Hey, Black Friday Fans!

In the last decade or so, Thanksgiving has taken on more traditions than our typical feasts that take all day to prep, the Macy’s Day Parade, and a football game on TV. As Black Friday continues to push stores’ opening hours earlier and earlier, the shopping experience is overlapping with Thanksgiving evening, creating what some refer to as ‘Grey Thursday’.

Lazy Thanksgiving evenings are now designated time to prepare yourself: peruse those ads and map out your route so you’ll be ready to embark on a carefully strategized night of shopping. So what are some of the traditions people have started after the leftovers get put away?

Vice President of Everything Summer Camp, Mark, and his wife, Mandy, love going out on this night to find ridiculous deals and hit up their favorite stores. To keep the tradition, they always start the night with the same store first every year.

Some folks are so into their Black Friday-ing that they skip the customary Thanksgiving meal altogether in order to dedicate all their energy to shopping instead. Many of these people will break from their epic shopping excursions at some point in the night to get a traditional bite to eat. McDonald’s is a popular stop because it’s fast and gets them right back to the shopping!

Movies are also becoming a popular attraction for Black Friday participants. It’s become a tradition for Keisha, our receptionist, and a group of her friends to partake in a break from the shopping frenzy by taking in a fun flick.

And while some people plan routes to raid all the local stores around their area, others are driving long distances to a mall that has a little more to offer than what local malls will. Famous malls that boast their size, location, and store variety, are like magnets for some folks on Black Friday!

Whatever your Black Friday traditions are feel free to share them with us right here! We hope you have a fun, safe shopping experience. And be sure to take advantage of all the awesome deals you can find on our site from now through to December 1. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Eager Shoppers!

Are you chompin’ at the bit for some sweet deals this holiday season? As the end of November approaches, so does Black Friday—the world’s BIGGEST shopping day of the year! While the vast majority of stores reserve their Black Friday deals until the day itself or the evening hours of the day before (Thanksgiving Day), OUR Black Friday deals will be running all week long!
We know that lots of people travel for their Thanksgiving traditions and so we wanted to extend our sales from tonight until December 1, giving readers a chance to jump on our deals before Black Friday really strikes. Check out all the CRAZY DEALS we have going on this week and then hop onto our main site and shop like it’s the day after Thanksgiving!

CRAZY DEALS:

The Spend $50, Wenzel Sprout Deal
An excellent selection for your sleeping satisfaction in summer weather—and perfect for overnights when it’s too chilly outdoors—the Wenzel Sprout is a great, versatile sleeping bag at an affordable price. Here’s the deal: if you spend $50 on our site this week, you can get the Wenzel Sprout for $9.99! That’s nearly a literal STEAL! We only have 50 of these Sleeping Bags, though, so spend fast if you want in on this awesome deal!

The Deal on All Our Camping Gear
Obviously, we offer A LOT of camping gear. And it’s ALL ON SALE this week! Find great Sleeping Bags like the Wenzel Sunward as well as awesome rain gear like the Polly Wogg. Check out our Fans including our Funky-Flexi Fan and our Flashlights—featuring the miniMongo. We’ve got quality Camping Equipment like the Light My Fire Lunch Kit and excellent Backpacks like JanSport’s Overexposed masterpiece. Find ridiculous deals scattered across all departments as well as our Water Bottles, Insect Repellent, Sunscreen, and Camp Chairs!

Camp Trunk Discounts
As the home of C&N Footlockers, of course you can find some deals in our Trunk Department! And our Pattern Trunks make perfect presents in the holiday season. Normally priced at $189.99, Pattern Trunks are priced at $129.99 this week!

Soft Trunk and Duffel Discounts
Some camps don’t allow hard trunks. If your kid can’t use a steel trunk, we sell the Pop Up Soft Trunk—which is also on sale. Get the Pop Up Soft Trunk for $30 knocked off the original price ($119.99) and $10 off its convenient counterpart, the Piggy Back Duffel, taking it from $44.99 to $34.99!

We have more deals on Duffel Bags coming up for Cyber Monday, so make sure you come back for more discounts! As, always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

The Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ drawing saw an excellent response with nearly 30 entries! That’s why we’re publishing each and every one right here on the Blog! Today I’ve got two submissions ready to go from Ray M. as well as Louie B.! Their entries are both on the shorter side, but you can tell there wasn’t any shortage of fun at the camps they attended.

Here’s what Ray had to say about his stay at
“The funnest time for me at camp was when I got a black eye from a paddle stick. Not so much the black eye, but the paddle boarding. Because it was so much fun, the black eye at the end was worth it. I didn’t even cry. I paddled in the beautiful lake with my camp so-called friend. No name mentioned. JP and I became best friends at camp. We liked each other because we hung out and laughed a lot. My best friends at camp were JP and William. We were always hanging out together. We saw deer at camp while we were playing Frisbee. That was fun too. I like camp because I did a lot of activities that I usually don’t do. I’m hoping to win the dance-off next year.”

