Hey there, Fall Friends!

This is the time of year when the leaves lose their green color and shift to shades of yellow, brown, orange, red, or even purple—if you live in more northern regions of the country, that is. After turning their sometimes explosive colors, the leaves will then fall from the trees (hence the short name for the season). It's the coolest part about fall!

All of us here at Everything Summer Camp, located in the northwoods of Wisconsin, are treated every year to some of the most beautiful sights with vibrant and surreal colors hanging from the trees. As the temperature cools and the northern hemisphere sees less sunlight each day, the leaves lack the amount of sunlight needed to perform processes that are essential to their life (like photosynthesis).

Check out the beautiful, changing environment surrounding us here in northern Wisconsin with these pictures throughout today’s post.

Fall Photography
Take after me and capture some cool pictures of the autumn colors. All the pictures on this post come from trees around my block! Check out the trees in your neighborhood and bring a camera when you’re inspired!

Leaf Collecting
While you’re out walking in the awesome colors of autumn, you’re sure to come across some fallen leaves. Maybe you’ll find some that are just too cool to pass by. Bring it home to share! You can even press leaves and frame them!

Raking
If you get enough leaves in your yard, rake them into a pile and hop in! There’s nothing more invigorating than lunging into a bunch of crisp, colorful leaves! Hear them crunch all around you as you lie on your bed of leaves!

If the foliage in your neck of the woods doesn’t create a fireworks show among the trees, then I highly recommend that you travel to an area where it does. Make a family day trip out of it…or maybe a weekend. The colors are bound cast a spell on you as they do on us every year. We truly live in a beautiful world! As always, thanks for reading!

- 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, Camp Fans!

We like to talk about ourselves often enough here at Everything Summer Camp because—let’s face it—we’re pretty awesome. But how about the folks who supply us with the great selection of camp gear that we offer?! We like to highlight them too. Today we’re highlighting one of the many brands with whom we’ve formed a great relationship: ShowaFlops. Reflective of ShowaFlop’s founder Hal and his New York accent, the ShowaFlops brand name just about says it all: they’re Flip-Flops, made to be worn in the showa—umm, I mean ‘shower’. With drainage holes and a textured, antimicrobial surface that prevents slippage and protects against bacteria as well as fungi, these shoes are just what you want in any public shower!

An experienced entrepreneur, Hal thought his days as a business owner were done, but when he dropped his daughter off for her first year in college, his wife, Evelyn visited the restroom and cried out at the sight of the shower stalls, “You need Flip-Flops for the shower!”

For the next year, Evelyn and Hal were determined to launch their concept of the shower shoe. After inspecting numerous prototypes from various manufacturers, the entrepreneurial couple found the right fit and ShowaFlops was born! Once their shower shoes with the funny name arrived on the market they saw great, immediate success with camping gear outlet stores such as a certain one-stop summer camp shop.

Fear no public shower whether it’s at summer camp, a gym, your college dorm, or anywhere else you find public showers. Just pick up your own pair of convenient and protective ShowaFlops footwear! These beauties keep your feet clean and protected and greatly reduce risk of falling! Get your public shower protection by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

You don’t have to be Ernest Hemingway to keep a diary or journal. In fact, lots of people who wouldn’t consider themselves gifted writers keep a book of blank pages by their bedside to record daily events as well as their thoughts and feelings about certain occurrences, relationships, and goings-on in general. So how did this custom of chronicling our lives start out and why did it become so popular?

Long ago, bound books of blanks pages weren’t so readily available to anyone and everyone—such material was typically used for more official matters. Journals were kept by explorers and sea captains for record-keeping of their journeys and expeditions. These log entries were used by the first captains to sail the seas of the ancient world.

Often times explorers were sent out on their missions by kings or other authorities of their homeland. Logs were kept so they could properly inform their superiors of what they saw and what transpired during missions. Historians would use journals to record the historical facts of the times for accurate preservation of history for future generations.

As the world moved on to more modern times, diaries and journals became commonplace items to find in homes. Much like the intrepid explorers that came before them, kids of the last couple centuries started writing entries in journals to keep track of their daily happenings.

But a curious blend began to take place that did more than just record the events in a dry, straightforward manner. It was a personal touch that introduced the inner thoughts and inner feelings from the author concerning the daily events they were writing about. This brought a reflective and intimate kind of connection to journal and diary entries.

Suddenly, these personal writings became even more personal as they contained secrets about who likes who and honest thoughts that kids would only share with a diary. These bound books were made with locks and keys to keep the written contents safely out of view from prying eyes. Journals and diaries started being hidden beneath mattresses, the back of sock drawers, top closet shelves, and other places that nosy siblings might not check.

As a means of aiding growth and maturity, we understand the importance of journals and diaries here at Everything Summer Camp and we enjoy coming across some hot finds that we just know we have to offer on our website. Take a look at some cool ones when you click right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans.

Many camps weren’t in session for this summer season, compelled to take the precautions deemed necessary to keep everyone safe. Just like all of you, everyone here at Everything Summer Camp is deeply saddened that so many campers didn’t get to have their summer camp experience this season.

While some of you may have attended camp this season, others were not so fortunate. To those of you who didn’t get to go to camp this year, know that you’re not alone. Today, we’re featuring one of the many summer camps who were closed for their normal camp season this summer—Camp Wohelo. Here’s the message from their website: 

“As of April 23rd, 2020, the Alberta Chief Medical Officer has banned mass gatherings for the summer of 2020. Camp Wohelo has now officially cancelled summer camp programming; this decision was a difficult but necessary precaution to keeping everyone safe.

Cancelling summer camp programs and rentals creates a significant challenge, as Camp Wohelo relies on that revenue to operate and maintain the beautiful site and buildings year-round. Now is a time that Camp Wohelo is more dependent on donations to continue to maintain the facility and make improvements on projects already underway; if you wish to make a donation please do contact us (campwohelo@yahoo.ca).

We will continue to monitor restrictions and guidelines set out by the Provincial Government, the Alberta Camping Association, and the Canadian Camping Association recommendations so that we will be able to provide a safe environment…for next camp season.”

Everything Summer Camp supports Camp Wohelo and we look forward to seeing their normal camp sessions return in 2021. We hope all you campers who had planned on a summer stay at Wohelo were still able to get out into the wilderness for your own personal camping experience and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John