Hey, Camp Folks!

When you work with as many camps as we do here at Everything Summer Camp, you can’t help but admire these beautiful organizations. We work with more than 270 summer camps, so we regularly take the opportunity to sing their praises. Today we’re focusing our spotlight on the east coast, in Casco, Maine. See what kids love about the change of pace they get during their summer stays at Camp Laurel South.

Located near Portland, Maine in the heart of the Sebago Lakes Region, Camp Laurel South sits on 150 acres of pure magic, offering everything from heavily wooded trails to sports fields and open lawns. With well over 800 yards of private shoreline along the shimmering Crescent Lake, Laurel South boasts its own natural sandy beach that gives campers access to more than 3 miles of exceptionally clear waters!
Laurel South campers enjoy sunny days with a plethora of water activities like Swimming, Sailing, Fishing, Canoeing, Kayaking, Waterskiing, and more. They also have fun on the land with traditional things like Archery, Baseball, Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, Flag Football, Soccer, Lacrosse, Kickball, Tennis, Golf, Cross Country, Aerobics, and more. Campers may go on Overnight Camping Trips, Hiking Trips, Mountaineering Excursions, Horseriding Adventures, and more.

The facilities at Camp Laurel South allow additional fun with Arts & Crafts projects, Cartooning, Ceramics, Theater Performance, Stage Design & Construction, Photography, and much, much more. Their buildings are complimentary to the beautiful natural surroundings. Camp Laurel South cabins are separated into ‘campuses’ that house campers of different age ranges. No matter whether you belong to the Saco, Allagash, Rangely, Katahdin, Baxter, or Kineo campus, you’re certain to be in good company!

Check out Camp Laurel South even further—visit their website by clicking here. It just might be the right camp for you! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Mystics!

I have some bad news for all of you. Today is Friday the 13th—a decidedly UNlucky day. It’s a day that twists the arms of many to avoid typical daily events like running errands or hanging out with friends. Some folks opt to avoid going outside entirely and, even further, a select few of those folks won’t even venture out of bed, save kitchen and bathroom trips. Under most circumstances, I’d say this reaction is ridiculous…

Today, however, I’m singing a different tune.

Friday the 13th is bad enough, but to make matters worse, today’s unlucky matchup of day and date falls in the spookiest of months: October. The month of harvest celebrations, All Hallow’s Eve, and candy corn (*gross*), October sets a beautiful, but somber tone as we enter the thick of the autumnal season and advance toward the end of the year.

Belief in the superstition of bad luck and other supernatural ideas lends the notion that today truly is a perfect storm of unlucky signs: an unlucky day of the week falling on an unlucky date of the month in the unluckiest month of the year. It’s so bad that you may just want to take such ridiculous precautions like not leaving your home. I say, if it means avoiding something…unlucky…sign me up.

I’m not typically one to believe in such superstitious hullabaloo, but when it gets to this point, I’d feel stupid if I didn’t take precautions. I’ve bolted my doors, turned off all phones, I even have my black cat locked up in the other room. He’ll forgive me tomorrow. Until then, I’ll be right here with my head underneath the pillows, avoiding the day as best I can. I wish the same to all of you. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

We were delighted here at Everything Summer Camp to get such great responses to our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest. It was great to read all the submissions and we’re happy to share them with our online community and post each submission right here on the Blog! Besides our seven lucky winners of larger prizes, all other entrants received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post is from Sophia B., who wrote in to tell us about her first year at Camp Ton-a-Wandah. Here’s her submission:

“This summer I was lucky to have been a first year at TAW! Preparing to go to camp was exciting and fun. My mother and I ordered my colorful and cool trunk, it has wheels so I can pull it. We drove to North Carolina from Florida and I was dropped off for what I think is the best camp ever. I learned to wood burn and made my family something special I mailed them. I also made some new friends that I can’t wait to spend next summer with. TAW is so much fun, all day I have activities I choose and meals with all my friends. My favorite memory from my first summer is the tribe initiation. We were sorted into three tribes and I am a Mohawk! They painted my face and I learned our songs. This night was awesome!”

