Hey, Tree People!

At Everything Summer Camp, we certainly Tree Christmastime as much as we Tree Camp! And when it comes to Treeing things, there’s no better kind of tree to Tree than the Evergreen Tree! And there’s no better day than today to appreciate your love for Evergreen Trees. Today is Look for an Evergreen Day, so if you don’t already have in your home, get out and find yourself a nice tree.

Evergreens merit our admiration and awe with their unchanging green needles and their incredible resilience to harsh winters. Not only do they deserve our respect, but they GET it as well! We bring them into our homes for the holidays. We dress them up in lights and hang shiny objects on them. We write odes about them (O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree), and soon…

When it comes to finding a tree for your home this time of year, tradition has it that you simply must. But tradition is nonspecific as to when exactly you should. Some folks can hardly wait—and don’t wait—for Thanksgiving to pass. Others stick to the month of December while others don’t bother until just a few days before Christmas. Those who stick to real trees are more likely to wait a little while as they’re working with a time frame.

My entire life, I’ve never decorated a real tree. Every tree I’ve ever put up in my home has been an artificial one—much easier to manage and you decide how long you have it out for. These are found in any department store and come inside a corrugated box with assembly required. Packing this rectangular cube into your backseat in some store parking lot isn’t the same tradition of tying a real tree to the top of your vehicle, but you can’t beat the convenience!

Though I didn’t buy anything, I took my first walk through a Christmas Tree Lot this year. Creating such a pretty, serene setting, I can understand why folks prefer to go shopping for a real tree in these atmospheric lots.

However, if you really want to embrace the spirit of ‘Look for an Evergreen Day’, then I suggest you forage your own path through the wilderness to find the perfect tree which is still in the ground—just like they used to do in olden times and in the Griswold family. Whatever you end up doing, be sure to appreciate the tree you put in your home and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Snow Builders!

Like baking sugary treats, singing seasonal songs, and warming up by the fireplace, building snowmen is one of those iconic wintertime activities that you just have to participate in at least once a year! It always ends up feeling good to get out and move around in the snowy outdoors and—if the snow is made in the right conditions—roll up a man made entirely of snow!

It’s nothing new. Snowmen have been crafted out of the frozen precipitation for many, many years. But just how far back does it go?The Rankin/Bass holiday special ‘Frosty the Snowman’ was made in 1954, but that hardly scratches the surface!

While nobody knows just who or when the first snowman was made, we know we have to go back much more than 64 years to get there! We have to go back 165 years to find the earliest known photograph of a snowman. It was taken by a Welsh photographer named Mary Dillwyn in 1853. The original of this photograph sits in the collections of the National Library of Wales.

But just because this is the first known photograph of a snowman certainly doesn’t make this the first snowman ever created! But where photography fails us, we look to artistic depictions in historical documents. Author, Bob Eckstein, who wrote ‘The History of the Snowman’ shows strong implication of snowmen from medieval times. Based on illustrations from museums, art galleries, and libraries from Europe, Mr. Eckstein claims to have traced snowmen back to 1380!

So the next time you enjoy building a snowman, be mindful of the fact that you’re practicing a fun, seasonal activity that children and grown-ups alike have been doing for centuries! If you’ve got the right kind of snow for it, get outside and start packing that wet stuff together! You’ll have a man that’s made of snow before you know it! Enjoy your time outside in the white, fluffy world and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We got more than 30 submissions for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp and we’re itching with anticipation to publish each one of them right here on the Blog to share with all our readers! There were seven lucky winners to our contest and everyone else who submitted received a $15 gift certificate to our website! Today’s post is from Catherine D., who wrote in to tell us about her third year at Gold Arrow Camp.

