Hey, Camp Folks!

We work with more than 270 summer camps here at Everything Summer Camp and Camp Hayo-Went-Ha is one of them. Happy to feature them on the Blog today, we’re fixing our summer camp spotlight a rough 400 miles to the east of our own hometown in Boyd, Wisconsin, over to the state next to us across the beautiful Great Lake Michigan.

The YMCA Camp Hayo-Went-Ha hosts a girls camp and a boys camp that are located in two different, but nearby locations. The boys camp sits on 600 acres 35 miles northeast of Traverse City while their sister camp, Camp Arbutus, boasts 80 acres 10 miles southeast of Traverse City. Both locations offer a breathtaking landscapes and the feeling of isolation from the rest of the hustle-bustle world.

The boys camp site at Hayo-Went-Ha is the oldest camp to stay on the same site as it’s done so for 110 years! In that time, boys have had fun participating in such activities as all sorts of sports canoeing, hiking, and biking. They have a 50’ climbing tower as well as a two-story 36’ ropes course and zipline. SCUBA lessons are offered as well as fun of all sorts in the water, plus many other fun things!

The girls at Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha have lots of similar activities like sports such as basketball, soccer, and tennis. They offer a 38’ ropes course and a 38’ climbing tower. They offer a prided Equestrian program in which campers can ride the lengthy trails of the campgrounds. With a plethora of water activities such as sailing, canoeing, and kayaking along with indoor activities like drama, dance, arts and crafts, and much, much more.

Both brother and sister camps offer accommodating cabins for a good night’s sleep where cabin leaders sleep at night as well so that, even at night, campers have some kind of supervision. You can look into Camp Hayo-Went-Ha for your son or daughter right here and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Folks!

- John

Hey, can you take my picture?

This is a question that wasn’t always thrown around so casually; after all, there used to be a lot more involved in capturing an image than just the simple push of a button that it is nowadays. For a very long time, the request to immortalize your image demanded the skill of an oil painter and carefully still patience from you. And even after the birth of photographic technology, the task still demanded that the subject of a picture remain quite still for quite a long time.

It may be a surprise to find out that the history of the camera goes back all the way to the days of the ancient Greeks (or possibly even further back than that!) with the Camera Obscura. It was Aristotle who first recorded a natural phenomenon he noticed in which images appear inverted when cast through a tiny hole into darkened enclosures. This natural phenomenon, the Camera Obscura, has been a point of interest for many years.
Announcements of photographic technology weren’t made public until 1839, however, a French inventor named Joseph Nicéphore Niépce began experimenting with photography out of his own personal interests in 1816.

It was an entire decade later that he was able to produce the first semi-successful photograph. He coated a piece of paper with sliver chloride to use for the photograph. In the chemistry world, silver chloride is known for its crafty conversion to silver when illuminated or exposed to heat. It darkens when exposed to light. He placed the paper in his darkened enclosure and…voila…. As you can see in this shot outside his window, the results needed some improvements.

Before Mr. Niépce, could produce crisper results from his photographic experiments, a new process came along called daguerreotypy that took just as much effort and time to produce an image, but it did so with much more clarity and the subjects of photographs only had to sit still for a maximum of five minutes but as little as half a minute. This method only lasted about 15 years, however, until it was outdated by newer, cheaper processes that produced even clearer and more readily-viewable pictures.

Starting as a low-tech wooden box with a hole in it, what have come to be known as cameras transformed into ‘handheld’ picture-taking computers! From disposable to digital, you can find great cameras for your summer adventures right here at Everything Summer Camp. Treasure your camp memories forever in our fantastic Three Cheers Photo Book or the appropriate Summer Camp Photo Frame. Check it all out right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Summer Shoppers!

Popularly perceived as an unofficial first day of summer, Memorial Day is a nice, little reminder for folks to kick their camp prep into full gear! Camp is directly around the corner and it’s time to finish all the loose ends that have been put off until now. Enjoy your Memorial Day by relieving yourself of your remaining camp prep and breathe a breath of relaxation!
In our own excitement, we’re starting our Memorial Day sale today at 5pm CST and extending it through next week Wednesday—an entire week of sales for our shoppers!

For our main feature, our Memorial Day Sale slashes the price of our C&N Camp Trunks which we manufacture right here in our own facility. Purchase a camp trunk during the sale and you’ll get an instant $20 off! This discount is extended to all of our camp trunks aside from the Companion and Create-Your-Own-Footlockers.

