Hello, Camp Kids!

With the camp season kicked into full gear, perhaps you’ll come across the summer camp that you’ll be heading to as we continue to add to our Summer Camp Spotlight category of Blog posts. Today, we’re fixing our camp spotlight down South to the heart of Texas.

There, we find El Tesoro summer camp which has been showing kids an awesome summer experience since it was first founded in 1934! Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro is a 223-acre located in Granbury, Texas, on the bend of the Brazos River at Fall Creek.

There’s lots of fun activities offered at El Tesoro including Archery, Arts & Crafts, Astronomy, Canoeing, Drama, GaGa Ball, Group Games, Hiking, Horsemanship, Kayaking, Low Challenge Course, Outdoor Cooking, Outdoor Living Skills, Singing & Music, Sports & Games, Swim & Water Games. You’re bound to enjoy your jam-packed summer days at camp.

Their campgrounds boast a 12,500 square foot covered riding area, a 35’ climbing tower that leads up to a 300’ zip line, the Brazos River, Mt. Loma, two huge pools, archery ranges, multi-sports court to play basketball, volleyball, and tennis, a Frisbee Golf Course, the Chapel, The Wohelo Lodge Dining Hall that seats 300 campers, and so much more.

20 new cabins are able to accommodate 12 people including the trained cabin leaders. Each bunk area is provided with some privacy and more than enough space for each camper’s gear and belongings. The cabins are equipped with electricity and full restrooms for convenience in maintaining hygiene at summer camp.

If you’re not already going to Camp El Tesoro, check out this summer camp for the next summer season. You’re sure to love your time there. Have a look around at this Texas camp and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

 

- John

Hey, Camp People!

An unexpected camp activity that’s history is shrouded in a bit of mystery is the alternative to golf called Frisbee or Disc Golf, also known as ‘Frolf’ to some. Learn how this very unofficial sport gained its popularity and officiality. How did the age-old sport of golf lead to an alternative that replaced the clubs and small, dimpled ball with a flying disc and the holes with chained baskets?

For several decades, forms of Disc Golf were played with whatever makeshift equipment folks had around—tossing the tin lids onto the tops of garbage cans. Canadian kids in the 1920’s called this Tin Lid Golf. But it only started developing an official backing when a summer camp counselor named George Sappenfield got the idea for a ‘camp’ version of golf that the kids could play.

As forms of this game were randomly found being played throughout the early 1900s, the game’s stricter parallel to golf rules seems to have suddenly started sprouting in many places, by many people independently. For instance, Rice University students in Texas started tournaments aiming discs at trees for targets.

It was the summer of 1965 when George Sappenfield found himself on a golf course during his college break before heading off to be a counselor at camp. The idea suddenly came to him that the kids at camp could play a version of golf with a flying disc aimed at designated targets.

The invention of the plastic flying disc was marketed as the now well-known name Frisbee by the Wham-o Manufacturing Company and was gaining popularity. George hatched the idea to contact Wham-o Manufacturing to suggest the creation of a Frisbee Golf Contest. This would lead to some of the first mentions of the sport Disc Golf and Mr. Sappenfield solidified himself as one of the earliest coordinators of Disc Golf who spread its popularity across the West Coast.

Enjoy playing Disc Golf during your summer camp experience if your camp offers it! And if they don’t—just bring your own Frisbee Disc and shoot at whatever targets you decide upon like they did in the old days! As always, thanks for reading!

 

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Our 2018 ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest results were through the roof! We wanted to hear how the camp experience went for campers and parents alike and the response that we received was so good that we’re still sharing the submissions here on the Blog this far into 2019! Here is another installment to our contest collection!

Today’s submission comes from Bella E. who sent in a general overview of her time at Camp Newaygo and filled it with Newaygo pride! Check it out:

“(Stomp, Stomp, Clap! Stomp, Stomp, Clap! ) ‘CABIN 3 IS FUN AND FREE, HANGING OUT IN BURGUNDY!’

Arriving on Sunday as strangers…ending the week as lifelong friends. Cabin 3 at Camp Newaygo was where my favorite summer memories took place. We started the week with class selections with everything from Archery to Spanish/Mexican culture, Drama, and Arts & Crafts. There were TONS of fun activities to choose from!

From cabin-wide water balloon fights to our overnight camp-out, the week was full of fun surprises every day. Some of my favorite things were when we played ‘Newaygo Squares’ (A spin-off of Hollywood Squares) and Gold Rush, where we had to collect the gold colored rocks hidden all over camp.

