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Maya C. goes for Year 3!

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Hey, Camp Aficionados!

Happy to see so many great entries about kids’ camp experience for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest that we held here at Everything Summer Camp. So, we’re posting each of your entries here on the Blog! Following our seven lucky winners who gCamp Netimus is a wonderful summer camp that you ought to check out!ot larger prizes, the rest of our entrants received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post is from Maya C., who wrote in to tell us about her fun summer at Camp Netimus. Here’s what she had to say:

This Summer I spent my 3rd year at Camp Netimus, a sleep away camp in Milford, PA. At camp I met so many friends and had so many great experiences. One great experience was shooting a bulls-eye in Riflery for the first time and then doing it again! I had an awesome cabin this year with my 5 friends from the previous 2 years. This year I was considered a JCIT (Junior Counselor In Training). JCIT’s have a lot of responsibilities, like calling cabins when we had picnic or giving a speech at the last green cathedral, which is like church every Sunday where one cabin says there 4 experiences. JCIT’s also have to rover, or check on cabins during counselor meetings. At this time, working seniors and major minors—both of which train you for becoming a JCIT—and soon counselor, have to cover lower camp cabins. The JCIT’s job is to make sure the working seniors and major minors had their lower camp/lower upper camp cabin under control. Lower camp is cabins 1-7 and upper camp is 8-JCIT. Lower upper camp is 8-10. JCIT’s also had to teach a class of choice and assist a class of choice. My ‘teach class’ was Riflery and my assist class was Jewelry. JCIT’s were the only ones allowed in our cabin which had two rooms. One room was empty, the other is the one we slept in. While JCIT’s did have a lot of responsibilities, we also had a lot of fun. We got 2 days out, one each month, with the working seniors where we got to go shopping and watch movies at the nearby mall and theater. I stayed season, or 2 months, at camp. We weren’t allowed to have a phone, but I didn’t need one because I was having too much fun. During the fourth week, we had a float night banquet, where we had a canoe show at the lake and then a banquet like dinner. Also, every Thursday we had a dance with our brother camp Shohola, which were lots of fun. During changeover, the weekend between 4th and 5th week, we went to a water park that used to be called Action Park. It used to be the most dangerous park in the world, but they tore it down and built Mountain Creek Water Park, way safer. The next day we went shopping at the mall. During 5th week we went to Branchville, where I got on my first Merry-go-round. I also got on “The Claw” which spun you up and down and in a circle. Then we had our normal banquet, where they decorate the dining hall all day with an unknown theme. Normally campers don’t know the theme until their cabin gets called down, but since the JCIT’s had to help with something outside; we were allowed to go in for a couple minutes to see the theme. This year’s theme was Enchanted Forest. The next day we had candle light, where at 8:00 we all sat around a big campfire holding a candle of our own, then moved to our cabins with the candle and talked about our year as a camper. My favorite memory from this year was when my cabin tried to scare me but ended up scaring themselves. I was at the nurse one night for stomach cramps and my cabin wanted to scare me. They were sitting in the cabin in our empty room and started chanting random quotes from ‘Harry Potter’. The plan was to scream at me when I walked in, but it didn’t go well. Right before I walked in, the CIT’s, which were next door, opened their door and slammed it shut. Then I walked in our cabin and slammed our door closed. The sound of the doors slamming scared them and they screamed at the top of their lungs. Apparently they were expecting me to turn on the light, but I was way too tired to think, and figured they were asleep. Overall, I found Camp Netimus was like a second home for me and loved every minute I was there.

Camp Netimus must be a great camp that you keep going back! I’m glad you’re happily accepting more responsibilities as you continue your years at summer camp. Look into Camp Netimus for yourself and discover what a special place it is. As always, thanks for reading!

 

- John


Wonderful Camp Waldemar

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Hey, Camp Folks!

You know what I always love talking about on this Blog? It’s all the excellent summer camps that we work with at Everything Summer Camp. Having developed some great relationships with more than 250 summer camps, we like to post about them pretty often. And given the title of our ‘Summer Camp Spotlight’ Blog posts, today we’re aiming our spotlight on Camp Waldemar for girls.Waldemar is a great camp to send your girl!Situated within a 1200 acre valley in the hill country of Southwest, Texas, Waldemar graces its girls with beautiful natural landscapes. Winding through the valley is the Guadalupe River framed by many, regal cypress trees. Such majesty lends a helping hand to create an intimate setting for young women to discover who they are and how they fit into the world and their communiLook at these loving little lambs!ty.

You’re sure to have a blast at Waldemar with all the Land Sports they offer like Outdoor Adventures, Archery, Badminton, Basketball, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Volleyball, Cheerleading, Golf, Fencing, Gymnastics and more. Make a splash this summer with fun Canoeing and Kayaking trips as well as lessons in Form Swimming and Synchronized Swimming. And you can spend quieter times learning the art of Ceramics, Drama, Dance, Drawing, Journalism, and other fun Crafts!

Nestled in the Texan hills are Waldemar’s beautiful facilities. Named with the same style as their architecture, the Bella Vista, Alamedo, and Ranch House boast a great collection of artwork from Mexican, Native American, and Old West cultures. The girls stay in cozy cabins that Waldemar campers know as ‘Kampongs’.

They’re not exactly “roughin’ it” in these excellent lodgings that include private bathrThey won't exactly be "roughin' it".ooms decorated with Spanish tile mosaics and Saltillo tile floors,  bedrooms with four bunk beds, air-conditioning, and either a front porch or a courtyard that connect the  kampongs to each other. Campers are awarded daily points for keeping their clothes and belongings tidy and pitching in with housekeeping duties.

