Hey, Camp Folks!

Unless they’re going to a day camp, flashlights are essential to every camper’s packing list as you prepare for the summer camp experience. We always want to offer the most innovative, most child-friendly products in our camping gear shop, so we keep our eyes open when it comes to new products on the market. Our eyes bulged when we saw Blackfire’s Clamplights—the smartest flashlights available—and we knew we had to carry this brand.

Blackfire was founded in 2008 by an inventor named Bruce Ancona. Prior to Blackfire, Bruce had spent the previous 25 years as a consultant for the relevant products being developed by clients from all over the country and all over the world. Together, Bruce and his team are the inventors of more than 200 patents! But Bruce had the light bulb go on in his head with the bright idea of making his own clever products.

Clever products, indeed, Blackfire’s Clamplights are simple, yet genius. How do they conceive of such revolutionary modifications? They ask themselves questions to help them to understand what kind of tasks people are doing when they need a flashlight. And how can its design help to better serve the user?

Blackfire brings a high-end design to the traditional flashlight which essentially reinvents the 1899 invention so that it can stand upright on a flat surface, clamp onto whatever’s nearby, or be handheld as usual. It swivels in every which direction to provide you with light wherever you need it.

Blackfire is simply the best selection in flashlights that’s available on the market. That’s why you can be sure to find it offered on our website at Everything Summer Camp! Get an even closer look at their Clamplight Flashlight right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Patriots!

Tomorrow is our nation’s Independence Day! Our country is chock-full of national monuments. From the Golden Gate Bridge to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and Mount Rushmore, you can look to many different things that carry symbolism for our country. We’ve been ramping up for this holiday at Everything Summer Camp with our patriotic Seasonal Trunks dressed up in red, white, and blue.

And with the Fourth of July now just one day away, I’ve selected four well-recognized symbols of our nation to dissect and explain the reasoning behind them in celebration today.

The American Bald Eagle
In order to express a sense of identification and reputation, nations select their own national tree, flower, bird, etc. The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. It was chosen to represent the freedom, strength, and independence of American life. At the time, the Bald Eagle was thought to inhabit exclusively the North American continent and—despite Benjamin Franklin’s lobbying for the turkey–the strength and majesty of the Bald Eagle won this bird its place to represent our nation.

The Liberty Bell
When the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, 1776, our forefathers were obliged to read the document to the public. In order to gather the colonials in the town center, they rang the Liberty Bell. Still in existence more than 240 years later, The Liberty Bell still exists to this day and can be seen on display at the Liberty Bell Center in Pennsylvania. It was cracked some time in the 1800s (with vague record) but continued to travel the country for town gatherings on the Fourth of July until 1915.

Statue of Liberty
Like a guardian angel, The Statue of Liberty towers over the New York islands as one of our nation’s most recognizable monuments. Lady Liberty was constructed in France as a gift to the U.S. Built of a steel frame and covered in sheets of copper the statue took about a decade to be completed. It was then disassembled and shipped to the New York Harbor where it was then put back together again over the course of several months. Designed after the Roman goddess, Libertas, she continues to be a strong symbol of our country’s freedom.

The American Flag
Featuring 13 red and white stripes and 50 stars to symbolize the 50 states and 13 original colonies, the American Flag is an incredibly iconic image, but it hasn’t always looked the same. Modernly known as the Betsy-Ross Flag or Colonial Flag, the American Flag was changed more than 25 times as stars continued to be added as territories were annexed into states. We finally designed our modern flag in 1960 after Hawaii, our 50th state, was granted its statehood.

The more you know, the more you can appreciate the historic significance behind our nation’s most iconic symbols. You can also look into previous posts about the history of our Independence Day by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

Such a plethora of folks have attended summer camp at some point or another in their lives that former summer campers aren’t at all hard to find. And it seems like everywhere you look, in Hollywood especially, you come across summer camp alumni naturally. I’ve written a good number of Blog posts about all the celebrities who have gone to camp and today I come with another—Mr. Samm Levine. 

Camp Nah-Jee-Wah is found on 1250 beautiful acres just 90 minutes from New York City. With campgrounds that feature athletic facilities, a lake, a pool, ropes challenge courses, a skate park, and much more, Samm had a wonderful time for his summer camp stay. As early as his days at camp, Samm wasn’t necessarily interested in acting, but he definitely had his heart set on working in comedy.

