Hey, Camp People!

Here at Everything Summer Camp we’re proud to work closely with about 250 summer camps across the nation. And it’s my pleasure to tell you about what fantastic camps they are! That’s why we shine our summer camp spotlight on those with whom we’ve developed great relationships. Today, our spotlight shifts northeast, up the east coast to shine on our friends at Camp Dudley!

Camp Dudley for boys is located in the small town of Westport, New York on 500 acres in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains along the shores of Lake Champlain. The owners of Dudley have been developing their complimentary campus and maintaining the beautiful grounds where they landed for the past 108 years.

Dudley campers find awesome opportunities to sharpen their skills in sports like Soccer, Basketball, Lacrosse, Baseball, Flag Football, Ultimate Frisbee, Archery, Riflery, Golf, Tennis, Rock Climbing, Sailing, Fishing, and Snorkeling. There’s also multi-day Hikes, Arts & Crafts, Drama, Music, Photography, and much, much more.

All these great activities are waiting for you at Dudley—let me give you a virtual tour: your camper will find a comfortable and accommodating living space in one of the 41 cabins that sit along the shoreline.

The biggest buildings at Camp Dudley are the Beckman Dining Hall and the auditorium, Witherbee Hall with Sommer Hall (the gymnasium) coming in third. They have playing fields, the Brodie Arts and Crafts studio, the Avery boathouse and a lot more.

Escape to Camp Dudley this upcoming summer! It’s a great place for boys to take their first few subtle steps toward maturity.

If Camp Dudley sounds like a camp that you’d like to check out for your own summer camping experience, you can do so right here. Enjoy your search for a good matching camp that’s suitable for your child and, as always, thanks for reading! 

- John

Hey, Halloween Enthusiasts!

The time has come once again to parade ourselves in costumes to pretend we are who we are not. I love it. You love it. Everyone I know loves it! It’s Halloween. From Trick-or-Treating to haunted houses, you can’t go wrong with this holiday! Lots of people like to do it up for Halloween. And some of them do it up in a frighteningly fantastic way!

Take a look at three towns across the country that do Halloween BIG each year:

Park City, Utah
Talk about ‘parading’ around—streets of Park City (or should I say ‘Bark’ City) in Utah actually look like a parade during their Howl-o-Ween street party. Packed with costumed travelers, Park City’s streets get a treat of a rather old tradition. Annual ghost tours are held as well in which spooky sites are visited and tales of the dead are told.

St. Helen, Oregon
After the small town of St. Helen in Oregon got a heavy dosage of decking the halls for Halloween when The Disney Channel used their town to film their Halloween classic, ‘Halloweentown’ in 1998, the townsfolk got addicted to the all-out Halloween spirit. Because they loved it so much, they go to incredible lengths to recreate the setup each year! The town holds tours and costume contests every weekend throughout October!

Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Last, but not least, is the small town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Not very long ago, a documentary called, ‘The American Scream’ was filmed there to focus on three families who all coincidentally live in the same neighborhood and each one as just as obsessed with Halloween as the next. Going as far as to create legitimate haunted houses in their backyards, you can check out a preview to the documentary below.

Enjoy all of your Halloween scares and treats this spooky season and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Happy to receive roughly 30 entries for the ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest we put on here at Everything Summer Camp. And now we’re eager to share each one right here on the Blog! After seven lucky winners of larger prizes, all other submissions got a $15 gift certificate to our online shop! Today we have a submission from Gayle S., who wrote in to tell us about her experience saying goodbye to her daughter for her camp stay at Camp Longhorn.

“When I agreed to sign my oldest daughter up for the same camp that her dad attended, I was hesitant because I couldn’t imagine sending my 9-year-old away for two weeks. Two weeks without her mom or dad to hug her good night. Two weeks without her brother and sisters to play with. Two weeks of sleeping with a room full of girls instead of being in her own bed in her own room. I was certain she would be home sick and cry herself to sleep at least once, but camp wasn’t until the last two weeks of summer and that seemed so far off so I just didn’t think about it.
          lThe summer flew by as it tends to do each year, only this time we found ourselves ordering a teal trunk, labeling clothes and shopping for a battery-operated fan and stationery. We spent hours filling her trunk, lid organizer, and glide trays making sure that she knew where all her necessities would be. I hid notes of love and encouragement in a few strategic places. I wanted to make her first time at camp as easy as possible.
          lDropping her off at camp was quick and easy. Just jump out of the car, unload that pretty teal trunk, and hand it—and our daughter—off to the smiling counselors who were overflowing with excitement for the experience to come. I stopped the whole process to grab one last hug and a quick family photo and then drove away with minimal tears in my own eyes. The next two weeks we received a few letters from our daughter who was loving every minute of Camp Longhorn. We heard about finding arrowheads, zipping into the water on a trolley, new friends, and new experiences. We saw photos the camp posted each day and saw our daughter bouncing on a blob, dancing, and having fun with her cabin mates.
           lFinally V-Day arrived and while we were met with huge hugs, there were no tears. Instead we had introductions to new friends, a guided tour of her favorite camp places, a taste of some daily camp rituals, and we added a bunny from the petting zoo to our household. She had thought of us often and missed us a little, but the nights didn’t end with her crying, instead she was lulled to sleep by cicadas. She had a room full of new sisters and will miss them terribly until they are reunited next summer. I realized that this experience wasn’t depriving me of my daughter for two weeks, but instead it was giving her safe place to grow in new ways. She embraced the same traditions and experiences that her dad had many years ago, and I often overhear her telling her younger sister, ‘Next year at camp, you are going to absolutely love…’ Attawaytogo Camp Longhorn! Thank you for making me and my daughter part of your family.”

