Hey, Summer Campers!

You know who else was a fan of summer camp? A man named Burgess Meredith. Despite the fact that he’s said to have been “one of the most accomplished actors of the [20th] century,” I’d be surprised if any of you knew who he was as his death most likely came before most of you were even born.

It might just be me, but I think he’s probably most popular for his role as The Penguin from the original, live-action ‘Batman’ television series that starred Adam West.

By 1997, Burgess died a 90-year-old man. But born in 1907, he became a star of the stage as well as the screen from the early thirties on. He also tried his hand (rather successfully) at directing later on in his life. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1974 for his Broadway staging of an adaptation of James Joyce’s writings.

But before he did any of that, Burgess had his humble beginnings much like all of you today—at summer camp. Camp Dudley in New York, to be specific. Camp Dudley is the oldest summer camp in America that’s still in operation today. It would have to be so old to have been the summer camp of Burgess! Everything Summer Camp is proud to work with Camp Dudley—a summer camp with a history to it.

After his camp days, Burgess graduated from his high school and then went on to study at Amherst College—Class of 1931. After his college days came to an end, he served his country in World War II as a captain of the United States Army Air Forces until 1944. At that point he was discharged to star in a war movie being made. He played the role of Ernie Pyle, war correspondent.

From then on, Burgess stayed active in show business for over 60 years. In his time, Burgess won several Emmy Awards and became the first recipient of the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice. He was also nominated for a couple Academy Awards.

So be like Burgess, kids, and reach for the stars; maybe you’ll become one yourself! Thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Dog Lovers!

As you likely already know, most people in the world are suckers when it comes to the canine companion. Human beings love dogs. And dogs—well—we all know that dog is man’s best friend. Of all the other domesticated animals, farming and pets, the dearest are definitely our dogs. That’s why today, we celebrate National Dog Day!

Virtual members of the family, our dogs have a way of fitting right in, almost as if they’re one of us—probably because the domestication of dogs goes back so far that they’ve basically been ‘civilized’ since the dawn of civilization. The minute we started living in homes, we brought the dogs along too.

Lots of other pets are just as old too, like cats, but dogs were different. Dogs responded. Dogs connected. Dogs were FRIENDS!

So what makes dogs so special? Well, as dogs evolved with us, they began to read faces from left to right the way that people do when we look at one another. Other animals just stare straight at the face of another animal; people and dogs actually READ a face.

This is why it’s believed that dogs make such good company, because they can actually tell what kind of mood you’re in when they look at you. They get happier as you get happier and they console you when you’re down. This provides a connectedness between man and beast. It works on a subconscious level and its results have been extraordinary!

We love dogs here at Everything Summer Camp, soooo…in honor of National Dog Day, we thought we’d share the friendly faces of our dogs. Bet you can’t look at all of these without crackin’ a smile! Look below to see our own furry family members, and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

From left to right: The President of Everything Summer Camp, Ed’s dog, Butter; our Lead Buyer, Kristy’s dog, Lucky Lou, our Vice President, Mark’s two Shih tzus, Charlie and Henry; lastly, (below) there’s Wil, my hound dog.

Hey there, Rainy Day People!

It’s true that April showers bring May flowers, but the rain doesn’t stop there. No, rainy days are pretty much a year-round thing. Approaching the early fall season, especially, is notorious for frequent rainfall. The end of summer into September and October usually sees quite a bit of rain.

Get yourself prepared for stormy weather with the help of Everything Summer Camp and our great selection of rain jackets, rain pants, rain suits, and rain boots!

We’ve got a stylish assortment of incredible rain jackets from Columbia like the Wet Reflect Jacket, the Flow Summit II, the Wind Racer II, the Watertight in Men’s, the Arcadia Rain Jacket in Women’s, and the kids’ Chromatech. These rain jackets are all top of the line with fine detailing and quality construction.

