Hey, Members of the Workforce!

While I’m writing about it today, there is no actual date to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day. The strategy behind this, of course, is to make it an extremely flexible holiday—very easy to work some kind of recognition around the busy schedule of a business. In other words, Employee Appreciation Day is any day you make it!

The actual beginning of Employee Appreciation Day is somewhat of a mystery; however, most people logically suspect that it was formed as a means of bringing balance to October 16. National Boss’ Day was registered by a woman named Patricia Bays Haroski in 1958. But as the day’s popularity rose and rose, employers began Employee Appreciation Day to return the favor.

Here at Everything Summer Camp, our employees do everything in their power to ensure the products we manufacture are of high quality and that the service our customers receive is to their utmost satisfaction and helpfulness.

That’s the reason why we pride ourselves on being the best summer camp retailer there is—because our employees pull together to make sure campers have a great camp experience. Our smooth collaboration between departments (especially in our busy season) is the key to our success in continuing to make happy customers.

From our trunk manufacturers in the Production Department to our devoted crew in shipping and, of course, the *AHEM* extremely talented Blog writer, Everything Summer Camp employees always aim for perfection.

“Everyone at Everything Summer Camp knows how important it is that campers have their camp gear with them,” says our company president, Ed. “That’s why our employees are willing to do whatever it takes to get our gear to our customers—even if it means an employee is running one customer’s order directly to UPS after hours.”

So if you work for someone, Happy Employee Appreciation Day and thank you for your services.

Hey, Camp Preppers!

Sending your kids to summer camp can be quite the endeavor. But knowing where you want them to go is half the battle! Today, I’m highlighting the brother/sister Vista camps from down South—maybe just the place to send your boy or girl in the upcoming season! We’re shining our summer camp spotlight in the heart of Texas this week to give the Camp Rio Vista for Boys and Camp Sierra Vista for Girls their time to shine.

Situated along the beautiful Guadalupe River in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, the rich and beautiful natural surroundings of the Vista Camps offer the serene and glorious setting as well as an irresistible playground for campers.

Kids have a blast with a plethora of Water Activities such as Water Skiing, Knee Boarding, Wakeboarding, Swimming, Canoeing, Kayaking, Paddle Boarding. On the land there are Team Sports like Football, Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Softball, Lacrosse, Rugby. You can also enjoy Chumble – Cheer & Tumbling, Frisbee and Disc Golf, Ropes Course, Conditioning, Tennis, Golf, Wrestling, Riflery, Archery, Horseback, Fishing, Trap Shooting, Outdoor Skills, and more!

And don’t forget about the Creative Activities you can take part in like Dance, Cheer, Arts and Crafts, Co-Ed Dance, Drama, Journalism, Scrap Booking, Guitar, and more!

Designed in complementary fashion to the gorgeous Texan landscape along the river, many of the campus buildings and cabins are all-natural stone constructions, built for comfort, beauty, cleanliness, and longevity.

The cabins are made so that they capture the cool breezes that roll along the Hill Country. The cabins are all equipped with electricity, comfy beds, and spacious for easy accommodation of campers and their belongings. All girls’ cabins as well as the youngest boys’ cabins feature connected bath facilities. Boys’ cabins house up to eight campers and two counselors while the girls’ cabins house up to six campers and two counselors for the youngest division and up to 19 campers and five counselors in the older groups.

A wonderful place for campers to get closer to themselves and the natural world around us all, check into these Vista Camps for your boys and girls and their upcoming summer camp stay and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

I was amazed to learn all the things I wrote about for the previous Blog post I wrote a handful of years ago about the famous singer/songwriter and performer, Jewel Kilcher (but better known as simply ‘Jewel’). She has quite an interesting past. She was raised in a lifestyle unlike most today. You can check out the last post about Jewel right here.

We learned certain things like how she grew up with no indoor plumbing and helped her father get money by singing with him in local bars. And we learned that she later attended camp at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Check out a few more things about this interesting lady:

The Musical Gene
Yes, I mentioned that she sang in bars with her father, but I didn’t mention what a musical family they all were! Her father Atz and her mother Nedra sang as a folk duo with two LPs—‘Early Morning Gold’ in 1977 and ‘Born and Raised on Alaska Land’ in 1978. Jewel’s brothers Atz Jr. and Nikos would make the rounds to the bars to sing with their father too.

