Hey, Summer Campers!

We all know camp is popular, but did you know that more than 11 million folks go to summer camp every year? That’s A LOT of people! And since seemingly everybody and their mothers went to summer camp at some point, it’s not surprising to discover the loads upon loads of famous celebrities who were once summer campers just like you.

While some former summer campers like Lady Gaga or Chevy Chase go on to achieve super-stardom the world over, other celebrities are stars within their own realms. Seth Davis is a name well known among the sports writing community. He’s a sports columnist, author, and former summer camper.

He attended Camp Equinunk in Pennsylvania, beside the Pocono Mountains where he enjoyed 400 beautiful acres of fields and wooded trails shared with the sister camp, Camp Blue Ridge. The camps are separated by the camp-owned 75-acre private spring-fed lake.

Born in Potomac, Maryland, Seth went to the Bullis School which covered elementary grades through to twelfth grade. He then went on to graduate from Duke University in 1992 and directly pursued a career in sports writing. Having written as a sports columnist for his university’s daily campus newspaper, ‘The Chronicle’, it seemed only a natural path to follow.

He landed a position at Sports Illustrated covering stories including the NFL, NBA, college basketball, as well as local high school sports. But Seth had more to say than what he could do in a sports column.

He wasn’t done talking about summer camp!

So he wrote a book that was published in 2003 called ‘Equinunk, Tell Your Story: My Return to Summer Camp’ that talks about what camp meant to him. It meant enough that he went back to camp to be a cabin leader back in the day.

You can check out his book right here. Summer camp led Seth to the freedom to do what he loved for a living. Where will it lead you? As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Having received around 30 entries for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp, we’re eager to share each one by publishing them right here on the Blog! We had seven lucky winners and then everyone else who submitted received a $15 gift certificate to our website! Today’s post is from Lucy B., who wrote in to tell us about her first year at overnight camp.

“I had a lot of fun at camp! This was my first year of going to sleep-away camp. I made new friends, tried some new activities and made amazing memories! One of my favorite memories is when I was at the lake with some of my friends! We were all in small inner tubes and one of my friends (Lily) was trying to teach Audrey, Elsie, and me how to do a backflip out of the tube. It was so fun because none of us could quite get it right away and we all looked really silly! Audrey was the first to get it, however, and she and Lily kept trying to help Elsie and me but we just kept falling on our faces or falling backwards instead! Eventually we got the hang of it but that was a memory I would definitely keep! That was also the day I jumped off the tower for the first time! At the waterfront there is an 8ft tower that most people were scared to jump off of, but not me! I had read about the tower online and it sounded really fun so Audrey and I decided to jump off it! It was so cool and Audrey and I loved it so much that we decided to jump off it again (and again, and again, and… you get the point)! I had so much fun and made so many friends at camp that I signed up for next year and I hope to sign up for many years after that too!!!”

Sounds like a pretty hysterical time, Lucy! I don’t think I could pull off a smooth backflip, but it sounds like you finally got it down. Lucy loved her time at Camp Takodah. You can check it out for yourself right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

A rough estimate of 250 summer camps work with us here at Everything Summer Camp and it’s our 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 moves to North Carolina to shine on the lovely Camp Mondamin Boys Camp.

Found in the mountains of Western North Carolina on the shores of the 350 acre Lake Summit. Between Camp Mondamin and their sister camp, Green Cove, they own about 800 acres of wooded campground. Mondamin as well as Green Cove campers have easy access to long trails through Pisgah National Forest and Smoky Mountain National Park.

This is a camp that’s been showing boys a fantastically fun-filled summer stay for more than 95 years. With such spectacular grounds to explore and enjoy, the activities at the camp are concentrated around the woods, the water, and other natural settings.

The campers are presented with the opportunity for such awesome activities like Swimming, Canoeing, Kayaking, Sailing, Horseback Riding, Mountain Biking, Mountaineering, Tennis, Wilderness Trips, as well as a Nature Program which educates young men on the natural world all around them.

Sharing a cabin, with just five or six other boys along with a cabin leader, cabins at Camp Mondamin are certainly adequate on space and comfort. Other camp facilities besides the cabins are the three tennis courts, a barn and three riding rings, a craft shop, a 60 ft. climbing tower, an indoor rifle range, and a gymnasium with an indoor climbing wall.

More than just a fun time, boys are sure to return home as young men. You can look into Camp Mondamin right here if you’re interested in it for your camper. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Campers!

Here at Everything Summer Camp, we learn about plenty of celebrities who were once summer campers like yourselves. It’s hard not to discover them when so many went to camp! We’ve talked about tons of pop stars, actors, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more on this Blog and today, we add Norah Jones to our list of Celebrities at Summer Camp! 

I can’t imagine anyone isn’t familiar with Norah Jones, but, in case I’m wrong, she’s that singer/songwriter and actress responsible for such hits as ‘Don’t Know Why’ and ‘Come Away With Me’. She’s won lots of awards (including nine Grammy Awards) and sold more than 50 million albums the world over.

But before any of that, she attended Interlochen Center for the Arts. Located in the beautiful northwestern region of lower Michigan, Norah spent her summer days soaking in the summer sun as it beat down on 1,200 acres of Interlochen, nestled between two lakes. But Norah Jones wasn’t her name back then. It was Geetali Norah Shankar.

And even before that, she was born in Brooklyn, but raised in Grapevine, Texas. She went to Colleyville Middle School and Grapevine High School until she later transferred to Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas.

Previously she had sung at mass services during her weekly visits to church and, there, she discovered a passion for singing and so she took piano and voice lessons. But it was in her high school days that her love for music truly blossomed. She sang in the choir, participated in band, and played the alto saxophone too.

She went to the University of North Texas to further her study of music, majoring in jazz piano. She also spent her time there singing with the Jazz Singers group at the school. Fresh out of her graduation in 2002, Norah launched her solo music career with an original talent for lounge music. Every coffee shop was playing her album that year.

Norah followed her passion and look where it took her. Where will yours take you? You can check out Camp Interlochen for yourself and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We received about 30 entries for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp. Now we’re eager to share each one by publishing them right here on the Blog! After our seven lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $15 gift certificate to our website! Today’s post is from Chase H., who wrote in to tell us about his camping misadventure.
“This story starts back from a campfire on night two of ten. My tent-mate had received a care package full of goodies and sweets, but was lazy enough to just leave it out on his camp box. I was the first one coming into camp and when I walked down to our pod of tents, I saw four green eyes staring at me. I shined my flashlight and sure enough, there was a raccoon in our tent and one just outside of it. They had eaten all of my friend’s treats and were searching for more. One was on my cot! The whole entire rest of the night, my friend kept shining the flashlight to scare the raccoons off because they kept coming back. We called it Five Nights at Camp after the popular game Five Nights at Freddy’s. Later, my friend decided to hide the rest of his food; in a trash can, when we woke up, it too was all gone. He was really angry now. I told him that it was a bad idea but he didn’t believe. Finally, someone made a bag we could haul up into a tree to keep out of the reach of the little critters. I never moved my food, it was all safely in my wooden box.”

Sounds like you had a pretty exciting experience with your surprise visitors! I hope your tent-mate learned his lesson! At least YOUR food was left alone! Check out the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation if you’re interested in it for your own camping experience and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John