Hey, Summer Campers!

We talk about a lot of famous celebrities here on the Everything Summer Camp Blog because so many of them went to summer camp when they were closer to your age. I’ve posted about more than 100 big names whether they were on TV, in movies, play sports, or play music. And the latter is just what one Pete Wentz does as the bassist, lyricist, and backing vocalist for the American rock band known as Fall Out Boy.

A former summer camper as well, before Pete ever wrote a song he traveled north from his hometown in Wilmette, Illinois—a wealthy Chicago suburb—to Camp Chippewa nearby Bemidji, Minnesota. There he enjoyed his summer stay, taking in the enchanting beauty of the Chippewa National Forest on Cass Lake.

Pete once recounted his first musical memory to ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine—even before his time at camp. He remembers sitting in the backseat of his father’s car, listening to ‘Build Me Up, Buttercup’ by The Foundations.

After gradeschool, he went to New Trier High School as well as North Shore Country Day School, where he made a name for himself on the soccer team. He made such a name for himself, in fact, that he considered turning soccer into a professional career for a while. He eventually decided against it as he found music to be more fulfilling for him. “Music was more of a challenge,” he’s quoted for saying. “And, in the end, felt more interesting.

Pete graduated high school in 1997. He immediately found work at a Subway restaurant in Chicago and attended DePaul University, studying political science. Though he attended school for multiple years, he dropped out when he was just one quarter away from graduation as his job at Subway had gotten increasingly demanding. He’d been promoted to the store manager with a salary increase.

He turned to the Chicago music scene during this time to give himself an outlet for his creativity and social life. And after a few years of continuing to pay his dues at Subway, he ultimately ended up quitting when the opportunity presented itself to play bass full-time for a band called Fall Out Boy.

Pete now owns his own record label called DCD2 Records, the label that’s signed such bands as Panic! at the Disco and Gym Class Heroes. Pete has since found interest in other non-musical projects, including writing, acting, and fashion. It was almost 13 years ago that he founded the clothing company, Clandestine Industries. Check out Camp Chippewa sometime for yourself and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

The 30+ camper submissions we received this year for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest at Everything summer Camp were great to read. 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 Josh B., who wrote in to tell us about his first year at Beber Camp. Here’s his submission:“This was my first year going to camp. I am 8 years old and I was super scared to go to sleep away camp. Camp was so much fun! On the Friday before camp started we got to visit Beber. I saw the Ropes Course and said NO WAY! Then I decided to try it because my cabin friends were doing it. I loved it so much I got to do the catwalk and the climbing wall. I loved doing the zip line and the flying squirrel too. My cabin also got to visit the farm at camp and see the goats. We also got to do rock painting. The Banquet was so much fun! They served “cocktails” and “trail mix.” The music was great! I loved my field trip to the Elegant Farmer. I also got to light the torch at Maccabiah! Makor Mania was also so much fun. Camp was GREAT! It was sad leaving camp. I had great counselors and I met so many new friends. I can’t wait to go back next year!”

Josh clearly had a blast during his summer camp stay. He obviously loved Beber Camp. You may love it yourself if it’s a good match for you. Look into Beber Camp for yourself right here and as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Today we’re swinging the summer camp spotlight at Everything Summer Camp way down south to the largest of the contiguous United States of America, Texas. With many options of camps to focus on in Texas, we’re zeroing in on the eastern half, located in the Texas Pines. Allow me to give you the virtual tour of Camp Olympia—one of the many (273, to be specific) summer camps with whom we’ve created strong ties. The beautiful Camp Olympia is located on Lake Livingston in Trinity, Texas where excited boys and girls find themselves in the perfect atmosphere for fun and adventure among the East Texas pines. Inviting summer campers from ages six to 16 every summer since it first opened its doors in 1968, Camp Olympia is a kid’s paradise!

There are tons of traditional sports available like Softball, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Soccer, Gymnastics, Golf, Lacrosse, Tennis, Volleyball, and more. Have fun on the land with Archery, Riflery, Rock Climbing, Fishing Biking, Horseback Riding or have fun in the water whether you’re Canoeing, Kayaking, Sailing, Snorkeling, SCUBA Diving, Swimming, and much more. And learn fun Arts and Crafts, Drama, Dance, Photo Journalism, and other fun artistic options!