Famous Mentors
In the midst of trying to make it in the music business, Jewel made herself some friends who were very much mentors for her. They were pretty famous themselves—Neil Young and Bob Dylan. Jewel played their supporting act. They went over lyrics with her and, at some point, she confessed to Neil that she was thinking of changing her sound to get herself airplay. Neil swayed her to keep at it with her natural style and, soon after that, her first song took off on the radio.

That first song to take off on the radio was called ‘You Were Meant for Me’. It hit the radio in 1995. That was 25 years ago. That means Jewel has been in the music business for more than two decades. Throughout her career, she has received four Grammy nominations and she’s sold over 27 million albums worldwide!

Are you a fan of Jewel? Go ahead and enjoy her music today and enjoy your path through life! Who knows where your journey will take you! As always, thanks for reading, Folks!

- John

Hey, Golf Lovers!

It’s no surprise to find Golf offered at most summer camps since it’s an incredibly popular activity among children and adults alike. Just because you like to play it, doesn’t mean that you follow the professional sporting events and the golfers of the day. In case you don’t, I thought we’d feature one of the leading figures in Golf: Jack Nicklaus. He performed in 164 major tournaments which is more than any other player. Mr. Nicklaus holds the record of 18 majors that he won. The Major Golf Championships are essentially the World Series or Superbowl of Golf. While other golfers like Tiger Woods have won more total events on the PGA tour, no one comes close to Nicklaus’ record. While extremely few golfers exceed ten victories in the majors, Tiger Woods’ 14 wins are shadowed by Jack’s many championship wins.

Nicknamed by a sportswriter as The Golden Bear for Nicklaus' blonde hair and burly physique, he was only just getting started through his hot decade in the 60’s. He would continue for another 20 years after that too, still remaining a formidable force throughout the 70’s and 80’s as well!

He was the first player to win the Masters Tournament two years in a row in 1965 and 1966. He also won The Open Championship at age 26 which made him the youngest player to win all four golf majors! While there was never any other golfer who had more than 46 top-10 finishes, Nicklaus was a top-10 finisher 73 times and 56 of those times, he was even in the top 5! He is considered by many to be one of the greatest golfers of all time.

Enjoy playing Golf during your summer camp experience if your camp offers it! Who knows where the next Golden Bear could pop up! As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Kids!

Leaving your mark in one fell stamp is always a satisfying feeling. A handy little piece of technology, people have been using stamps for a very long time. Stamping is still widely used today to designate documents or show ownership. Our customers at Everything Summer Camp love the ease of stamping their kid’s camp clothing with our convenient Clothing Stamp! But as you mark your camp clothes, have you ever pondered how this little handheld wonder came to be?

Used to press an inscription or a picture into clay throughout ancient times, the first stamps date back to roughly 4000BC and they were made of stone or metal. These devices were simple handles with the inscription piece fit on the base—typically made of brass. The bottom was dipped in ink and used to transfer the inscription to any paper. Back in the day, mailed envelopes were enclosed with a brass stamp dipped in wax to seal the document.

These stamps were nothing like the folding tuck-away Clothing Stamp contraptions that we offer at our shop. They stayed in this old-fashioned manner and it took all the way to the mid-1800’s when something interesting happened.

It’s not settled exactly when it was that the first rubber stamp was invented. Some say it was in 1844 when Charles Goodyear first witnessed the process of vulcanization when he accidentally dropped some rubber and sulphur on the stove. Others say it took until 1866 when James Woodruff applied the manufacturing technique of rubber molds for dentistry to the printing stamp.

They've come a long way over time! The rubber on the stamp that we offer comes as a liquid gel to begin with. It then gets 'baked' with a negative that has your name printed on it. The gel that got baked had your name on top and the rest was unexposed so it remained liquid gel. We wash away the unbaked gel and there you have your Clothing Stamp rubber print!

Get your own by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!


- John