We’ve also discounted our Crazy Creek Camping Chairs for $5 off as well as our personalizable Name Plax which are vinyl decal decorations featuring your name for your camp trunk or bedroom wall, window, door—pretty much anywhere.

By now I’m sure everyone knows the cardinal rule of summer camp packing: Label. Everything. In the following week, you can find all of our labeling products available for 20% of their regular prices! And our ‘camp. Tees’ are another exciting collection marked 20% off.

Shop our entire Bedding Category with items marked 15% off. From mattress pads to Woolrich Throws, get your essential bedding products for summer camp at a discount in the coming week. Make sure your child has the bedding they’ll need for comfy, restful camp nights.

We’re cutting a bunch of prices on our camping gear by 10%. Shop all products in our Travel Accessories Department as well as our entire selection of Backpacks. And select brands of Duffel Bags like Piton, Columbia Summit Trail, and Cloz! That being said, you can find a plethora of other discounted products that I didn’t get around to mentioning all over our site, so browse around to find your own good deals and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Happy Campers!

Standing alongside such trusted brands like GoGirl, Burt’s Bees, and Clean Trek, we’re proud to now offer the brand in today’s Everything Summer Camp spotlight—MaskIT LLC. This addition to our Toiletries Department not only brings convenience to camp, but brings a less-wasteful, earth-friendly alternative to toilet paper when it comes to disposing pads or tampons. Environmentally-conscious and responsible for their ecological footprint, MaskIT creates products made from a compostable Biofilm that aims to reduce the amount of toilet paper that accompanies the 20 billion pads and tampons that wind up in American landfills each year.

Being the environmentally-minded person that she is, Shallan Ramsey—mother of three girls and founder of MaskIT LLC—hated the wastefulness of using toilet paper to dispose of her pads and tampons. Once she started thinking that there must be a better way, she set out to devise her own method.

MaskIT Pouches eliminate the need for toilet paper, as you can use the ‘puppet method’ with your hand inside the Pouch which starts out already “inside-out”. The pouches seal shut with an  adhesive closure that guarantees no leaking. These Pouches are super practical with their soft-to-the-touch material, easy-use, and sanitation. They block all odor and are watertight. They’re completely opaque too, so the contents in the pouch remain unseen.

All packaging from MaskIT is produced by Imperial Box Company from Gardena, California who creates paper using the most environmentally-conscious methods and prints using soy-based ink with water-based aqueous coatings. MaskIT packaging is 100% recyclable.

As much good as MaskIT does for the planet, they try to do just as much for the people of the community as well by giving back to them and spreading good. You can check out more about these fine folks on their own website right here or send a message directly to them by clicking here. Get MaskIT for your camper’s convenience at summer camp and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Happy Summer Camp Hunters!

If you’re looking for a summer camp in the western North Carolina region, check out High Rocks Camp for Boys. Located among a thousand acres of camp-owned mountain woodland and boasting an 11 acre lake, this camp has been introducing young men to a clear understanding of community, adventure, leadership, and independence for nearly 60 years—since 1958.

Featuring a number of streams, awe-inspiring rocky outcrops, granite balds, and jaw-dropping views from an elevation of three thousand feet. High Rocks Camp borders the DuPont North Carolina State Forest which is a 10,000 acre playground of forest, waterfalls, and some of the most beautiful biking trails this country has.

The private, eleven-acre High Rock Lake offers a perfect waterfront for swimming, canoeing, kayaking—they even offer sailing. Find endless trails of beautiful nature to hike or ride horseback or mountain bike through. High Rocks has constructed 5 Appalachian Trail-style shelters that make for perfect overnight pit stops or short backpacking trips for young campers.

Get ready for awesome activities like a three-day hike, a canoe trip, or going rock climbing. Outdoor courts are ready for tennis matches as well as basketball and volleyball games and the athletic fields are begging you to play soccer. Get skilled in other fun activities like Disc Golf, Ping Pong, Foosball, Ultimate Frisbee, Rope Swing, Ga-Ga Ball, and much, much more!

There are five to six campers accompanied by a cabin leader in each cabin. A camper and his cabin mates form an essential bond that create a happy camp experience and cabin leaders at High Rocks direct a great amount of effort toward developing their cabin group into an effective unit whose members offer each other support and understanding.

If High Rocks Camp for Boys sounds like a great fit for your summer camper, get an even better look into camp life on their website by clicking here. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John