I’m glad you made your peace with summer camp and that it was such a blast for your daughter, Gayle! We hope that next year is just as good for her and for your younger daughter too! You can check out Camp Longhorn for yourself right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Parents!

Are you planning on sending your kid off to their rookie year at overnight camp next summer? Or maybe you’re just looking to change things up for your experienced camper. Either way, you’ve got to select a summer camp. And, believe or not, whether you want it to be or not, there’s no better time than the present.

Starting your summer camp search in the middle of autumn may seem a little too far in advance, but this is certainly the ideal season to start researching camps and narrowing your choices. After all, most summer camps fill up their available spots several months before they open.

There’s also a lot to do on your end before camp starts like scheduling a physical exam, obtaining everything on your camp’s packing list, preparing your camper and yourself against home/childsickness. Not to mention, how busy you are with the rest of your life, the fall season is the best time to find a camp of the finest quality.

If you wait until June to sign your kid up, the remaining spots available are sure to be at summer camps of second rate quality. You want the best you can manage for your kid, no doubt. So don’t procrastinate. It’s pretty much never too early in the year to start thinking about which camp to send your camper to.

Speed up your search by looking for camps whose directors have a long tenure, whose staff is comprised of mostly former campers, and whose camper return rate is above 75%. Still, while speeding up the process, be sure to appreciate the time you spend with your kid—including them in the process every step of the way.

For more great tips and words of advice about when, where, why, and how to send your kid off to camp, check out ‘The Summer Camp Handbook’, written by summer camp experts, Dr. Chris Thurber and Dr. Jon Malinowski—available right here on our summer camp for all your camping gear needs. Enjoy getting your head start on the search for your summer camp and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

In the month premiering the autumn season, I thought I’d write a couple sports-related Celebrities at Summer Camp posts. In the first week of October, I wrote about legendary sports writer, Seth Davis. I picked another Davis for the post today—we’re talking about Al Davis, the previous coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. The principal owner and general manager spanning 39 years, Al certainly left a piece of himself in this football team.

No longer with us, Al lived a long, full life—starting all the way back to the beginning. He was born on the Fourth of July in Brockton, Massachusetts, 1929. Attending Camp Roosevelt in New York, he spent his summer days making friends and putting together basketball games. And, despite his strong affiliation with the world of football today, at that age, he was passionate about basketball.

His desire to play basketball followed him into his high school days when he met Coach Al Badain from Erasmus Hall High School. Turns out, despite his love for the game, Al just wasn’t very good at basketball. Coach Badain barely played him and, instead, Al spent a lot of time on the bench, studying Badain’s coaching technique.

Though he continuously proved himself to be unimpressive as an athlete throughout his college days at both Wittenburg College in Ohio as well as Syracuse Univ., he started gaining lots of interest in the strategy in football. He’d hang out on the football field during practice drills and never missed a game. He even took a couple academic courses for football strategy—classes only ever attended by football players.

To make up for his athletic inability, Al discovered an admittedly arrogant and brash side of his personality that he effectively used to aid his climb to a coaching career in a sport that he had no experience playing. It’s kind of like the opposite of charm—but Al made it work for himself. After graduation, he went for a position on a college football coaching staff.

After a personal meeting with the president of  Hofstra University, he had the position. With his foot in the door and coaching experience, he set his sights on the professional world next. Al struck after the worst year of a team’s history—Oakland Raiders in 1962. They lost their first 13 games and Al gladly stepped in to replace Red Conkright as head coach.

His motto for the team became “Just win, baby” and under his passionate coaching, the Raiders became one of the most successful teams in the entire league. He remained on the coaching staff far into his old age. Al passed away five years ago. Al did what he loved. What will you do? As always, thanks for reading!

- John