Hey, Chocoholics!

We’re all fans of chocolate and whatever genius thought to make tiny chips out of this blessing from nature! Invented for the sheer purpose of chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chips were created the same day as the cookie in 1937. The baker Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts cut up chunks of a semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the chunks to a cookie recipe.

And with that, a classic was born.

Chocolate is certainly a gift from Mother Nature to mankind with many health benefits and interesting things about it. For instance—a typical cacao bean contains less than 1/20th of the caffeine found in a coffee bean. Here are some other points about this amazing vegetable—that’s right—vegetable:

The Dark Side of Chocolate
Like many things (including water) too much of something can be bad—even deadly. Chocolate is no different. If you were to eat 6 kilograms (≈ a gallon of solid dark chocolate), you’d likely keel over from heart failure and kidney damage. Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing! It’s a good lesson.

Chocolate—the Medicinal Drink
As I’ve covered in a previous Blog post, chocolate was initially consumed as a beverage like hot chocolate. Only it wasn’t the sweet, sugary hot chocolate we know today with marshmallows floating in the mug. Ancient Mayans drank a bitter drink of a creamy milk with cocoa melted inside and it was eventually advertised as a cure-all drink in the 15^th Century.

Chocolate…POTATO?!..Chips
Chocolate chips are delici—wait a minute! I wasn’t talking about THOSE kinds of chips! It was five years ago when the Lay’s company thought to combine chocolate with potato chips and, lo and behold…it sells. My niece enjoys this daring dessert snack. I don’t so much.

Chocolate is an interesting part of our world. It has health benefits, it has caffeine, it goes well with salty snacks…apparently. Anyway, no matter how I feel about certain sweet and salty snacks, enjoy some chocolate in whatever way you prefer today—but it’d be best if you had some good ol’ fashioned chocolate chip cookies! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Happy Mothers’ Day, Summer Campers!

Today is a day intended to celebrate Mothers all across the world. We honor them this day for their selflessness and unconditional love that they show us. On Mothers’ Days past, I’ve posted on this Blog about the history of this day and I’ve given ideas of what to do to celebrate your love for your mother.

Today, I’m going to give you a few pointers on what NOT to do:

Fight with Your Siblings
Dealing with bickering siblings is probably your mom’s least favorite thing to hear and (unless you have the healthiest relationship in the world with your siblings) chances are you guys bicker often enough. Give it a rest for the day and give your mom some peace!

Track Mud through the House
This point is more-or-less symbolic; while you literally shouldn’t track mud throughout your house, what I’m really getting at is to clean up after yourself. Keeping a clean household is on everybody, so make sure you do your part—especially today!

Show More Attention to your Dad
Of course, Dad’s great! And you certainly don’t have to treat him like chopped liver or anything like that, but this day is about Mom; make sure she knows it! Besides—Dad will get his own day in June.

Insult Your Mother’s Cooking
It’s impolite on any day to knit-pick at the culinary abilities of your mother, but today especially, you ought to keep your comments on her cooking positive and complimentary and—wait a minute! Just what are you doing making your mom cook on Mothers’ Day?! Roll up your sleeves in the kitchen and (get help if you need) to make a nice meal for your mother instead of the other way around!

Give your mother the gift of not giving her a job for the day! She’ll appreciate the break from the typical family maintenance that she deals with on a daily basis. Wish her a happy Mothers’ Day and give her something nice. You can develop some easy ideas for her on this Blog post from the past—check it out by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We work with so many great people here at Everything Summer Camp, it’s important to us to use this Blog as a platform from time to time so we can share our gratitude toward the awesome companies with whom we’ve formed excellent relationships! And today, we’re fixing our Vendor Spotlight on the Chicago, Illinois area to shine our gratitude on O2 Cool, the cooling products company!

O2 Cool was started over 25 years ago in 1992 by a woman named Linda M. Usher. She set out to launch this company with the mission to develop and market portable, battery-operated fans. And now, the ultimate leaders in the personal cooling industry, O2 Cool has established themselves as the trusted brand name when it comes to staying cool on those summer scorchers when they get to be too much!