And here’s the entry from Louie B. about the time he spent at Beber Camp.
“My time at Beber was fun, it was the best EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved camp. I stayed four weeks because it was super fun. I did the rookie 2 week trial and I was able to stay longer. I loved my hobbies. They were fun. My favorite hobbies were Aqua Park and Recording Studio. Next summer I want to try other hobbies like water skiing and sailing. I love Beber Camp. So much FUN!!!!!!!!!! I am going to go again next year. I loved that my camp was only Jewish. Shabbat was fun. One thing that they should have is Radio Tower, where you get to choose music for the camp radio. The cabins should have a radio speaker for the camp radio. Super Cool!!!!! LOVE BEBER CAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My favorite memory from camp was a sneak out to the library to watch a movie. We snuck Gatorade and popcorn for a goodbye party to the campers in my cabin who only stayed for 2 weeks. I can’t wait to see all my new friends next year!”

Ray, I’m glad you didn’t let the black eye spoil your time at camp. Good luck on next year’s dance-off! And, Louie, sounds like you pretty much fell in love with Beber. I’m glad it was such a hit that you stayed an extra two weeks! Way to embrace the summer camp spirit! If anyone else is interested in one of these camps, you can check out Camp Sloane YMCA right here and check out Beber Camp right here! As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Campers!

11 million people go to summer camp every year; it’s certainly no surprise to discover the loads upon loads of famous folks who were once summer campers just like you. Celebrities, such as athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians, and actors, have all been spotlighted on our Blog’s ‘Celebrities at Summer Camp’ posts. Film directors are often considered celebrities as well.

You know what film directing duo attended summer camp? The Coen Brothers! That’s right! The makers of such popular movies as ‘Fargo’ and ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ were once campers at Camp Herzl, a Jewish camp that sits on 120 acres in Webster, Wisconsin on the shores of Devil’s Lake. There, the boys spent a number of summers with other campers and staff from all over the country and beyond, learning about community as well as themselves.

The boys had great childhoods, growing up in St. Louis Park, a Minnesotan suburb in Minneapolis. When Ethan’s older brother, Joel, saved up enough money which he was earning from mowing lawns, he bought a Vivitar Super 8 camera for him as his brother to play with. It quickly became their new favorite toy!

They loved recreating movies they’d seen on TV, starring their neighborhood friend, Mark Zimering or “Zeimers” as they called him.

The brothers both attended and graduated from St. Louis Park High School—Joel in 1973 and Ethan in 1976. The two also attended and graduated the same college—Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. However, the seemingly inseparable duo went their separate ways after college.

Joel went off for four years in the undergraduate film program at New York University while Ethan went to Princeton University where he earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy.

After their schooling had come to an end, Joel and Ethan wrote and directed their very first commercial film together in 1984.

Making joint films, the brothers share film credits for editor under the alias ‘Roderick Jaynes’—a made-up name with no real meaning behind it. The Coen brothers have received nominations for twelve Academy Awards together, as well as individual nominations separately. They’ve won Best Original Screenplay as well as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Coen brothers have been into filmmaking since their childhood. What are you into? Let summer camp help find that out for you and, as always, thanks for reading.

-  John

Hey, Camp Fans!

The ‘Share Your Camp Story’ drawing here at Everything Summer Camp brought in almost 30 entries! What a great response—which is exactly why 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 features Ella B.’s camp story about her physical and spiritual summer experience at

“Step after step. I pause to wipe the sweat off my brow using the back of my hand. I can hear my heart pounding, feel the blood coursing through my veins. I am so close to the summit, I can feel it. But standing between me and the top of Mt. Canon is a huge, almost perfectly vertical slab of rock, it’s cold and cruel voice mocking me. I take a deep breath and start to scale the boulder in front of me, gasping as my feet suddenly lose their grip and I plummet to the ground. I latch on to a tree on the way down, my white-knuckled hand rapidly losing hold. I use all of my strength to pull myself onto a shelf in the cliff. Once I catch my breath and the immediate threat is gone, I smile, adrenaline running through me like a drug. I scramble back on to the mountain and continue up the path. As soon as I climb to my feet, I see the summit, the sweet resting place I was looking for. I rush over, and collapse. Grinning, I reach into my backpack and grab my water bottle and throw a handful of trail mix into my mouth. The view is worth it. Not a soul in sight, with only the sky and the sweet smell of pine riding across the breeze to keep you company. The clouds lazily drift across the sky like a boat in the sea. I feel so small and so big at the same time. I close my eyes and let all my worries melt away.

‘Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.’ – John Green”

Thanks again for your submission, Ella! It’s great to hear that you had such an active camp stay that provided you with a cool connection to the great outdoors! To anyone else interested in Camp Arcadia, you can check it out right here. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John