“What makes camp such an amazing place? Why is it the place that I call my second home and the highlight of my summer? These questions are ones that I have been asking myself ever since I started going to Gold Arrow Camp. Three summers ago, I was absolutely terrified to go to my first ever sleepaway camp. I stepped onto the camp bus early one Sunday morning, sobbing, and certain that I was going to have a terrible time and never want to go again. After two amazing weeks, I boarded the bus for the second time, sobbing again, but for a different reason. I didn’t want to leave. So, for all of the people reading this who wonder why sleepaway camps are so amazing and question if they should send their kids to camp, I am attempting to answer these questions in three parts.
       lThe first amazing thing about my camp is the activities that I participated in. At home, a typical Saturday for me in the summer would be spent waking up very late in the morning, reading for most of the day, and maybe going swimming if I was feeling particularly adventurous. In contrast, at camp, a Saturday would be spent water-skiing in the morning, horseback riding in the afternoon, and zip-lining after dinner. We kayaked, paddle-boarded, canoed, wake-boarded, rock-climbed, did archery, riflery, arts and crafts, backpacked, and slept under the stars. I faced some of my biggest fears by doing activities such as zip-lining and the high ropes course, and discovered things about myself such as that I love sailing. Every single day brought something new to try, a new challenge, and a new adventure.
       lSecondly, I want to talk about the atmosphere at camp. Although it may sound cliché, camp is the place that I feel I can most be myself. At school, I feel pressure to dress a certain way, look a certain way, and act a certain way. However, at camp, I embrace my inner child. In the mornings, we sing fun repeat-after-me songs, dance like no one is watching, and get ready for the day (a routine that does not include applying make up, and does include wearing clothes suitable for playing in the wilderness all day). At home, I also face so much stress around homework and tests, while at camp, I get more sleep than I do during the rest of the year and simply have fun every single day. Additionally, there is no “friend drama”. Almost as if there is some unspoken agreement, every person I have met at camp is genuinely nice, friendly, and supportive.
       lThe last unbelievably wonderful thing about camp is the relationships that I make there. This year, I was in a cabin with nine other girls (whom I didn’t know) for two weeks, and I have never become closer with any other group of people in my entire life. There is something about spending every day for two weeks together that creates an immense bond between a group of people that can never be broken. Our cabin went to activities together, ate together, slept together, and backpacked together. We gave each other advice about friend issues at home, confessed our biggest fears, told each other our most embarrassing moments, shared our goals and supported each other to achieve them. In addition, all of this happened without the complication of phones or technology. When we were together, we had face to face interactions and really listened to each other, without checking our phones or texting others while we were talking. Yes, by the end of the two weeks I spent at camp I had gained nine sisters, and know that the friendship we made can never be broken.
       lBecause of these three main reasons, camp will always have a special place in my heart, and I am counting down the days until I can board the bus once again!”

Thanks for such an organized and thoughtful submission, Catherine! It’s great to know that Gold Arrow Camp has been such a positive influence in your life. Camp certainly has a way of working its magic! Check out Gold Arrow Camp to see if it might be a good match for you. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Happy Hannukah!

Sunset tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah this year! What ensues of this tradition will be eight days and nights in which its observers celebrate with latkes, dreidels, and lighting the Hanukkiah (which is the traditional candleholder that is often mistakenly called a menorah). Just what is this celebration about? Read on to delve into the subject to take a deeper look.Unlike Christmas, which arrives on Dec. 25 every year, Hannukah’s date jumps around from year to year on the Gregorian calendar. It arrives consistently on the 25 of Kislev—a month of the Hebrew calendar. Unlike the Gregorian calendar which considers just the earth and the sun, the Hebrew calendar which is lunisolar because it’s based on the sun and the moon as well.

We go back to 165 B.C. to understand the history of Hanukkah, when a Jewish rebel army known as the Maccabees defeated the Syrians and rededicated their holy temple in Jerusalem. This eight-day holiday celebrates a seven-day miracle in which the Maccabees only had enough oil to light the temple’s eternal flame for a single day, but even so the lamp kept on burning for eight!

The lighting of the nine-branched candleholder—often times incorrectly referred to as a menorah—is actually called a Hanukkiah. A menorah, on the other hand, has only seven candleholders—like the lamp that was used by the Maccabees in the ancient holy temple in Jerusalem.

Hanukkiahs have nine candleholders, which designates a candle for each of the eight nights of Hanukkah as well as one more for lighting the others. If you celebrate Hanukkah, you now can educate your friends and family on the holiday you’re about to celebrate! Enjoy your traditional tasty treats, fun games and toys, and the time you spend to honor the miracle. Happy Hanukkah and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Holidayers Shoppers!

We put in so much effort over the gifts that we give to one another this time of year; with so many holidays right around the corner and so many people eager to celebrate, the energy is charged in the winter air and everyone weathers the cold to fulfill their thoughtful deeds. We spend lots of time, thought, effort, (and typically money) on the things that we gift to one another and we want the moment to be just right when the recipient of our gift opens it up!

But, unfortunately, things don’t always go the way we had planned. As crummy as late deliveries are, they happen—despite your efforts to ensure an on-time arrival. At Everything Summer Camp, we understand the importance of gift-giving and we want to help make sure that your gifting goes off without a hitch this holiday season.

Order from Everything Summer Camp and rest assured that your delivery will arrive on time; we want your gift-giving to go just the way you hoped. SO, please allow me to call your attention to our handy holiday map.

This is a helpful, color-coded map to eliminate any misunderstanding about how early you need to place your order on our website to have it ship to you on time. Of course, delivery times vary throughout the country, but, personally, I don’t like procrastinating, so I like to urge people to order as early as they can—better safe than sorry!

And that’s why I’m sharing the magic numbers with you of 1:00pm on December 17. That’s the time and date for everyone in the contiguous United States to go off of for guaranteed delivery by December 24.

December 17 may be early for some of you; Everything Summer Camp is based in northwestern Wisconsin, so if you live in Wisconsin, most parts of Minnesota, or another nearby area, you have the luxury of placing your order as late as 1:00pm on December 21. Happy holidays, Everybody! Get your orders placed with us on time and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John