Hey, Comic Book Fans!

A very popular piece of reading material to pack along for a fun-filled summer camp stay, comic books are ever-present in the kingdom of kids. From superheroes to graphic novels all the way across the map to the Sunday Funnies, comic books are a wonderful way to lose yourself in a world of art and imagination presented in panels and gutters!

Today is National Comic Book Day.

What better day to brush up on your own collection or trade issues with a friend to check out one you haven’t seen yet? Whether you’re into the classics like the members from the Justice League or superheroes of the newer generation such as Spiderman or X-Men, get lost in the worlds that you love the most today.

Perhaps you like to do more than just READ comic books but you like conceiving of your own too. If that’s the case, you’re bound to find THIS summer camp up your alley: Randy Emberlin’s Summer Comic Book Art Camp. Look into it for yourself for next summer.

Randy Emberlin is an artist who makes comic books. Best known for his work inking the Spider-Man comic books, Randy has also put his magical touch to series like Dark Horse’s ‘Ghost’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Origin Series’, the ‘Left Behind’ series, ‘Star Wars Tales’—issues 12 and 15, and more. He’s been expanding his creative work for the last 30 years!

Go for this four-day camp session open to comic enthusiasts from third grade to first-year high schoolers. Learn from Randy Emberlin himself as he gives great instruction for perspective drawing, layout, penciling, inking, coloring, and more!

Check out their website for yourself and enjoy National Comic Book Day by reading your favorite comic or maybe even designing your own! As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Summer Fans!

We’ve had a wonderful season this year and hope the summer fun was just as fantastic for you too. We say goodbye to the summer season today as its cycle has once again run its course for this year. We’ll miss you until next year, summer. But in the meantime, let’s get excited about the fall season. Summer may be old news now, but fall is as fresh as it can be today.

Today is the Autumnal Equinox.

What in the world is an equinox? you might be asking yourself. It’s a fair enough question. After all, we only hear mention of them a couple times a year. Well, that’s because they occur twice a year! Much like the more popularly known Summer and Winter Solstice, there is an equinox for both the spring and fall seasons.

Opposite to the solstices which mark the longest (in summer) and shortest (in winter) days of the year, the Autumnal and Vernal Equinoxes hang in a fragile balance to mark equal day and night at 12 hours apiece all across the entire planet! The word ‘equinox’ is Latin in origin: ‘aequus’, which means ‘equal’ and ‘nox’, which means ‘night’.

It’s not an exact science. Due to refracted light coming through our atmosphere and because people have trouble settling on when sunrise and sunset really are, equinoxes almost never land on the actual day of observance, but always within a few days it.

People from all around the world celebrate with feasts and festivals, marking the arrival of the holiday. Dependent on your location on the globe, you may even be able to see the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. These are beautiful colors that always appear in the sky this time of year. The phenomenon is actually radiation from the sun interfering with the earth’s magnetic field!

The further north you are, the better chance you have of seeing the Auroras! Enjoy your observance and celebration of the Autumnal Equinox and keep your eyes on the skies! As always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Having brought in nearly 30 entries The ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp has once again seen a great response and now we’re eager to publish each one right here on the Blog! After our seven lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $15 gift certificate to our online store! Today’s post feature an entry from Mikesha M., who wrote in to tell us about her son’s time at camp.
“My son went to Woodruff Boy Scout Camp for a week. I was very nervous about what to pack and how to pack to make sure he had everything he needed. I love the trunk he got from Everything Summer Camp. It really helped him stay organized. He said it was cool to have a trunk that was different from everyone else’s so he could find it easily. Then he said, “Mom, when I took out the wheels and popped them on..everyone was talking about it and that they wished they had wheels on their bin/trunk”. When my son came back from summer camp I could tell he was more confident and willing to try new things. One of the things he talked about was all of the new friends he met and how there were scouts from far away states. He thought that was so cool and he even exchanged info with a couple of scouts so he could keep in touch. He also said how we like the fireworks even though they got rained out but he kept dry in his rain gear. I never got a chance to go to sleep away camp, but I am glad he is able to go and make memories that will last a life time.”