We also have a couple Red Ledge Rain Jackets: the youth Jakuta and youth Thunderlight. These quality jackets do a great job to seal out the rain keeping you dry and comfortable. We also carry the Rainstopper youth rain suit from Red Ledge. It offers great full body protection. Otherwise, our youth-sized Vinyl Poncho is a great alternative for full body rain protection.

We’ve got some great pairs of rain pants at Everything Summer Camp to thoroughly seal out precipitation. We carry the Columbia Storm Surge Women’s Pant as well as the Regen Rain Men’s Pant—also from Columbia.

Keeping your feet comfortable and dry is important when you’ve got a long school day ahead of you. Check out our rain boots. We have the youth Pattern Rain Boots, youth Fire Chief Boots, and the effective Kamik Stomp! These boots are best friends with puddles!

There’s no such thing as a Rain Day where you get to stay home because it’s RAINING too much! Be prepared to wait for the bus on a rainy morning with our excellent selection of rain gear from Everything Summer Camp!

Thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Fans of Everything Summer Camp!

For today’s Blog post I’d like to tell you about another one of Everything Summer Camp’s excellent employees, Keisha. If you’ve placed an order over the phone for a C&N camp trunk or any other camping supplies in the last year, there’s a good chance that you spoke with Keisha.

Hired on for our seasonal help last year in the Call Center, Keisha showed exceptional skills in customer service—handling inbound calls and the occasional “problem order.” Now that the busy season at Everything Summer Camp is starting to cool down, Keisha was asked to stick around as our Call Center Supervisor.

Despite how busy we get at Everything Summer Camp, we always strive to keep our work environment fun. I think it’s safe to say that working here suits Keisha very well. She fits right in with our casual environment and diligent work style.

You can always count on Keisha for an infectious smile and a quick laugh to keep things light around the office. With a friendly attitude and an open ear, she’s always good to talk to (which is so clearly why she is now our Call Center Supervisor—we want all of you to get to talk to her as well)!

Nowadays they say nobody reads the newspaper anymore. But Keisha does. And that worked out well for us because that’s how she found us after her temporary position at United Health Care came to an end. Living in the small town of Thorp has made her drive to work much shorter and she enjoys the friendlier atmosphere here too.

More than happy to have received such a down-to-earth, hard-working employee as Keisha, we urge you to give us a call and maybe you can talk to Keisha too! Thanks for reading, everyone!

- John

Hey, Music Lovers!

Do you know what today is? It’s National Radio Day! If it wasn’t for radio, music certainly wouldn’t be what it’s become today! Radio has been around for so long, it may be surprising to realize that it hasn’t always been here. But it’s true—the radio wasn’t invented  until 1895.

In the age of the internet and HD screens, it might not seem like such a fantastic invention anymore. But if you start learning about it, you’ll begin to see that so much of our modern technology relies on radio waves! Most wireless technology today uses them: internet, cell phones, they’re even used for satellite communications.

While there were many contributing scientists who all played a part in this invention, there is one of them who stands out of the crowd. Rarely given the credit he deserves, I think it’s only fair that we cede the invention of the radio to one Mr. Nikola Tesla.

It may have been the German scientist Heinrich Hertz who proved that radio waves exist and are naturally-occurring. And it was Gugliemo Marconi who invented the wireless telegraph using radio waves while experimenting in the attic of his parents’ house.

But it was Tesla who invented the standard means of transmitting radio signals through the air. And that wasn’t the only thing this guy did—he also invented alternating current for the light bulb (which is what we use today—not the direct current that Thomas Edison wanted everyone to use!).

Vastly beyond his time, the people of the early 1900s didn’t really know what to make of Tesla. His Tesla coil was a bit of a scary image and he had ideas of tapping into the earth’s ionosphere, granting free electricity to the entire world. If people had listened to Tesla, we wouldn’t need to plug our toasters in, they’d just use the freely flowing supply of electricity!

Check out more about Tesla in the video underneath. A happy Radio Day to all and thanks for reading!

- John