He went straight to work too, performing standup routines at friends’ Bar Mitzvahs (a Jewish rite of passage) and his jokes were typically received well by the crowds. During one Bar Mitzvah performance in particular, the actress Lisa Kudrow happened to be present and saw his routine. She ended up giving him some advice that he had ought to audition in Manhattan.

By the time he had turned 15, Samm made his first appearance on an episode of the soap opera ‘One Life to Live’ and that was only the beginning. With a different Sam Levine already registered in the Screen Actors Guild, Samm decided he would hang an additional ‘M’ at the end of his name.

He continued with a television and film career, making appearances in shows such as ‘Ed’ and ‘The Drew Carey Show’. But the role that he remains best known for is Neal Schweiber in the short-lived cult classic of 1999, ‘Freaks and Geeks’ in which he played one of the geeks alongside later Golden Globe winner James Franco.

Samm Levine did a lot for his career in his young adolescence and he continues to be a well-received presence in television and film. Check out Camp Nah-Jee-Wah for yourself on their website by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Here at Everything Summer Camp, we love being the provider of all your summer camp needs, but we’re so much more than that. Much more than a business, we’re a family and we like to show the faces of our family so you can learn something about the people who work here.

Let me virtually introduce you to the Foreman’s Assistant of our Production crew, Teresa—she’s pretty much next-in-line after our Production Supervisor, Shirley (who you can read about right here). Having occupied every station in our production department, Teresa is well-versed with the factory and what goes into a well-constructed camp trunk. She’s had a hand in making them for 11 years now!

Having come from Mason Shoes in Chippewa—a company of more than 600 employees, Teresa loved the change of pace at Everything Summer Camp where we never have more than forty people under our employment. While she still loves how small we are, Teresa’s favorite part about her job is the ten-hour days she has which makes every weekend three days long!

Teresa comes from a warm family upbringing in which they braved the cold together for the sake of fun. The oldest of her two brothers and two sisters, Teresa and her parents and siblings would do what they called ‘makeshift camping’ which was essentially in their backyard—they would go year-round.

Winters didn’t stop them. They would cut firewood, cook dinners, and go for sleigh rides in their family’s legitimate sleigh (pulled by the snow blower). And when they were done playing in the snow, they would hang their mittens over the fire and huddle close to the flames to get warm. It wasn’t exactly summer camp, but it certainly gave her lasting memories!

Thanks to her mother and her grandmother, Teresa is a unique artist of two different media. Since she was 10, her mother coached her on how to decorate a cake. Her grandmother shared a great project with her classroom students first and then her family: colorful snow creatures!  I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little about Teresa at Everything Summer Camp and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Summer Camp Folks!

We’re back today to feature yet another one of the amazing summer camps with whom we’re delighted to have formed a strong relationship. Laity Lodge Youth Camp is an awesome place for your soon-to-be-camper. Check it out to see how it might fit for your family’s summer camp experience on today’s Blog post. Dive into the world of Laity Lodge!

Found in Hill Country’s most fantastic canyon with the Frio River, Laity Lodge is known for its excellent hospitality on their exceptional 1900-acre ranch, 13 miles north of Leakey, Texas. Beauty surrounds in this natural environment that’s ripe for adventure, games, activities, and the kind of serenity that you can only experience at this level of remote seclusion.

Have fun in the Frio River kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, and more at Laity Lodge’s awesome waterfront. Go mountain biking, try the zip line, rock climb, and sharpen your arts and crafts skills. Laity Lodge offers tons of other activities like shooting sports, field sports, sword-fighting for the boys, nail-painting for the girls, and so much more than just that.

On top of these traditional activities, campers have lots of wild times with their cabin mates or “home groups”. They engage in friendly fights as in organized food fights, shaving cream fights, water balloon fights, and a number of other crazy battles. Quality time together brings cabin mates close together and helps create unbreakable bonds between campers.

Laity Lodge has been showing summer campers the time of their lives for 56 years and they continue to do an amazing job every summer season. You can look into this amazing camp even closer on their website sometime. Good luck on your summer camp search for the right camp for your camper and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Families!

- John