Sounds like your son was the lucky duck at camp with his ‘fancy’ rolling trunk and effective rain gear! We’re happy to hear that camp was such a great experience for him. It’s also great to hear how much you liked our trunks—thanks for letting us know! Check out Woodruff Boy Scout Camp if you’re interested in it for your own camping experience and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

We talk enough about ourselves here on the Everything Summer Camp Blog, it’s good to give someone else a turn once in a while. That’s why we turn our spotlight to awesome brand names that we offer as well as celebrities who are also former summer campers. And we like to talk up the camps with whom we’ve formed excellent working relationships.

Camp Rockmont is a shining example of one of these camps. Located 15 miles east of Asheville, North Carolina, Rockmont boasts 550 acres that are surrounded by thousands of acres of National Forest wilderness. Near the town Black Mountain, Rockmont shows kids a beautiful mountainous landscape covered in foliage and home to the 20-acre Lake Eden.

Every year since 1956, Rockmont Christian summer camp has been the summer home to 1500 boys from all across the globe. The original lodging was built in the 1800s by the famous-for-his-time, developer E.W. Grove—made for use as a family retreat. In the 1930s, the land along with the historical property was sold to Black Mountain College. But the creative college closed in 1956 and became the site for Camp Rockmont.

At Camp Rockmont, campers are given the chance to achieve a certain skill level in tons of different activities such as Archery, Basketball, Capture-the-Flag, Soccer, Tennis, Horseback Riding, Mountain Biking, Rock Climbing, Riflery, Outdoor Skills, Campouts, Fishing, Talent Shows, Relay Races, Canoeing, Sailing, Swim Sports, Rocketry, Photography, Guitar, Ceramics, Bible Study, and such a great deal more.

Facilities at Camp Rockmont are incomparable in the world of summer camp with a beautiful lake, four athletic fields, a gymnasium, and beautiful buildings that fit the scene well. But much more than just gorgeous property and a million fun things to do, Camp Rockmont guides its campers to focus specifically on physical, emotional, social, and spiritual growth.

Check out Camp Rockmont for your own summer fun and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Lots of kids have been hitchin’ a ride to summer camp since the mid-1800s. 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 a little about a guy named Tré Cool—drummer for the insanely popular alternative punk band, Green Day. 

Tré was given a warm welcome to paradise among the beautiful, rolling foothills of Camp Winnarainbow in Mendocino County, California. There, Tré and his camp buddies learned the tricks of the circus trade, specializing in the performing arts of the circus. From circus etiquette to balance training—and don’t forget the ticket to perfect timing—is all taught by the well-trained staff of Winnarainbow.

Back then, he wasn’t known as Tré, but Frankie—as in Frank Edwin Wright III. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany to American parents and he grew up in Willits, California. But it didn’t take long for him to go by the moniker Tré Cool.

At just 12 years old, Tré’s next-door neighbor, Larry Livermore, asked him to join as the drummer in his new band, ‘The Lookouts’. Once he was in the band, Larry gave him the nickname which combined French (trés—for ‘very’) and English so as to say that he was ‘very cool’.

Tré opted to earn is GED instead of finishing high school and got an early start on classes at his local community college. Around this time, Green Day’s original drummer, John Kiffmeyer, left the band and they called Tré for his drumming skills. It took a long while for the band and Tré to fall in sync. So long, that the band discussed breaking up. “It took me a while to get it,” Tré has been quoted. “Play the song, don’t play the instrument.”

Luckily, the band stuck with it and they ended up a huge success! Tré’s dad played a big role of support for the band. He even turned a bookmobile into a means of transport that the band could use. “I watched them go from a bunch of kids to a group of musicians with work ethic,” Tré’s father once said.

Among many other awards and sources of recognition, Tré is thought of as one of the world’s top drummers, right up there with Ringo Starr and Dave Grohl. In fact, he was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. Tré followed a bumpy road that led to super success. What road will you follow? As always, thanks for reading.

- John