Hey, Camp Folks!

The Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ drawing saw an excellent response with nearly 30 entries! That’s why we’re publishing each and every one right here on the Blog! Today I’ve got two submissions ready to go from Grace L. as well as Reagan T.! They’re entries are both on the shorter side, but you can tell there wasn’t any shortage of fun at the camps they attended.

First, take a look at what Grace said about her stay at Red Pine Camp:

“This year was my first year at camp I was super excited and couldn’t wait for it to be July 10th!! My cabin mates and counselors were amazing and fun and funny. The name of my cabin was cedar and I was in the forester unit. My favorite camp activity was probably waterskiing! This year I went for my sailing basic so that I could be on sailing team it was my first year to take sailing and it was really fun sadly I didn’t get my basic in sailing but maybe next year. I am very sad that camp is over but I am looking forward for next years camp experience!!”

And here’s the submission from Reagan about her experience at Camp Ridgecrest:

“This was my first overnight camp. It was also the first time I was away from my parents for five days. The camp was awesome! We had lots of activities to choose from. I participated in fishing, cooking and baking, kayaking, hiking, paddleboarding, and go cart racing. I won the biggest fish tournament! My catfish was 12 inches long. I met new friends from my church. My favorite time was worship time. I LOVE worshipping the Lord! I hope I will go back to this camp next year! I also want to attend Camp Ridgecrest next year.”

I’m glad you guys have had such positive first times at summer camp. If anyone else is interested in one of these camps, you can further check out Red Pine Camp and Camp Ridgecrest sometime! As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Avid Readers!

We’re sure to offer a satisfying book selection for all the summer camp kids who just can’t stop turning the page. We have our ‘Great Titles’ section which includes a couple books under the ‘Vampire Academy’ series. And it also has a couple children’s books about camp by Elliot Sloyer. We also offer the ‘Camp Confidential’ collection in its current entirety. And—who could forget—we have a great selection of the childhood favorite, the ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ series.

The only books where the plot relies on the reader’s choices, Choose Your Own Adventure Books have been an ongoing classic book series since 1979! They got their start back then by a man named Ray Montgomery who got the seed of the idea for his book series during his time as a summer camp counselor at Pine Island in Maine. It was there that he first realized how essential interaction was for kids in the learning process.

After his days as a counselor, he established his own summer school to introduce kids to similar activities that he imparted at Pine Island. And with time came his idea for an interactive book series as well! After Ray passed away, the family thought of licensing the series to a new publisher, but eventually decided to reissue the series themselves. In 2006, they founded Chooseco to re-publish the series.

Through these books, children’s imaginations enter worlds of intriguingly interactive tales in science fiction, fantasy, and adventure where the ending depends on your decisions throughout. Choose Your Own Adventure books make a great ‘reread’ too since the story can end up entirely different! Perfect for a rainy day or reading in bed before ‘lights out’, have your pick from our excellent array of adventures in this book series which can be found by clicking here. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We got great submissions in response to our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp and we’re very excited to share them right here on the Blog! After seven lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $15 gift certificate to our website! Today’s post comes from Zoe O., who wrote in to tell us about her unique time at Camp Blue Star.

“I went to Camp Blue Star for one summer but I didn’t realize how much it would change my life forever. When I got there, I didn’t realize until then how big the camp was! That had made me quite excited because the land was beautiful and looked fun to be in, however I was also very anxious about making friends and how everything else at the camp would go. When I got to my cabin, everybody there was extremely friendly right away and some girls (who ended up being some of my closest friends) even helped me get situated in my area in the bunk. While we were there, my relationship with my cabin grew tremendously, especially when we had free time away from our counselors at night. I also made a couple friends outside of my cabin who were also super lovely. I think my favorite trip we took was definitely when we went camping. I took pictures on the camera I brought with me of all my friends and we all worked together to stay warm and feed each other, all while having a good time. We made the most of our time, despite our fire going out occasionally because of the rain that, of course, eventually passed. Another thing I enjoyed while I was there were the activities. I took video editing, which is a pretty rare activity that many camps do not have, and it was quite amazing. The two counselors that taught us were also YouTubers, so that was pretty cool. They not only taught us the mechanics of editing but also showed us how to work on YouTube videos successfully. I also took acting, which is a hobby I am very passionate about. We were taught and prepped for the play by an actor from Broadway and put on amazing show for all of the camp to see! I enjoyed my experience there and I wish I could’ve gone another summer.”