It’s great to hear that you had such a great time at summer camp, Sophia. Summer camp is typically a hit with kids! Congratulations on your tribe initiation. She obviously loved Camp Ton-a-Wandah and we’re happy to hear she loved her camping gear from Everything Summer Camp as well! You may love it yourself if it’s a good match for you. Check out further details on their website by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Dancers!

When you’re talking about the art of gracefully moving your body to a rhythm (or lack thereof), it’s very important that the attire you select will allow for the freedom of movement you require to perform your art. From leotards to tights and capris to ballet slippers, there are many items of dance wear to consider, but of all the countless options available, none are so iconic as the tutu.  

Tutus have become an essential part of the ballet scene with a world of different styles and alterations. They have been made of materials such as tarlatan, muslin, silk, gauze, nylon, and a material called tulle—the most commonly used material at one time. Nobody knows quite where this flashy dance skirt got its appropriately flashy name, but it’s theorized to have derived from the word ‘tulle’, the material from which it was made.

In the Paris Opera, 1832, a ballet dancer by the name of Marie Taglioni debuted a gauzy white skirt that cut off at her ankles and, thanks to its bell shape, allowed for the freedom of movement she needed to perform. It was made by French designer of the Romantic Period, Eugene Lami.

There have been a number of different takes on the general tutu design since its first creation. Fashion designers from like Cecil Beaton from England, Christian Lacroix from France, and Isaac Mizrahi from the United States have all designed their own look for the tutu. This garment has undergone a number of revisions that have continued to shorten the length until the arriving at the Classical tutu design which reveals the entire leg.

For those who aspire to be a ballet dancer as well, shop Everything Summer Camp to find a tutu for you…uh—yourself. Check it out by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

There are plenty of celebrities who, like you, attended summer camp in their youth. After posting about more than one hundred former summer campers turned celebrities, I come to post about yet another celebrity who attended summer camp. Ms. Bryce Dallas Howard joins our list of summer camp experienced celebrities today as she is a Stage Door Manor alum. 

Found in the Catskills Borscht Belt in Loch Sheldrake, New York, Stagedoor Manor provides awesome setting for its campers to get the experience of being on the stage and in the spotlight. Spending three weeks of her summer among Stagedoor Manor’s awesome theatre spaces like the Carousel, the Cabaret, the Forum, the Merman, and the outdoor Garden Theatre, Bryce attended the same camp as Natalie Portman, Mandy Moore, and Zach Braff.

Born to a writer and an actor-turned-director (Ron Howard), Bryce was raised the oldest of her siblings with two younger twin sisters and the youngest of the family, their brother Reed. Bryce’s uncle is in the acting business too—Clint Howard. Her godfather is the Fonz himself, Henry Winkler who co-starred alongside Bryce’s father on the television show ‘Happy Days’.

Bryce went to Greenwich Country Day School and then graduated from Byram Hills High School in 1999. After that, she intensified her education, burning the candle at both ends! She studied at New York University’s (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts while simultaneously attending the Stella Adler Conservatory, The Experimental Wing, and International Theatre Wing in Amsterdam.

Acting in New York plays, Bryce appeared in a number productions at the Theatre Club. When she performed as Rosalind in Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like it’ at the Public Theater, Bryce got her break, having caught the attention of the up-and-coming director M. Night Shyamalan.

She was cast as the lead alongside Joaquin Phoenix in the horror director’s film ‘The Village’ only a couple weeks later without auditioning. She returned to another Shyamalan production, ‘Lady in the Water’ to play the role of Story, a water nymph by the name of narf. Heading onward and upward, Bryce recently starred alongside Chris Pratt in Jurassic World, the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park series.

Bryce has made a name for herself just doing what she’s always loved and had fun doing. What do you love to do? Find your own sense of fun at Stagedoor Manor! Check out this camp for yourself and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John