was put forward that the price of a baker’s bread must be in direct relation to the price of the wheat that was used to make it. And bakers who were found to be ‘cheating’ their customers would be subject to strict punishments such as fines or even physical harm.

No baker wanted to be caught in violation of this new law and, since many didn’t even have a scale with which to weigh the dough, started adding an extra roll to the common request of a dozen. The bonus roll should make up for any that may have come up light. So fearful were the bakers of breaking the law that sometimes they’d even make 14 rolls at the request of a dozen—you couldn’t be too careful.

So enjoy any breads that you eat today and know that it probably wasn’t overpriced! Thank goodness for the bakers of the world. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Happy Kazoo Day, Everybody!

Anyone can play the kazoo. About as easy to play as the tambourine, the kazoo is the one wind instrument that doesn’t require much musical skill. But where did it come from? Strap in for a buzzing good time; we’re about to dive deep into the history of the kazoo. Before we get into the history, however, let’s take a good look at the anatomy of a kazoo so we can better understand this instrument’s origin.

Typically made of plastic, kazoos can be fashioned from metal as well. These instruments are small tubes, open on both ends (one end flatter and smaller than the other). Not quite halfway down the body of a kazoo, there is yet another hole which creates a small chamber where a waxy film is kept in place, but with enough free space to vibrate and shake when a kazoo player produces an air current.

Kazoos of the Current Day
I wrote about the history of kazoos a number of years back, but that post focused chiefly on American kazoos from the 1800s forward. On today’s post, however, we’re going to peel back the layers of time to see how trunks were used hundreds and hundreds of years ago. I’m talking ancient!

Euro-Kazoo
While it is a wind instrument, the waxy, vibrating film of a kazoo sets it apart from the conventional brass and woodwind instruments and places it in the ‘mirliton’ club. Mirlitons are any instruments that involve that vibrating film for their voice. The first European mirlitons came around the 1700s, called the eunuk-flute. These were made of wood and, also referred to as an Onion Flute because onion skin would be used in place of the waxy film of a kazoo.

Ancient African Kazoos
The 1700s may seem like a long time ago (and it is), but the history goes back even further than that. Historians believe that the closest relative to the kazoo is the ancient African horn-mirliton. Of course it was built using very primitive resources. The tube was made from a cow horn and instead of waxy film, they used egg-shells from spiders. Yet, it produced a similar sound to the eunuk-flute and kazoo.

You can make your own mirliton by simply holding a piece of paper tight alongside the teeth of the comb. Then just put your puckered lips to the comb and hum or “doo-doo” or whatever you like. You may have to play around with your positioning before you get it to really resonate like a kazoo, but trust me—it works! Check these guys out! Happy Kazoo Day and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John