Get into the Waldemar Spirit! If it sounds like the right place for your daughter, check out their website sometime. A great place to camp since 1926, talk to your camper about Camp Waldemar and, as always, thanks for reading!

Crazy fun awaits in this serene setting!

 

- John


History of Mad _______

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Hey, Camp Fans!

When you deal with so many interesting products like we do here at Everything Summer Camp, you can’t help but get a little curious about the origin of the gear, supplies, toys, and other items that we handle on a daily basis. That’s why I’ve started writing these History posts in which we investigate the back stories behind specific gear and other products. A lot of the products we sell have histories that go way back, even to ancient times.

Today, however, we’re going back only 64 years ago, to 1953. Today we’re looking at the history of Mad Libs.Get ready to hold onto your funny bone!

This unrivaled, classic, fill-in-the-________ word game was an overnight success! By removing parts-of-speech and replacing it with a different, random noun, verb, adjective, etc., Mad Libs transform simple stories into hilarious laugh attacks. The best way to give a group a big case of the giggles is with an uproarious tale from a Mad Libs page.

The concept for Mad Libs was born that fateful night back in 1953 when their co-creator, Leonard Stern was looking for the right adjective in a script he’d been writing. After he had struggled in the search for half an hour on this single word, his best friend Roger Price walked in. Evident to Roger that his friend was in deep frustration, he asked what he could do.

Leonard confided in his friend over this elusive adjective that he could not track down for the last 30 minutes. When Leonard asked for help, his friend Roger blurted out “clumsy and naked” which, as incorrect as it was, at least made Leonard laugh. The pair almost immediately recognized the potential behind this hilarious description of somebody’s nose (as Leonard’s script had been calling for).

Leonard commenced to leave the script where it was for the rest of the night and went to work with his friend Roger writing short, page-long write-ups with key words missing. You can find awesome, camp-themed Mad Libs and other fun ones right here when you shop our website! Enjoy laughin’ it up with your friends with Mad Libs and, as always, thanks for reading.

 

- John

Get these stories for a riot at summer camp.


Go Back to Sleep!

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Hey, Sleepyheads!

Today is the Festival of Sleep—a day for loafin’ around the house and staying warm under the blankets amidst the dead of a chilly winter. In honor of the day, last year I posted about all the different benefits a good night of sleep brings to us as people—not just in the winter, but year-round. You can check out last year’s post right here.Hibernating dormouse {Muscardinus avellanarius} curled up asleep in nest, Sussex, UK

But this year, I’d like to focus more on sleeping in the winter season—or, more appropriately, THROUGH—the winter season. I’m talking about hibernation.

Unfortunately, we people don’t hibernate—much as we feel we may want to! Our bodies just aren’t biologically designed to do it. So who DOES hibernate? Oh, lots of creatures! You have bears and bats—they’re the most popularly-known—but there are also mice, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, groundhogs, snakes and a number of other reptiles, some amphibians, bees, and more.

Not all of these animals are true hibernators the way that bears and bats are. These guys fall asleep and will coast clear through winter and spring. Others, however, like raccoons and chipmunks, tend to wake up periodically to snack on some food that they have stored up. But even then, if they’ve run out of their food supply, they’ll go searching for more. Still, This guys ready for a long winter snooze.they sleep for much longer than you or I could ever dream.

What are these animals doing, you ask? Well, these creatures’ bodies have all adapted in one way or another to remain inactive as a means of conserving their energy. By slowing their metabolism and reducing their body temperature considerably, these creatures stay asleep for days, weeks, even months at a time.

Food gets to be hard to come by for some animals—especially bears, and so, instead of migrating or expanding their diet, these animals took the lazy route and make the bold move to sleep through this season of scarcity. The benefits of sleep for us—like boosting our mental, physical, and emotional well-being—are nothing compared to what sleep can do for these animals who essentially freeze time for themselves.

We may not be able to hibernate, but we can certainly pretend! Enjoy getting the most out of your Zzzz’s today and all winter long. And, as always, thanks for zzzz…
You dn't get cozier than this.

 

- John


What’s the Temperature?

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Hey, Camp Fans!

Learning to be True to Your Heart is a great lesson that kids pick up at The Gift of summer camp. Is it any surprise that kids love going to camp ever since the mid-1800s—and Still?! Many adults nowadays are former summer campers themselves and a bunch of them have gone on to become famous icons. It’s my pleasure today to tell you about Mr. Drew Lachey of the hit group 98 Degrees. Learn about this 98 degrees member at his experience at camp.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Drew attended the Clovernook Elementary School in North College Hill—a suburb of Cincinnati. He moved on to the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in the Cincinnati, Ohio Public School District.

While he didn’t attend summer camp in his childhood, he worked at one as a cabin leader at the age of 16. He spent two fun-filled weeks on the shore of Lake Fairlee, looking after the summer campers of Camp Billings and building an appreciation for the beauty surrounding him in the green hills of Vermont.

After his time working as a cabin leader at Camp Billings, Drew got involved in several interesting career paths before finding himself in a musical group. He found work behind the counter of a delicatessen. He trained to be an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and served as one in New York City. And he went on after that to be a combat medic in the U.S. Army.

Along with his older brother, Nick, and their friends Justin Jeffre, and Jeff Timmons, the four of them formed the pop group 98 Degrees and achieved nationwide success.

No stranger to television appearances, Drew showed up on one of the ‘Hollywood Squares’ in 2001 and has had a handful of guest appearances on Nick’s MTV show ‘Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica’. He was also the winner of the second season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

If you’re interested in Camp Billings for yourself, you can check out their website right here. Even working at summer camp is a positive experience! Maybe you’d make a great cabin leader for some local camp. As always, thanks for reading.

 

- John