Fun times abound at Camp Olympia that boasts the proper camp facilities to provide such fun experiences. At Camp Olympia, you can also find a Dining Hall that away smells like delicious home cooking. Camp Olympia also has comfortable cabins that typically house one cabin leader for every four campers.

You can look into a summer stay at Camp Olympia with much more detail on the camp’s website by clicking here. Maybe it’s the right camp for your family’s camp experience next summer! See what summer camp has to offer your soon-to-be-camper and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

You know, it’s pretty hard to argue, we offer some really great, fun, high-quality products here at Everything Summer Camp. And, while we’d love to, we can’t take all the credit. A lot of it, in fact, rightly goes to the businesses with whom we’ve formed a relationship and whose products we’re offering.

Due credit goes out to frogg toggs today from Everything Summer Camp. Our hat’s off to this company’s amazingly lightweight, wind and water proof, incredibly breathable, and completely affordable rainsuit design for frogg toggs Rainwear.

The folks at frogg toggs are all located in Alabama—wetter than Louisiana, wetter than Florida, THE WETTEST STATE in the country—so it’s truly no wonder that this state birthed the leading brand in rainwear and other raingear. These people certainly know what it takes to stay dry in a wet world; they’ve been making rain suits since 1996.

After nearly 20 years of business, they now offer an excellent product line consisting of assorted jacket-styles like vests and ponchos, waterproof pants, suits, footwear, fun accessories like hats and umbrellas, and more. The ticket to their success and leadership in the raingear industry: they listen to their customers.

Based completely on the promise of customer satisfaction, the people at frogg toggs are committed to ensuring that their new products will unquestionably result in demonstrating the quality of frogg toggs rainwear to their happy, dry customers.

frogg toggs target customers range from outdoor sporting event participants to simply outdoor activities in general, like picnicking or camping. For just that reason, the frogg toggs Youth Polly Wogg Rain Suit and the Ultra-Lite2 Rain Suit from frogg toggs make for great products here at Everything Summer Camp.

The pleasure is all ours, working with this chief of the raingear industry. As always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We’re announcing the ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest Winners this week and today concludes our list of seven prize winners. Everyone who submitted receives a $15 gift certificate and seven lucky winners receive larger prizes of $25, $50, and the grand prize of $100. Find out right here and right now who the winner is of our grand prize—$100 gift certificate! And the winner is….

Delaney W.!

Congratulations, Delaney! You’re our grand prize winner! A mother’s traditions are passed down to her daughter for summer fun at Prude Ranch. Read this mother’s account of seeing her daughter off for her own camp adventure in this entry:

“This summer my daughter ventured off to her first sleep away camp. She chose to attend Prude Ranch in Ft Davis, Tx. Prude Ranch is also the camp that I attended in the 80′s. After listening to countless stories about my fabulous years at Prude, she decided she would like to go to Ft. Davis for camp. We currently live in NJ so choosing a camp in Texas for her first time away was a big deal. I could not have been more proud and also a bit nervous. Would she like it? Would she have the same great experiences? Would she make friends? My memories had gotten us to this point but it was now her turn to make memories.
l       lTwo weeks went by with only a couple of letters which seemed positive but really we had no idea how it was going. We checked the pictures every day trying to get a glimpse of her and see if we could read anything from her face. Was she smiling? Did she seem to be having fun? Finally, it was time to pick her up. I saw her walking toward me with a big smile on her face and I knew it had been a good experience. She was so excited to recount her stories, show me her bunk and introduce me to her friends. I was so relieved and so happy because she truly had made this her own adventure. It was a great experience for her. She made the right choice and is already asking to go back for longer next year. Thank you, Prude Ranch, for allowing me to introduce a great summer camp experience to a new generation of campers.”

Thanks again for your submission, Delaney. We’re happy to hear that the same camp traditions will be shared between mother and daughter! For anyone else interested in Prude Ranch, be sure to check it out sometime. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John