During dip, we had lots of fun playing in the water, building sand castles and kayaking. Some of our cabin mates even got to go tubing behind the speedboat! When we weren’t doing camp activities, we were busy making friendship bracelets. I would guess that each of us came home with at least 15 new pieces of jewelry!

Camp Newaygo is an all-girls camp. We learned how to work as a team and support each other and have fun! I loved singing all the songs at Camp Newaygo – we sang songs after every single meal! I can’t wait to come back next year, and I hope to bring even more friends with me!

‘MMM, I WANT TO LINGER, MMMM, A LITTLE LONGER, MMM, A LITTLE LONGER HERE WITH YOU!

MMMM, IT’S SUCH A PERFECT NIGHT, MMM, IT DOESN’T SEEM QUITE RIGHT, MMMM, THAT THIS SHOULD BE OUR LAST WITH YOU…

MMMM, WHEN COME SEPTEMBER, MMM, WE’LL ALL REMEMBER, MMM, OUR CAMPING DAYS AND FRIENDSHIPS TRUE…..

MMM, AND AS THE YEARS GO BY, MMM, WE’LL THINK OF YOU AND SIGH, MMM, THIS IS GOOD NIGHT AND NOT GOOD-BYE!’”

Love the summer camp spirit, Bella! Thanks for including your fun cabin cheer and the sweet Newaygo goodnight song! It’s great to hear that summer camp showed you such a great time with all the activities you took advantage of and all the great friendships you made. For anybody else interested in Camp Newaygo for your own camping experience, be sure to check them out sometime and, as always thanks for reading!

 

- John

Hey, Summer Camp People!

We’re fun folks here at Everything Summer Camp and we know how to stay hip to the current cool trends among kids. How do we do it? We surround ourselves with equally fun and cool companies and develop strong ties to them. We take cues from one another because the people who make up these companies are parents and aunts and uncles—we know kids!  One of these companies is cleverly named iScream! They know what kids find cool. Hip to kid style and flat-out fun, this young company has been around for less than a decade, yet they’ve found their niche and are growing in popularity every year! Made up of an extremely creative team, iScream is the best in bedside and road trip entertainment!

To keep the fun growing in the world, iScream continues to introduce fun new lines of cute, cuddly, hilarious, and loud products that present themselves in a jubilee of fun color explosions!

With images that accentuate color and stress depth, iScream Activity Books and their Seal & Send Stationery offer explosively detailed treats for your eyes and provide interesting, absorbing material that will keep you amused for as long you desire! But these awesome activity books and stationery were only the beginning!

We’ve recently added to our site some of the cutest and hilarious products from iScream! Check out their crazy cool sandals, stylish and practical cosmetic bags, ridiculous pillows and sleeping bags, journals with creative covers, and lots…LOTS more.

We’re extremely thrilled to offer the insane amount of fun that comes along with our excellent selection from this excellent brand. Take a good, hard gander at all the fun in these activities by clicking here and try not to scream! As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

 

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

Our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest at Everything Summer Camp saw an excellent response last year with 60 entries! That’s why we’ve published each and every one right here on the Blog (and why we’re still publishing them)! We received a handful that weren’t long enough to qualify for our contest, but we thought we’d at least share them on the Blog. Check out two more accounts from excited campers right here!

First is this entry from Luke O. who attended Camp La Junta:

“The first day of camp I was kind of nervous because I didn’t know what camp was like or where my activities were. But after a few days I got used to everything! And I made a lot of friends from all different cities in my cabin. I hiked up a mountain in the hills to our camp sign and the view was amazing. I bet I could see for fifty miles! Camp La Junta is awesome and I can't wait to go longer next year!”

Next up is a submission from Alexa T. who wrote in to tell us about her boys’ time at Camp Nellie Huckins!

“I went to Camp Nellie Huckins for two weeks! It was a rainy day when my parents dropped me and my twin sister off. I was nervous and excited at the same time! But a week later I wished that I stayed more time! I met a great friend at camp and we would always go swimming in the beautiful lake where we would jump off a tower and play lake games. We enjoyed making friendship bracelets at the art shop and canoeing to the sand bar! But my favorite activity to do was water-skiing! It was my first time and at first I was not able to get up. After a couple times I went around the whole lake!! It was so much fun! I loved camp and I am definitely going back next year!”

Thanks for these submissions, Luke and Alexa! That’s great that your nerves didn’t last, Luke. Camp has a way to destroy your nerves when you’re having such a great time! And thanks for sharing what a fun summer you had at Camp Huckins, Alexa! It’s great to hear what a great friendship you found there and how much fun you had!

If anybody else is interested in attending one of these camps, put some time aside and look into Camp La Junta or look into Camp Huckins for yourself! And, as always, thanks for reading!

 

- John