Our selection of O2 Cool Fans gives you three desktop fans to choose from as well as the Water-Misting Fan—the finest portable fan around. We see how cool these fans are and so do a lot of camps all across the country! You can be sure that many of O2 Cool’s customer accounts are made up of camps! You can check out the fans available on our website by clicking here.

Fans make your camp memories perfect with a cool breeze in the summer heat to provide relief on those bright, sunny days. Get the Deluxe Water Misting Fan for the most efficient way of cooling off. They’re great for a kid on a hot day! We knew we had to offer fans as cool as these on our store online. Have a blast at camp and stay cool with O2 Cool cooling products! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Lovers!

In 2013, I first started posting about famous folks who have a history at summer camp and lately I’ve been having fun returning to previously featured celebrities to learn more about these famous folks. In Neil Diamond’s original post, which you can see by clicking here, we talked about how he attended Surprise Lake Camp in Cold Spring, New York and how he went on to become a culturally celebrated singer/songwriter of great recognition!

But we didn’t get around to looking at some interesting details about Mr. Diamond. So, let’s give Neil a closer look right now:

NOT…Diamond?
Little known fact: Neil Diamond was considering a stage name before eventually deciding against it and going with his real name. Among other aliases he had considered, he had thrown around ‘Ice Charry’ for some time as well as ‘Noah Kaminsky’. Good call stickin’ with Neil, Neil.

Who’s Caroline?
It was actually the president’s daughter that inspired Neil Diamond’s smash hit “Sweet Caroline”. Sweet Caroline is Caroline Kennedy, John F. Kennedy’s daughter who planted the seed for this famous song in Neil’s head. Having kept it a mystery who this song referenced for many years, he eventually revealed the song came to him after seeing Ms. Kennedy on the cover of Life Magazine in an equestrian riding outfit.

High School Buds
Many people can tell you that Neil Diamond performed the hit song ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’ as a duet, partnered with Barbara Streisand. What’s lesser known, however, is that Neil and his duet partner were friends in the All City Choir at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn! Let’s hear it for the Class of 1958!

The Music Man
The man has become a legend in his own time where the music industry is concerned. Neil Diamond has secured himself 11 Grammy nominations as well as various honorary awards like being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was also honored at the Kennedy Center. Oh yeah—and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Today, at the wise age of 77, Neil continues enjoying his life and he’s still making music as he’s just released a new Christmas album a couple years ago. On behalf of Everything Summer Camp, I’d like to extend a respectful nod to one of America’s greatest singer/songwriters! Thank you for such excellent music, Mr. Diamond! And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp People!

We love all the 270 summer camps across the country with whom we’ve formed fantastic relationships! I’ve written about a lot of these camps but, still, I’ve only scratched the surface! Today we’re swinging our summer camp spotlight over to Fairlee, Vermont to check out the majestic grounds at Lanakila Boys Camp.

Located at the northern tip of Lake Morey, on nearly 350 acres, Lanakila campgrounds extend up the hillside to the west. Since the camp was first founded in 1922 on the grounds of a 19th-century farm property, Lanakila has been showing boys fantastic summer stays for the last 95 years!

If you love sports, art, adventure, crafts, and plenty more summer fun, then you’re sure to have a blast at Lanakila Camp. It’s hard not to have a good time with all the activities Lanakila offers like Archery, Baseball, Biking, Tennis, Riflery, Street Hockey, Kayaking, Canoeing, Sailing, Swimming, Performing Arts, Drama, Arts Department, Woodshop, Photography, Music, and more!

When those long, busy days come to a close, Lanakila campers retreat either to their spacious tents set up on wooden platforms or rustic cabins with three to five carefully grouped campers and one or two cabin leaders to each group. Units of ten tents or cabins share a washhouse with hot water showers and flush toilets.

Other complementary facilities pepper the gorgeous grounds like the Main Office, the Boat Shed, Craft Building, Infirmary, Chapel, and a handful of buildings and structures that were built by past campers who have left their footprint on the land of Lanakila!

If you like the sound of Lanakila, check it out further by clicking here and take your chance to disconnect from the distractions of the media-saturated of 21st-century lifestyle and discover the best ‘you’ you can be when you’re away from it all. You’re sure to fall in love with Lanakila Camp. Enjoy your summer and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John