It’s always great to hear campers note the life-changing aspect of camp; it shows your growth in introspective nature. We’re glad to hear summer camp was such an influential experience for you, Zoe. Video editing sounds pretty cool! If anyone else is into that, maybe check out Camp Blue Star’s website for yourself by clicking here. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Families!

We work with more than 270 camps and we’re can’t help but to sing their praises, so we’re grateful to have a proper platform in this Blog for getting the word out about these fantastic camps. To add another installment in our Summer Camp Spotlight Blog posts, we aim our camp spotlight to the Upper East Coast.

Today, we swing our spotlight over to the small state of Vermont to feature the magical Aloha Camp for girls! Enclosed by pine forests, sunlit meadows, and the sparkling Lake Morey, Aloha Camp grounds consist of enchanting land that’s shown girls a delightful summer stay for over a hundred years—ever since 1905.

For those who seek the simple living that nature provides, look into the fun things that will fill up your time at Aloha Camp. You’ll have fun with traditional camp activities like Archery, Arts & Crafts, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Mountain Biking, Music, Tennis, Theater, Photography, Wilderness Trips, Woodworking, and much, much more. There’s fun to be had in the water as well with Canoeing, Kayaking, Swimming, Sailing, and more.

Aloha “families” live in camp “units” with girls of all ages, participating in cookouts and overnights together, planning surprise parties for the rest of the camp, and entertaining their camp-mates in special programs and ceremonies. The girls live in either, spacious tents, on wooden platforms, or in rustic cabins. With three to five campers and one or two counselors who are carefully considered for group arrangement, camp units bond quickly.

Made up of ten tents and cabins on average, units share a wash house with hot water showers, flush toilets, and electricity as well.

If you think Aloha Camp just might be the right camp for your daughter, give them a closer look on their website by clicking here. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans! Until next time.

- John

Once Upon a Blog Post….

That’s not how I typically begin my posts for the Everything Summer Camp Blog, however, it’s the traditional beginning for those fantastical stories we dub Fairy Tales. Familiar from our childhood, the majority of Americans today likely got their introduction to Fairy Tales through the magic of painstaking animation of Disney’s first feature films (such as ‘Snow White’ which debuted in the theaters of 1937).

Snow White, however—based on an old German Fairy Tale called ‘Schneewittchen’—dates back much longer than 1937. Most Fairy Tales we know of nowadays can be traced back to stories from the Brothers Grimm. In the early 1800s, these two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, thought to write the stories down.

But they didn’t invent the stories either. The Grimm brothers were simply the first to try to preserve these oral tales that they had heard for all their lives. So if Jacob and Wilhelm didn’t come up with these stories, then who did?

The truth is that nobody really knows. Fairy Tales were passed down from generation to generation by mouth, subtly altered from storyteller to storyteller and substantially reworked by the time they were recorded in the written form.

Jacob and Wilhelm supposed that the Fairy Tales they were popularizing (such as ‘Red Riding Hood’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, and ‘Snow White’ to name a few), had their origins in a shared cultural history that dated back to the dawn of Indo-European languages which appear to have origins as early as the 1st Century.

The Grimms suggested that other Fairy Tales that dealt with magic (such as ‘Beauty and the Beast’ or ‘Rumpelstiltskin’) are just as ancient with a written history that begins in the 17th Century and an oral history that has lasted millennia—between 2,500 and 6,000 years old! Stories that have existed for so long rival the lifespan of the wheel!

So the next time you enjoy an old Disney film or you’re read a Fairy Tale story before bed, remember that the story you’re taking in was first told during the Bronze Age. Storytelling makes us human. Respect it for the many yarns storytelling has spun, the many worlds it has created, and the ones that we hold dear in our hearts and have withstood the test of time. Treasure the stories you love and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John